How ImpactLab defines social value​

Social value is the estimated social impact in dollar terms that a programme achieves for participants over their lifetime.​

Throughout our lives, different events occur that impact our overall wellbeing journey. ImpactLab measures the impact on an individual’s wellbeing across multiple domains when they’re supported by a programme to make positive changes in their life.​

We measure this impact in terms of both positive benefits (such as increased income) and avoided costs to government.​

To calculate social value, we combine these impact values with:​

• evidence from global literature about how effective a programme can be;
• the size of the opportunity for the people a programme serves to achieve more positive outcomes; and​
• the number of people supported.
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By combining these inputs, the social value calculation helps us understand how a programme or intervention helps change lives for the better. We combine the social value with cost information to calculate a programme’s social return on investment.