Altaf Hussain Haji

All of us have heard about the term ‘standard of living which means all the elements in someone’s life that contribute to their happiness.   Standard of living is a broad term that encompasses many factors including some that are not bought and sold in the market.  The standard of living is an economic opportunity that focuses on basic material factors such as income, gross domestic product (GDP), life expectancy, etc.  It is closely related to the quality of life, which can also explore factors such as economic and political stability, political and religious freedom, environmental quality, climate, and safety. In the present scenario, economic growth is commonly taken to mean a sustained increase in real GDP per capita and somehow linked with social, economic, and environmental growth. There are a lot of challenges today regarding growth and standard of living.

To solve the social, economic, and environmental challenges faced today by governments and other institutions around the world that need to embrace new ways of thinking and actively engage in widespread systems innovation to make real progress toward a healthier and more prosperous life.

The economy of well-being highlights the need for putting people at the centre of policy. It is important to move away from an attitude of “grow first, redistribute and clean up later”, towards a growth model that is equitable and sustainable from the outset.

The well-being economy encompasses a diverse array of ideas and actions aimed at advancing social well-being through governance structures that support peaceful co-existence and meet basic human needs. A well-being economy provides people with equal opportunities for advancement, a sense of social inclusion, and stability—all of which contribute to human resilience and, importantly, sustains and supports harmony with the natural world. It aims to serve people and communities first and foremost and offers a promising path toward greater social well-being and environmental health. The current economic system s become addicted to “growth at all costs”, as measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but ignores the wellbeing of the individuals at all levels of development. Instead, we need an economic system that takes a preventive approach to social and environmental challenges to ensure that the kinds of related, follow-on problems of the standard of living or a person’s happiness.

The level of GDP per capita, for instance, captures some of what we mean by the term standard of living, as illustrated by the fact that most of the migration in the world involves people who are moving from countries with relatively low GDP per capita to countries with relatively high GDP per capita.

The GDP is a limited tool for measuring the standard of living because many factors that contribute to people’s happiness are not bought and sold. The GDP includes what is spent on environmental protection, healthcare, and education, but it does not include actual levels of environmental cleanliness, health, and learning. GDP includes the cost of buying pollution-control equipment, but it does not address whether the air and water are cleaner or dirtier. GDP includes spending on medical care, but it does not address whether life expectancy or infant mortality have risen or fallen. Similarly, GDP counts spending on education, but it does not address directly how much of the population can read, write, or do basic mathematics.

The OECD is one such organization, which has been working on the measurement of well-being beyond GDP since the 1970s and has seen the concept of well-being develop from an interesting side-note into a well-established agenda for policy. As we know that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is an international organization that works to build better policies for better lives.  The main goal is to shape policies that foster prosperity, equality, opportunity and well-being for all at the international level. The OECD’s Well-Being Framework has further developed the concept by providing us with a clear definition and rigorous analytical basis. The Framework for Policy Action on Inclusive Growth has helped identify the channels through which governments can promote greater well-being and sustainable economic growth for all their citizens.

The economy of well-being highlights the need for putting people at the centre of policy. It is important to move away from an attitude of “grow first, redistribute and clean up later”, towards a growth model that is equitable and sustainable from the outset.

An economy of well-being has four main pillars. The first pillar is education and skills. Skills are the most important driver of long-term economic growth. The policy can help leverage the benefits of education. For example, higher attendance in pre-primary education, greater autonomy of schools, reduced gaps between academic and vocational branches of education and higher funding for tertiary education can all boost human capital, while also improving the efficiency of education systems. At the same time reducing inequalities of access and opportunity at school is essential to promote better educational outcomes, as countries with high levels of inequality in education and skills also record lower average educational performance.

The second pillar is health. Evidence shows that good health fuels economic growth, productivity and individual earnings. Good health is also a key factor for people’s well-being. It allows them to invest in education and skills, access quality jobs and enjoy a better quality of life.   It has seen that increased spending has driven much of the improvement in health outcomes, but we need to go beyond. This means looking at the range of services covered by primary healthcare, as well as addressing new or persistent risk factors. Reducing inequalities of access is also essential to promote better health outcomes, as the proportion of people in poor health weighs heavily on key health indicators. Moreover, health inequalities are often stratified along economic, educational or occupational lines. For instance, unmet care needs are substantially higher for low-income groups.

The third pillar is social protection and redistribution. Both play an important role in reducing economic volatility and fostering resilience. They also prevent inequality today from translating into inequality of opportunities for the next generation. Recent OECD research confirms that lower inequality is associated with higher GDP growth.  Combining income-support schemes with active labour market policies provides effective protection and supports employment. Promoting more progressive tax and benefit systems can help countries promote equality of opportunity and social mobility. Social protection systems also need to adapt to a changing world of work, notably by improving coverage for non-standard workers, and to evolving social risks, notably the increasing prevalence of lone-parents and frail elderly.

The fourth pillar is gender equality. Raising women’s employment and hours worked can deliver productivity gains and higher GDP growth. It can also reduce income inequality, strengthen resilience and consolidate the middle class.

There are many other dimensions to an economy of well-being, for instance, the quality of housing and infrastructures, as well as the equitable access to those; and of course the quality of the environment that significantly affects health outcomes, especially among the poorest.

The fact that GDP per capita does not fully capture the broader idea of the standard of living has led to a concern that the increase in GDP over time is illusionary. It is theoretically possible that while GDP is rising, the standard of living could be falling if human health, environmental cleanliness, and other factors that are not included in GDP are worsening. Fortunately, this fear appears to be overstated.

Since 1970, the air and water in the United States have generally been getting cleaner. New technologies have been developed for entertainment, travel, information, and health. A much wider variety of basic products like food and clothing is available today than several decades ago. GDP does not capture leisure, health, a cleaner environment, the possibilities created by new technology, or an increase in variety. Ignoring these factors, GDP would tend to overstate the true rise in the standard of living.

At the last to mention here, that during COVID19 pandemic in the whole world regarding health and well-being. The pandemic affects badly the standard of living due to the poor health system at every level and is continued to create many hurdles in the processes of wellbeing. It is difficult to maintain a healthy lifestyle when we are in the middle of a crisis like this. The uncertainty and worries related to finances, childcare, elderly parents, and job security disrupt our routines, our lifestyles and mental health. The uncertainty about the future, the ceaseless news coverage and a constant social media-driven flood of messages can increase our sense of anxiety. It is also important to maintain a healthy lifestyle and get back into a routine at this movement. This also showed how important is wellbeing as compared to gross domestic product nowadays.

Altaf Hussain Haji, ISS, is Deputy Director General National Statistical Office, Shimla. He can be contacted at altafhh@rediffmail.com