The Standard of Living Debate in International Perspective: Measures and Indicators

Health and welfare during NBER industrialization (1997), edited by Richard H. Steckel and Roderick Floud (pp. 17-46)

One of the most unique aspects of life-level non-pay indicators in life debate is the increasing complexity and diversity of resources used by historians. Demographic studies, public health and nutrition, and research on the positions of underrepresentatives so far deepened the discussion. Many recent studies highlight how much non-wage factors affect living standards. These are more funny because they dispute the assumptions pulled from wage statistics from time to time. For example, the urban working class seems to enjoy higher wages, but their wages are higher.

Today, more economic and technological development, more metrics of living standards. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is one of the key indicators for measuring the health of the country's economy. By using real GDP (gross domestic product) as the main indicator of happiness, many important factors are ignored and it is recognized that this indicator is not a complete scale (Economic Help, 2007). Some people say that actual GDP is increasingly criticized by not being able to properly measure living standards. In my opinion, criticism seems to be correct. GDP per capita is a general measure of living standards, but it is not necessarily an accurate scale. Therefore, this article shows whether actual GDP can not measure living standards. This paper is divided into three main sections. In the first part, some evidence supporting several supporting arguments and major arguments are analyzed. It's also a rough guide to living standards.