Quality of Life Indicators

Quality of Life Indicators

• GDP – Total output of economy
• Distribution of Income in society. e.g. looking at Gini Co-efficient.
• Employment / Unemployment. Unemployment is one of main economic causes of low quality of life. Also, quality of employment, e.g. widespread part time / temporary contracts may suggest underemployment in the economy.
• Life Expectancy. Dependent on health care standards, environmental factors and cultural factors
• Education Standards. One simple measure is the rate of literacy in an economy. For example, Sri Lanka has a higher rate of literacy than Saudi Arabia, despite a lower GDP per capita.
• Housing. The standard and quality of housing and related amenities. Also include rate of homelessness.
• Air Pollution. The quality of air can influence quality of life and also health issues.
• Levels of Congestion and Transport. Congestion can lead to time lost sitting in traffic jams as well as being frustrated. For example, average traffic speeds (11mph) in London (2010) are similar to 100 years ago when we still used the horse and cart
• Environmental Standards. Quality and quantity of ‘green spaces’ where people can escape pressures of cities, e.g. London does quite well on this measure.
• Wildlife Diversity. Protection of wildlife and areas of natural beauty important. e.g. a new road may reduce congestion but damage areas of outstanding natural beauty.
• Access to clean drinking Water. Basic necessity taken for granted in West, but, big issue in developing world.
• Climate. Climate can make some areas inhospitable leading to defensive spending, e.g. spending on air-conditioning or heating. Global Warming could tip the ecological balance in some countries with fragile eco-balance.
• Social Investment v Present Consumption. GDP doesn’t measure what is actually produced and consumed. A state with high military spending will have lower living standards than a country that invests heavily in public transport, education and health care.