Measuring human wellbeing Flashcards
What is the HDI and what are the weaknesses?
The human development index measures only four indicators of wellbeing: mean years of schooling, expected years of schooling, life expectancy, gross national income per capita. Long term changes, higher wealth doesn’t necessarily indicate higher welfare it depends on where the money is spent, wide divergence within countries
What is BLI and it’s weaknesses?
The Better Life index shows a comparison between countries key factors that contribute to wellbeing. It can show how high each country rank in each aspect in comparison to 40 other countries in the world. Weaknesses: only measures 40 countries, very vague and not very specific in certain areas, don’t look at other essential factors like religion, family life etc
How does Education improve wellbeing?
Education can improve wellbeing because you learn essential information and skills you need to get job opportunities thus generating money that can allow you to access goods and services people need to live healthy and happy lives. With the ability to read and write people can also get themselves out of poverty as the more skills they learn they are more aware and positive health outcomes and people can read and process information beneficial for their health.
What are two of each barriers to education?
System: lack of trained teachers, classroom and educational material such as books
Attendance: distance to school, school fees, safety, poor public transport
Social: variation in language, religion and conflict
What does below the poverty line mean?
The ‘Poverty Line’ is the estimated minimum income needed per day in a particular country to secure the necessities of life. Essentially living on less than USD $1.25 a day
What is a way to measure wealth and it’s weaknesses?
Through GDP (Gross Domestic Product) meaning the total value of all good and services produced in a year. It's weaknesses include; doesn't consider an even spread, black market, mothers who have domestic duties, happiness
What is the definition of Wellbeing?
Wellbeing is the ability of people to access the things they need in order to live happy, healthy and contended lives.
Factors of health?
Life Expectancy
Infant Mortality Rate
Doctors per 1000
Access to reliable water
Definition of life expectancy and infant mortality rate?
Life expectancy – a statistical measure of the average number of years a person in an area or population can expect to live (expressed in years)
Infant mortality – a statistical measure of the proportion of children in an area or population, under the age of 12 months who die (expressed as deaths per 1000 live births)
What are population pyramids and what are the three types?
Population Pyramids are graphs used to show the population structure. There is triangle, beehive and rectangle. Three classes old dependants, working age and young dependants.
Historical factors of wellbeing?
Colonial past and past conflicts. Effects on personal level such as reduced quality of life, human dignity and rights, increase in sexual violence, loss of life.
Regional: decreased access to land, food security, collapse of systems such as local government, transport, fewer job opportunities
National level: less public spending decline in economy, environmental degradation, people fleeing to other countries, less money spent on education, finical issues
Factors of environment?
Climate, water resources, soil quality, natural resources .
It can affect wellbeing as it’s costly to maintain and if crops are not grown affectively people will not have access to food and their would be high food insecurity due to overgrazing or rapid growth of population
Economic relation to wellbeing
Higher GDP means higher wellbeing. Trading routes and the ability to export and import goods and services generates money which the government can then spend on increasing wellbeing for the country
Political influence to well being
Political stability, wars and conflict and corruption. Researchers believe that abuse of political power is the leading cause of poverty and inequality around the world and decreases wellbeing as the power is much stronger then the citizen’s. And governments that are corrupted weakens democracy and stops the development of the economy which is detrimental to wellbeing
How does technology impact wellbeing?
The range of tools, machinery and techniques and systems improve ways of living through growing food, accessing water, treating medical issues and improving sanitation which is essential at the moment with the global pandemic of COVID. Big changes over the centuries include industrial revolution and agricultural revolution. The internet also plays a big part as it has unprecedented levels of access to info but it does positively and negatively affect wellbeing
