Peter Richard Grenville Layard, Baron Layard FBA (born 15 March 1934) is a British labour economist, currently working as programme director of the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics. Layard was Senior Research Officer for the

Robbins Committee The Robbins Report (the report of the Committee on Higher Education, chaired by Lord Robbins) was commissioned by the British government and published in 1963. The committee met from 1961 to 1963. After the report's publication, its conclusions wer ...

on Higher Education. His work on mental health, including publishing The Depression Report in 2006, led to the establishment of the

Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT), also known as talking therapies is a National Health Service (England) initiative to provide more psychotherapy to the general population. It was developed and introduced by the Labour Party as ...

(IAPT) programme in England. He is co-editor of the

World Happiness Report The World Happiness Report is a publication that contains articles and rankings of Gross National Happiness, national happiness, based on respondent ratings of their own lives, which the report also correlates with various Quality of life, (qualit ...

, with John F. Helliwell and

Jeffrey Sachs Jeffrey David Sachs () (born 5 November 1954) is an American economist, academic, public policy analyst, and former director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University, where he holds the title of University Professor. He is known for his work ...

Family and education

Peter Richard Grenville Layard is the son of

John Layard John Willoughby Layard (27 November 1891 – 26 November 1974) was an English anthropologist and psychologist. Early life Layard was born in London, son of the essayist and literary writer George Somes Layard and his wife Eleanor. He grew up ...

and his wife Doris. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

, where he was a

King's scholar A King's Scholar is a foundation scholar (elected on the basis of good academic performance and usually qualifying for reduced fees) of one of certain public schools. These include Eton College; The King's School, Canterbury; The King's School ...

; at

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

; and at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

Work

Layard assisted

Claus Moser Claus Adolf Moser, Baron Moser, (24 November 1922 – 4 September 2015) was a British statistician who made major contributions in both academia and the Civil Service. He prided himself rather on being a non-mathematical statistician, and said t ...

on the

Robbins enquiry The Robbins Report (the report of the Committee on Higher Education, chaired by Lord Robbins) was commissioned by the British government and published in 1963. The committee met from 1961 to 1963. After the report's publication, its conclusions wer ...

, and later developed a reputation in the

economics of education Education economics or the economics of education is the study of economic issues relating to education, including the demand for education, the financing and provision of education, and the comparative efficiency of various educational programs ...

(with

Mark Blaug Mark Blaug FBA (; 3 April 1927 – 18 November 2011) was a Dutch-born British economist (naturalised in 1982), who covered a broad range of topics during his long career. He was married to Ruth Towse. Life and work Blaug was born on 3 April ...

at LSE), and labour economics (in particular with

Stephen Nickell Sir Stephen John Nickell, (born 25 April 1944) is a British economist and former warden of Nuffield College, Oxford, noted for his work in labour economics with Richard Layard and Richard Jackman. Nickell and Layard hypothesised the tendency f ...

). He advocated many of the policies which characterised the

New Labour New Labour was a period in the history of the British Labour Party from the mid to late 1990s until 2010 under the leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The name dates from a conference slogan first used by the party in 1994, later seen ...

government, particularly the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...

, partly by founding the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics. One approach he took is based on the idea of welfare-to-work, where social welfare payments are structured in a way that encourages (or forces) recipients back into the job market. As well as academic positions, Layard worked as an advisor for numerous organisations, including government institutions in the United Kingdom and Russia. In 1990 he was founder-director of the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics. where he is presently programme director.

Happiness and wellbeing

Layard became active in the study of what has since come to be known as

happiness economics The economics of happiness or happiness economics is the theoretical, qualitative and quantitative study of happiness and quality of life, including positive and negative affects, well-being, life satisfaction and related concepts – typically t ...

. This branch of economic analysis starts from the argument that income is a bad approximation for happiness. Based on modern happiness research, he cites three factors that economists fail to take into consideration: * Social comparisons: In contrast to what traditional economics predicts, happiness is derived from relative income as well as from absolute income. That is, if everyone gains purchasing power, some may still turn out unhappier if their position compared to others is worse. This effect may not turn economic growth into a

zero-sum game Zero-sum game is a mathematical representation in game theory and economic theory of a situation which involves two sides, where the result is an advantage for one side and an equivalent loss for the other. In other words, player one's gain is e ...

entirely, but it will likely diminish the benefits people draw from their hard work. In an economy where not only companies, but individuals are constantly forced to compete with each other, life and work are experienced as a

rat race A rat race is an endless, self-defeating, or pointless pursuit. The phrase equates humans to rats attempting to earn a reward such as cheese, in vain. It may also refer to a competitive struggle to get ahead financially or routinely. The term is ...

. * Adaptation: As people get used to higher income levels, their idea of a sufficient income grows with their income. If they fail to anticipate that effect, they will invest more time for work than is good for their happiness. * Changing tastes: Economists assume that individual preferences are constant, when in fact such preferences are not fixed but increasingly mutable, shifting constantly according to the latest trends and cultural norms. In turn, the relative values of one's accumulated possessions are subject to depreciation, ultimately having a negative effect on happiness. From these observations, Layard concludes that taxes serve another purpose besides paying for

public services A public service is any Service (economics), service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through pub ...

(usually for public goods) and redistributing income. The third purpose is to counteract the

cognitive bias A cognitive bias is a systematic pattern of deviation from norm or rationality in judgment. Individuals create their own "subjective reality" from their perception of the input. An individual's construction of reality, not the objective input, m ...

that causes people to work more than is good for their happiness. That is, taxes should help citizens preserve a healthy work-life balance. In 2005 Layard published the book ''Happiness: Lessons from a New Science'', in which he emphasised the importance of non-income variables on aggregate happiness. His book summarises the prior empirical findings produced by economists such as Richard Easterlin, David G Blanchflower, Andrew E Clark, Rafael Di Tella, Robert MacCulloch, and Andrew Oswald. In particular he stressed the role of mental health and argued that psychological treatments ought to be much more widely available. Subsequent books have included ''Happiness: Lessons from a New Science'' (2011), ''The Origins of Happiness'' (2018), and ''Can We Be Happier?: Evidence and Ethics'' (2020). In 2012 he co-edited, with

and John Helliwell, the

, and has been involved in subsequent years. Layard co-founded

Action for Happiness Action for Happiness (AfH) is a global movement and charity based in the United Kingdom. It aims to increase the happiness in the world by bringing together people and supporting them to take practical action to build a happier society. The pat ...

in 2010, and continues on the board.

Mental health

Layard's mental health work resulted in the development of

(IAPT), an initiative to improve access to psychological therapies in the United Kingdom. In 2014, with the clinical psychologist David M Clark, he published the book ''Thrive: The Power of Evidence-Based Psychological Therapies'', in which the authors demonstrate the potential value of the wider availability of modern talking therapies, and include a chapter on mental illness prevention.

Happiness and mental health

Layard has shown that mental illness is the main cause of unhappiness.

Development

In 2015, he was co-author of the report that launched the

Global Apollo Programme The Global Apollo Programme was a historic call for a major global science and economics research programme to make carbon-free baseload electricity less costly than electricity from coal by the year 2025. Inspiration and aims Launched in June ...

, which calls for developed nations to commit to spending 0.02% of their GDP for 10 years, to fund co-ordinated research to make carbon-free baseload electricity less costly than electricity from coal by the year 2025.

Critique

Recent research on happiness questioning part of Baron Layard's thesis and suggesting that people do obtain happiness from increased income forms part of ongoing investigations into the

Easterlin Paradox The Easterlin paradox is a finding in happiness economics formulated in 1974 by Richard Easterlin, then professor of economics at the University of Pennsylvania, and the first economist to study happiness data. The paradox states that at a point in ...

Personal life

Layard was made a

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

on 3 May 2000 as Baron Layard, of

Highgate Highgate ( ) is a suburban area of north London at the northeastern corner of Hampstead Heath, north-northwest of Charing Cross. Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has two active conservation organisati ...

in the

London Borough of Haringey The London Borough of Haringey (pronounced , same as Harringay) is a London borough in North London, classified by some definitions as part of Inner London, and by others as part of Outer London. It was created in 1965 by the amalgamation of t ...

. In 1991, he married Molly Christine Meacher, who was formerly married to

Michael Meacher Michael Hugh Meacher (4 November 1939 – 21 October 2015) was a British politician who served as a government minister under Harold Wilson, James Callaghan and Tony Blair. A member of the Labour Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for ...

. Molly, styled Lady Layard between 2000 and 2006, was herself created a

in 2006 as Baroness Meacher. They are one of the few couples to both hold titles in their own right. Layard has said he was strongly Christian at school, lost his faith at university, and in his later years 'has to be believe there is some purpose in the universe... which gives me comfort.'

Honours

In 2003, Layard was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom # C ...

(FBA). In 2016, he was elected a

Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences The Fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) is an award granted by the Academy of Social Sciences to leading academics, policy-makers, and practitioners of the social sciences. Fellows were previously known as Academicians and used th ...

(FAcSS).

Selected bibliography

;Books * * ;Book chapters * * ;Journal articles * *

Arms

References

External links

Richard Layard
Home page at the London School of Economics.
Lionel Robbins Memorial Lecture Part 1
Happiness: Has social science a clue?
Lionel Robbins Memorial Lecture Part 2
Income and happiness: rethinking economic policy
Lionel Robbins Memorial Lecture Part 3
What would make a happier society? *
The Depression Report
'. LSE CEP page.
Richard Layard – LSE Experts entry
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Layard, Richard 1934 births Living people People educated at Eton College Labour Party (UK) life peers British economists Labor economists Alumni of the London School of Economics Academics of the London School of Economics Global Apollo Programme Fellows of the Econometric Society People involved with mental health Honorary Fellows of the London School of Economics Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences Spouses of life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II