Group Eyes Well-Being, Not Finances, as Country Barometer

A new study out Thursday assesses the state of the world’s nations using indicators such as nutrition, medical care, and environmental sustainability rather than traditional economic benchmarks like gross domestic product, The Wall Street Journal says.

Sweden topped the 2013 Social Progress Index developed by the Social Progress Imperative, a global nonprofit group. The United States ranked sixth in the survey, which assesses 50 countries based on well-being metrics that are increasingly being taken into account by policy makers in gauging national progress.

“We are measuring the things that really matter to people’s lives,” said Michael Green, executive director of the Social Progress Imperative. “Such as ‘Do I have a roof over my head?’ and ‘Do I have enough food to eat?’ ”