4.3.1 measures of development

Question 1

what is the HDI

Answer 1

HDI is a measure of economic development calculated by the UN. It is a ​composite index based on three factors:
o health​ as measured by life expectancy at birth
o education as measured by the mean years of schooling of adults aged 25+ and the
expected years of schooling of a current 5-year-old over their lives
o income ​as measured by real GNI per capita at purchasing power parity.

Question 2

what are the advantages of using HDI

Answer 2

It takes into account ​three key factors ​which are important for the development of a
country.
● It is ​relatively easy to calculate because governments tend to collect the statistics
used in the data.

Question 3

what are the disadvantages of using HDI

Answer 3

there are some ​issues with the figures​: health takes no notice of the
quality of life that people enjoy and education doesn’t take into account the quality
and success of education.
● There is no consideration for the ​equality of income​.
● Also, there are ​other factors which affect development, for example freedom from
corruption or the environment.

Question 4

what are some other indicators of development ( The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)

Answer 4

This measures the ​percentage of the population that is multidimensional poor​. It uses data for health, education and standard of living but uses a broader range of indicators within these categories.
● Years of schooling and school attendance data is used for education; child mortality and nutrition data for health; and availability of electricity, sanitation and safe drinking water in households, cooking fuel used, assets owned and the type of floor in a house for standard of living.
● It highlights the countries where some areas are extremely rich but where most of the population is not and ​focuses on poverty​. However, it cannot be calculated for all countries as the ​data is not always available​. It also doesn’t take into account the environment.