The document defines standard of living as the level of wealth, comfort, and access to necessities available to a socioeconomic class in a geographic area. It lists factors used to evaluate standard of living such as income, housing quality, healthcare access, and education. Standard of living is commonly measured using indices like the Human Development Index, Gross Domestic Product, Satisfaction With Life Index, and Happy Planet Index. These indices take into account life expectancy, education, income, happiness, sustainability, and other quality of life factors to compare countries' standard of living. While standard of living is more objective and measured, quality of life considers more subjective experiences like freedom and well-being. Both aim to provide an overall picture of economic

2. Standard of living
The level of wealth, comfort, material goods and
necessities available to a certain socioeconomic
class, in a certain geographic area.

3. An evaluation of standard of living commonly
includes the following factors:
• Income
• Quality and availability of
employment
• Class disparity
• Poverty rate
• Quality and affordability of housing
• Hours of work required to purchase
necessities
• Gross domestic product (GDP)
• Inflation rate
• Number of paid vacation days per
year
• Affordable access to quality health
care
• Quality and availability of education
• Life expectancy
• Incidence of disease
• Cost of goods and services
• Infrastructure
• National economic growth
• Economic and political stability
• Political and religious freedom
• Environmental quality
• Climate
• Safety

4. Ways to measure standard of living
1. Human Development Index
2. Gross Domestic Product
3. Satisfaction With Life Index
4. Happy Planet Index

5. • The Human Development Index (HDI), developed in 1990 by the United
Nations. The origins of the HDI are found in the annual Development Reports
of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
• In its 2010 Human Development Report, the UNDP began using a new
method of calculating the HDI. The following three indices are used:
1. Life Expectancy Index (LEI) =
𝐿𝐸 −20
85−20
2. Education Index (EI) =
𝑀𝑌𝑆𝐼+𝐸𝑌𝑆𝐼
2
2.1 Mean Years of Schooling Index (MYSI) =
𝑀𝑌𝑆
15
2.2 Expected Years of Schooling Index (EYSI) =
𝐸𝑌𝑆
18
3. Income Index (II) =
𝐼𝑛 𝐺𝑁𝐼𝑝𝑐 −𝐼𝑛(100)
𝐼𝑛 75000 −𝐼𝑛(100)
Finally, the HDI is the geometric mean of the previous three normalized indices:
HDI=
3
𝐿𝐸𝐼 . 𝐸𝐼 . 𝐼𝐼.
LE: Life expectancy at birth
MYS: Mean years of schooling (Years that a person 25 years-of-age or older has spent in schools)
EYS: Expected years of schooling (Years that a 5-year-old child will spend in schools throughout his life)
GNIpc: Gross national income at purchasing power parity per capita

6. HDI TOP 10 IN 2014
“What people really
want is to live long,
fulfilling lives, not
just to be filthy rich.”

7. • GDP - the total market value of all
the goods and services produced
in a country in a year
• GDP is often used as a quick and
dirty way to infer a country’s
standard of living.
Gross Domestic Product
GDP TOP 10 IN 2010
according to the IMF (GDP given in millions of $):
1. United States
(14,624,184)
2. China (5,745,133)
3. Japan (5,390,897)
4. Germany (3,305,898)
5. France (2,555,439)
6. United Kingdom
(2,258,565)
7. Italy (2,036,687)
8. Brazil (2,023,528)
9. Canada (1,563,664)
10. Russia (1,476,912)

8. Satisfaction With Life Index measures happiness directly, by
asking people how happy they are with their health, wealth, and education, and
assigning a weighting to these answers.
Satisfaction With Life Index top 10 in 2006 :
1. Denmark
2. Switzerland
3. Austria
4. Iceland
5. The Bahamas
6. Finland
7. Sweden
8. Bhutan
9. Brunei
10. Canada

9. Happy Planet Index is calculated based on life satisfaction, life
expectancy, and ecological footprint. It doesn’t measure how happy a country
is, but how environmentally efficient it is to support well-being in that country.
Happy Planet Index top 10 in 2009:
1. Costa Rica
2. Dominican Republic
3. Jamaica
4. Guatemala
5. Vietnam
6. Colombia
7. Cuba
8. El Salvador
9. Brazil
10. Honduras
“No wealth makes a
human happy, but
happiness makes a
humman rich ”

10. Standard Of Living Vs. Quality Of Life
• Quality of life is more subjective and intangible.
• Factors that may be used to measure quality of
life include the following: freedom from slavery
and torture, equal protection of the law, freedom
from discrimination, freedom of thought,
freedom of religion, free choice of employment,
right to fair pay, right to vote, right to rest and
leisure, right to education, right to human
dignity…

11. • Standard of living and quality of life are often referred to in
discussions about the economic and social well-being of
countries and their residents. The definitions of these terms
can be difficult to tease apart and may overlap in some areas.
• The main difference between standard of living and quality of
life is that the former is more objective, while the latter is
more subjective.
• Standard of living factors such as gross domestic product,
poverty rate and environmental quality, can all be measured
and defined with numbers, while quality of life factors like
equal protection of the law, freedom from discrimination and
freedom of religion, are more difficult to measure and are
particularly qualitative.
• Both indicators are flawed, but they can help us get a general
picture of what life is like in a particular location at a
particular time.

12. Thank u