Key Human Development and Quality-of-Life Indicators

International human development and quality-of-life indicators are used to measure progress beyond GDP. They help compare countries on health, education, living standards, gender equality and subjective well-being using composite statistical indices.

For Prelims revision, the key focus is on the publisher, year of introduction, core dimensions and the specific indicators used in each index.

Human Development Index (HDI)

• Origin: Formulated in 1990 by Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq and Indian Nobel laureate Amartya Sen.
• Publisher: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), through the annual Human Development Report.
• Purpose: Measures overall human development using non-income dimensions along with income.
• Three dimensions: Health, education and decent standard of living.
• Health indicator: Life expectancy at birth, with minimum 20 years and maximum 85 years.
• Education indicators: Mean years of schooling for adults aged 25+ and expected years of schooling for children entering school.
• Income indicator: Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, based on Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) in US Dollars.
• Method: The normalized dimension indices are combined using the geometric mean.

Adjusted Human Development Measures

• Inequality-Adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI): Introduced by the UNDP in 2010.
• What it shows: Adjusts the HDI to reflect inequality in the distribution of health, education and income within a country.
• Interpretation: If there is no inequality, the IHDI equals the HDI; as inequality rises, the IHDI falls below the HDI.
• Exam significance: It captures the loss in potential human development due to internal disparities.
• Planetary Pressures-Adjusted HDI (PHDI): Introduced by the UNDP in the 2020 Human Development Report.
• Environmental adjustment: Accounts for carbon dioxide emissions per capita (production-based) and material footprint per capita.
• Use: Links human development with environmental pressure.

Gender and Equality Indices

• Gender Inequality Index (GII): Introduced by the UNDP in 2010 to replace the Gender-Related Development Index (GDI).
• Purpose: Measures the loss of potential human development due to inequality between women and men.
• Reproductive health: Measured by Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) and Adolescent Birth Rate (ABR).
• Empowerment: Measured by the share of parliamentary seats held by each gender and attainment levels of secondary and higher education.
• Economic status: Measured by Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) among men and women aged 15 years and older.
• Global Gender Gap Index: Formulated and published annually by the World Economic Forum (WEF) since 2006.
• Four domains: Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment.

Poverty and Quality-of-Life Indices

• Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI): Developed in 2010 by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and the UNDP.
• Purpose: Tracks acute deprivation across developing nations.
• Health dimension: Nutrition and child mortality, weighted equally.
• Education dimension: Years of schooling and child attendance, weighted equally.
• Living standards dimension: Cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing and household assets.
• Poverty cut-off: A person is multidimensionally poor if deprived in one-third (33.3%) or more of the weighted ten indicators.
• Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI): Developed by the Overseas Development Council in 1979.
• Components: Basic literacy rate, infant mortality rate and life expectancy at age 1.

Happiness and Subjective Well-Being

• World Happiness Report: Published annually by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) since 2012.
• Source base: Gallup World Poll surveys.
• What it measures: National subjective well-being and life satisfaction.
• Key factors: GDP per capita, social support networks, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity and perceptions of corruption.

Comparative Overview of Major Indices

Key Prelims Takeaways

• HDI was developed by Mahbub ul Haq and Amartya Sen in 1990 and is published by UNDP.
• HDI dimensions are health, education and standard of living; income is measured by GNI per capita at PPP.
• HDI uses the geometric mean of normalized dimension indices.
• IHDI reflects inequality-adjusted human development and always stays at or below HDI.
• GII measures gender-based loss in development across reproductive health, empowerment and labour participation.
• PHDI adds environmental pressure by using carbon dioxide emissions and material footprint per capita.
• MPI defines poverty through 10 deprivation indicators and a one-third deprivation threshold.