Standard of living
Standard of living is the level of income, comforts and services available, generally applied to a society or location, rather than to an individual.[1] Standard of living is relevant because it is considered to contribute to an individual's quality of life.[2] Standard of living is generally concerned with objective metrics outside an individual's personal control, such as economic, societal, political, legal, and environmental matters – such things that an individual might consider when evaluating where to live in the world, or when assessing the success of economic policy.
In international law, an "adequate standard of living" was first described in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and further described in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. To evaluate the impact of policy for sustainable development, different disciplines have defined Decent Living Standards in order to evaluate or compare relative living experience.[3]
During much of its use in economics, improvements to standard of living was thought to be directly connected to
Factors considered by scholars
Standard of living might be evaluated using a number of characteristics including as the quality and availability of
Right to an adequate standard of living
The right to an adequate standard of living is a fundamental human right. It is part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that was accepted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 10, 1948.[5]
Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of him/herself and of his/her family, including
security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his/her control.— Article 25.1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights[5]
Furthermore, it has been written down in article 11 of the United Nations' International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
The predecessor of this right, the Freedom from Want, is one of the Four Freedoms that American President Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke out at his State of the Union of January 6, 1941. According to Roosevelt it is a right every human being everywhere in the world should have. Roosevelt described his third right as follows:[6][7]
The third is freedom from want which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants, everywhere in the world.
— President Franklin D. Roosevelt, January 6, 1941.[6]
Decent Living Standard
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The standard of living varies between individuals depending on different aspects of life. The standard of living consists of the individuals having the basics such as food, shelter, social safety and interaction which all contribute to their wellbeing and what is considered to be a decent living standard.
Experts use a number of different measures and approaches to establish the decent living standard or DLS.[3] The decent living standard revolves around the idea and principle that a majority of the population are in demand for the basics that will allow them to have shelter, food and water, however it is not always able to be maintained for a long period of time.[8]
Measurement
Standard of living is generally measured by standards such as
There is also the biological standard of living, which pertains to how well the human biological organism fares in its socio-economic environment.[10] It is often measured by the height of a population.[11]
The idea of a 'standard' may be contrasted with the
See also
- Gini coefficient
- Housing stress
- Human Development Index
- Income and fertility
- Index of Economic Freedom
- List of countries by Social Progress Index
- Living wage
- Measurable economic welfare
- Median household income
- Quality of life
- Right to an adequate standard of living
- Total fertility rate
- Where-to-be-born Index
- Working hours
References
- ^ "STANDARD OF LIVING | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary". dictionary.cambridge.org. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
- ^ "Standard of Living Definition". Investopedia.com. 29 August 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
- ^ a b "Supplementary Material I Chapter 5: Social Science Primer" (PDF). IPCC Sixth Assessment Report Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 2022.
- ^ a b "Chapter 5: Demand, services and social aspects of mitigation" (PDF). IPCC Sixth Assessment Report Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 2022.
- ^ a b United Nations, Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- ^ a b Roosvelt, Franklin Delano (January 6, 1941) The Four Freedoms, American Rhetoric
- ISBN 90-411-1168-9.
- PMID 29950752.
- ^ Clark, Nardinelli. "Industrial Revolution and the Standard of Living". Econlib.
- ^ Komlos, John; Baten, Joerg (1998). "The Biological Standard of Living in Comparative Perspective". eh.net. pp. 236–249. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
- .
- ^ Staff, Investopedia. "Standard of Living Definition". Investopedia.
External links
- Industrial Revolution and the Standard of Living by Freddy Madero
- Commission on Living Standards Archived 12 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine