Introduction

Measuring economic and social progress is a complicated methodological task, not least because of the theoretical and normative questions it raises in relation to what constitutes “progress”, “well-being” or a “good life”. Although criticisms of gross domestic product as a measure of socio-economic progress are nearly as old as the concept itself, it nonetheless has remained the dominant benchmark of general prosperity. Indeed, so pervasive is the use of GDP that its growth is the prime economic objective of almost all governments. However, more than serving as a (mostly flawed) indicator of economic activity, GDP growth has become the key indicator of economic development and progress, despite its failure to capture non-economic aspects of quality of life. Such aspects include glossing over inequalities in the distribution of resources and opportunities, neglecting the value of uncompensated economic activities, such as caregiving, and ignoring environmental damage and the depletion of natural resources. The implications of using GDP growth as a shorthand measure of national well-being are thus very significant, both in relation to entailing misguided policy decisions and, conceptually, in terms of conflating economic growth with welfare improvements. These shortcomings have become even more striking in a world of rapidly evolving technologies, rising income inequalities and urgent environmental pressures. To this end, a number of alternative measures of nationallevel progress have been developed that address some of the flaws of GDP – particularly the depletion of social capital and natural resources that undermines the quality of life for future generations (Costanza et al. 2009). Although these measures have their own limitations, they typically highlight large differences between average measures of economic performance and social conditions and how these can change over time. Further, they demonstrate the degree of overlap in the economic and social dimensions regarded as most relevant to assess social progress and quality of life.

This chapter begins by examining GDP and other measures of economic growth, within the System of National Accounts (SNA), drawing some comparisons between them. It delineates the limitations of GDP, both on its own terms as a measure of economic activity and its inadequacy as a measure of societal welfare. It also highlights the specific gender limitations of GDP (section 11.3), especially in terms of how unpaid work – mainly undertaken by women – has been made invisible within national accounting systems and the subsequent damage this causes.