Introduction

Whether or not the millennium made people think of fresh starts, it has been hard not to notice, since 2000, a new preoccupation with a happy life. The media keep returning to it: yesterday’s Guardian Review, for instance, carried a three-page feature, fronted by a huge clown face, proclaiming that ‘the pursuit of happiness is making us miserable’. Schools have made the headlines with happiness lessons. The late Labour government put children’s well-being at the heart of its policy for schools and families.