The National Health Service was created to take care of the workforce of Britain. Not only to keep citizens well for their own sake, but also for the sake of the country that relied on their productivity, labour, or expertise. In this respect, competition gave way to collaboration and individual health became of collective and national interest.
The NHS helps maintain our bodies and minds, but arguably another factor in society impacts longevity and life as much as health… wealth. Yet wealth isn’t seen as a collective goal. Could this change? If we were all wealthier, tax returns increase, GDP increases, and quality of life improves. Wealth and how we frame it is so much more than individual benefit. As the brilliant John Ruskin stated…
“There is no wealth but life…”
What if we could do for wealth what we did for health?
What would that look like?
What would a National Wealth Service provide to the citizens of the UK?
What role would it play?
For this year’s FOM awards, we challenge creative thinkers and makers (of all types) to speculate and create a vision of a National Wealth Service.
This is a huge task, so you don’t only need to look at the bigger picture, you could focus on a small core aspect within traditional financial services – like digital access or literacy, education in financial principles, coping / managing debt. Or proposing new services that increase meritocratic wealth opportunities or even encouraging philanthropy. You could propose using a technological tool to provide a solution. Or envisage a shift in cultural values that changes the impetus that drives wealth creation.
