Defining and measuring development

Defining and measuring development

1. what is meant by development?

   • can be summed up as 'good change'
   • it is the first and third senses of development as an ideal state to be achieved by human effort

2. What is meant by 'good change'?

   • economic growth means that an economy gets bigger, producing more good or goods of higher value
   • economic development involves a change from an economy based of small workshops to factory based mass production of goods.
   • rise in living standards and less poverty.
   • social development covers a range of aspects of social life: including:
     • education, health, democracy, human rights, gender equality, happiness, sustainability
   • combining both economic and social aspects is the idea of development as the reduction of poverty

3. Measuring development: how do we know when countries are developing?

   • the economic well being of a society is usually measured by GDP or by GNP
     • both measure the total value of goods and services produced in an economy in a year
   • GDP usually given as a 'per capita' (per person in the population) figure to allow for differences in size of populations between countries. it is given in US dollas
   • changes in GDP from year to year give a measure of economic growth
     • Africa has suffered a fall in GDP from already low levels
   • GDP has to be used with caution because: economic growth does not cover all aspects of social development which sociologists are interested in, a rise in GDP per capita does not mean education/health are improving and does not mean there is a high standard of living, it conceals inequalities, it only accounts what happens in the 'official economy' things such as growing food for own consumption is not counted
   • Social development: education: % of children attending school. Health: child/infant mortality rates. Democracy: whether there are free and fair elections. Gender equality: differenced between males and females in education, health, politics etc
   • The Human Development Index:
     • each country is given a HDI which is calculated by considering what the UNDP takes to be the 3 most important aspects of development: 1) material standard of living. 2) Health. 3) Education
       • in developing countries there are doubts about the accuracy of the statistics because of the difficulties in collecting data
   • the human development report includes 3 other indices of development: 1)the human poverty index HPI. 2)the gender related development index GDI. 3) the gender empowerment measure GEM

4. Measuring Poverty

   • the poverty of whole countries can be measured by GDP, but for individuals and households a different measure is needed
     • the world bank uses income of less than one American dollar a day, adjusted for purchasing power. in 2004 there were 980 million people living in extreme poverty
   • Millennium development goals are a set of 8 targets created by the UN to achieve progress in development
   • Having less than $1 a day to live on is a measure of absolute poverty. another way is to define it in relation to others; this is called relative poverty.
   • the human development report measures poverty at the individual level of HPI which considers a wider range of factors than low income
     • for developing countries HPI considers the % of population living below the poverty line, the adult illiteracy rate, infant mortality rate, access to clean water, being under 5 and underweight
     • development is also currently being measured by progress towards the MDGs: the goals are: to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. Achieve universal primary education. Promote gender equality, Reduce child mortality. Improve maternal health. Combat HIV/AIDS etc. ensure environmental sustainability.
       • Process towards the goals have not been as fast as hoped. Naidoo calls them minimalist development goals. reducing extreme poverty by half leaves the other half in poverty