In 2025 we used our unique combination of economic expertise and social sector connection to help charities, funders, firms and policymakers collectively tackle the causes and consequences of low wellbeing.
Our July 2025 audit showed that almost three million adults suffer from “wellbeing poverty”, and that the figure could be set to rise by a further 300,000 by 2030. That means the number of people in the UK who are deeply dissatisfied with their lives is roughly equivalent to the entire population of Greater Manchester, with the prospect of an additional town the size of Stockport being added by the end of the decade.
Meanwhile the UK’s teenagers sit bottom of the wellbeing league in Europe, with the number of children and young people reporting low wellbeing increasing from fewer than one in six in 2015, to one in four in 2022.
Rising to this complex and growing challenge requires action across a variety of fronts – bottom-up, community-led as well as top-down, policy-focused. In 2025, we supported such action through three related workstreams:
Empowering the nation’s charities
- We supported a total of 163 social sector organisations to measure their impact, secure funding and drive systemic change.
- Among the 80 charities that completed a post-support survey on our training in 2025, 96.3% said it was an “effective use of time.”
- If past trends hold, the charities receiving detailed support from PBE in 2025 might expect to secure an income boost of up to £150 million over the next three years.
Unleashing civil society’s potential
- We were delighted to co-host (alongside the Lloyds Bank Foundation) a major summit at which the Prime Minister launched the Civil Society Covenant – a big first step toward a genuine partnership with the sector.
- The DCMS responded positively to our business plan for a new Civil Society Evidence Organisation and we are hopeful that the Department can work with funders to establish a five-year pilot.
Driving the use of economics for good
- Our active base of volunteer economists and analysts broke through the 1,000 mark in 2025, with 147 new volunteers taking our total to 1,131 by year-end.
- Through dedicated training in the use of wellbeing impact evaluation and the creation of a Social Sector Economists Network, we engaged with a record number of 174 economists in 2025, a 46% year-on-year increase.
Reflecting on 2025 and the year ahead, our CEO Matt Whittaker says,
“In the connection we create between economists and charities, and in our partnership with stakeholders in the social sector, PBE has always emphasised collaboration. In 2026 we’ll be looking to lean even more heavily into partnership working as a means of maintaining our impact and ensuring that we continue to do all that we can to meet our mission of improving outcomes for people with the lowest wellbeing.”
Read the full 2025 impact report to learn more.