About SWINS
Sustainable Sell-Being Through INvestment in Social Services
The SWINS project aims to generate new insights into how investments in different social services throughout the life course contribute to key outcomes such as employment, income, economic growth, as well as inclusive and sustainable well-being or macroeconomic stability indicators.
To achieve this, the project considers different scenarios: from the impact of maternal care, early childhood education, and lifestyle prevention on child poverty and future well-being, to the role of active labor market policies, mental health services, and long-term care in addressing poverty, gender equity, and healthy aging.
By linking individual benefits with broader economic and social impacts across generations (the so-called “life course multiplier”) from a right-based social investment perspective, SWINS’s ultimate goal is to develop practical tools to help governments and organizations understand which social policies work best. Instead of seeing social spending as a cost, SWINS will show how well-designed investments can reduce poverty, promote inclusive and sustainable well-being, and strengthen resilience across generations.
Understanding and measuring how investing in social services can help people have better opportunities, find better jobs, stay healthier, and live with more security, contributing to the overall prosperity of our societies.
Social services, a definition
SWINS’ adopted a broad and user-oriented definition of Social services as services aimed at fostering the full and effective participation of everyone to the society in condition of equality of opportunity and non -discrimination by directly supporting them and promoting public interest.
As such, social services are expected to lift existing barriers and develop human capabilities and agency across the life course.
Conceptual framework
Develop a theoretical-operational framework that conceptualises the link between social services and investigates their potential role in the transition to inclusive and sustainable well-being from a rights-based perspective.
Macro impact
Define the relationship between investments in social services and economic and social performance at an aggregate level. This helps to understand how different spending scenarios in social services influence the overall economic and social well-being of a society.
Micro mechanisms
Identify micro-level mechanisms by examining how investments in social services drive aggregate social and economic performance, considering the actions, decisions, and interactions of individuals, families, businesses, etc..
Long-term projections
Develop a theoretical-operational framework that conceptualises the link between social services and investigates their potential role in the transition to inclusive and sustainable well-being from a rights-based perspective.
Policy integration
Define the relationship between investments in social services and economic and social performance at an aggregate level. This helps to understand how different spending scenarios in social services influence the overall economic and social well-being of a society.
The Vision in Action:
toward a right-based approach to
social investment
SWINS takes up the challenge to operationalise the ‘rights-based social investment paradigm’, which overcome the often tedious dichotomy between social expenditure and social investment to integrate a broader view encompassing ecological sustainability and sustainable human.
It aligns with the European Green Deal, emphasising a just transition approach. Here key elements are the Just Transition Mechanism and the European Pillar of Social Rights , stressing the role of social investment policies to maintain workers employability in sectors and areas most impacted by the transition toward a sustainable well-being economy. This approach focuses on capacitating individuals while addressing broader societal and environmental challenges.
SWINS conceptualises and operationalises a rights-based social investment approach to social services as a tool to foster EU’s resilience and inclusive and sustainable well-being.
As outlined by the 2023 EC Strategic Foresight Report, social services are a key intersection between the structural trends and dynamics affecting the social and economic aspects of sustainability, as well as to minimise trade-offs and maximise synergies among productivity, equality, sustainability, participation and security. The recognition that progress and prosperity extend beyond GDP is a fundamental aspect of the inclusive and sustainable well-being framework, strengthening SWINS to leverage for transformation through more comprehensive and meaningful measurement of the returns on investments in social services.
Methodology
SWINS adopts a three-stage, mixed-methods approach to reveal how investments in social services boost both individual well-being and broader societal progress.
Stage 1
maps the legal and policy landscape in selected European countries. We systematically review existing literature and analyse quantitative data (e.g., SOCX, EU-SILC) to understand how social service investments link to indicators of sustainable well-being. Stakeholder workshops inform scenario development, ensuring real-world relevance.
Stage 2
Shifts to a micro perspective to explore why these macro-level relationships exist. We use micro-simulations (EUROMOD), synthetic panels, and machine learning to measure how social services shape people’s life trajectories over time.
Stage 3
connects these insights to the bigger picture through Macroeconomic Agent-Based Models, assessing the long-term impacts of different investment scenarios on growth, stability, and “beyond-GDP” measures. We also run a behavioural experiment to see how informing people about social services’ returns affects policy support, guiding actionable recommendations for EU governance.
Expected Impact
SWINS impact strategy is rooted in its attention to the integration of the measurement framework into the institutional, regulatory and policy framework is to be situated within the context of the sustainability transition.
Sustainability transition towards a more sustainable society is the process that has long been necessary to respond to the social, environmental, and economic challenges that have emerged in recent decades.
Thus, developing novel measurement tools and strategies to assess and optimise social services to push for and support systemic change, both at the theoretical and empirical level, is a fundamental action to understand the functioning of the current governance mechanisms of transitions management.
The SWINS project aims to influence policy-making and advocacy processes at various levels by engaging with a wide range of target groups, including EU/national/local policymakers, journalists, social rights lobbyists and stakeholders, the scientific community, and the general public.