L IVING S TANDARDS Chapter 14 – Counterpoints Ms. Shrieves

Q UESTIONS /G OALS What is our life in North America like compared to people living in other parts of the world?

N EEDS V S. W ANTS Education Health Care iPod Cell Phone Water Sanitization Roof over head Underwear/t-shirt Shoes House Pasta High school education Hollister sweater Starbucks coffee 10 minute shower Big Mac Mustang

D IFFERENCES IN D AILY L IFE H OW DOES LIFE DIFFER BETWEEN THESE TWO PLACES ? Rocky Mountains, Canada Jakarta, Indonesia

More than 1 billion people live on less than $1 US/day Recent surge in food prices has caused another 100 million people in developing countries to fall into poverty

UN H UMAN D EVELOPMENT R EPORT Each year the United Nations publishes a Human Development Report called the Human Development Index (HDI) Ranks countries according to: adult literacy (people who can read); life expectancy; and the per capita gross domestic product (GDP) GDP = gross domestic product – the total value of all goods and services produced in a country in one year. Divide this number by the number of people in the country, and you get the average GDP per person, or per capita.

H UMAN D EVELOPMENT I NDEX Purpose: to give a crude indication of different levels of economic and social development among the countries of the world. UN Human Development Index 2010

Article 25: UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 25. (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. (2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

S TATISTICS In 1999 – people in 85 countries were worse off than they were in More than twenty countries, life expectancy at birth was still under 50 years (30 yrs less than in Canada) Wealth of the 200 richest people in the world was greater than the combined income of 41% of the world’s population. The gap continues to grow, despite the efforts of organizations such as the UN, aid from government agencies, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as Save the Children or Oxfam.

Q UESTION : Do you think that literacy, life expectancy and per capita GDP are adequate to show human development in a country? Why or why not? Problems with the HDI: Many things are missing – are these the only determining factors of a “good life”? These factors are based on Westerncentric values What about freedom of speech, gender equality… Is the data from poor countries accurate?

T HE DIVIDED PLANET 1949 U.S. President Truman referred to the world of “ developed” and “underdeveloped” nations. Developed = industrialized, people well- housed, healthy, and educated; infrastructure – transportation and communication links, electric-power distribution systems, schools, and hospitals – were well-developed. Underdeveloped = few schools, doctors, and hospitals; roads mainly unpaved; few railways; few people had telephones; only cities had electrical power.

N OW, THE ACCEPTED TERMS ARE : Developed countries = the most wealthy countries Newly industrializing countries = places like Indonesia that are building up their industries and infrastructure Developing countries = do not have a modern infrastructure or many industries Highly indebted poor countries (HIPC s ) = most of the countries at the bottom of the UN Human Development Index in debt to developed nations

H OW DO WE MEASURE AND CLASSIFY DIFFERENT STANDARDS OF LIVING ? U NITED N ATIONS H UMAN D EVELOPMENT I NDEX High Dev. Dark Blue Med. Dev Med. Blue Low Dev Light Blue

C OMPARING L IVING S TANDARDS 1. The developed world has accounting systems that can determine the level of industrialization, value of services, exports and imports. 1. Developing economies have many people who make goods at home and trade them in local communities; money may not be used. This makes it impossible to measure output

3. If the wealth of the country is not shared among the people, the average income figure does not reflect the standard of living for the majority. e.g. Saudi Arabia – the average per capita income is $9000 (U.S.) because of income from the sale of oil resources. However, the wealth from these sales goes to a few very wealthy families. 4. Standards of living are not only measured in incomes, but also quality of life – health, levels of nutrition, life expectancy, literacy, the status of women and children.

5. A person living in poverty in Canada has access to health care, education, and other services. 6. A very poor family in a city in a developing country is likely to live in a dwelling made from scrap materials with no electricity, sanitation, or access to safe water.

~ I NDIA ~ N EWLY I NDUSTRIALIZING

~ K ENYA ~ L OW : D EVELOPING C OUNTRY

~ H AITI ~ L OW : D EVELOPING C OUNTRIES

P OVERTY T RAP Figure 14-9 – The Cycle of Poverty Question: At what stage do you think intervention in the poverty cycle would be most effective?

B REAKING POVERTY CYCLE eveals_new_insights_on_poverty.html

T HE V ULNERABLE O NES : W OMEN AND C HILDREN The burden of poverty creates particular hardships for women and children. Many developing countries are mail-dominated societies where women and children have lower status than men They may not have any legal rights, and the legal system may allow them to be treated as property.