In this report, Well-being Matters: A Social Report for Ireland, the NESC calls for a broader understanding of social progress while dealing with the relevance of well-being in a recession and crisis. There is growing international interest in measures of well-being beyond GDP. This NESC report is the first major application of well-being to chart social progress in Ireland. The report tracks trends across six aspects of people's lives: their economic resources, their work and education, their relationships and care, their community and environment, their health and their social values.