STANDARD OF LIVING AND QUALITY OF LIFE- CONCEPTUAL INTERDEPENDENCE

Standard of living and quality of life are important factors to define a country’s economic position and its financial shortcomings in comparison to the rest of the world.

Standard of living and quality of life are terms that have been perceived as one and the same thing for years but differentiating them becomes essential to review the status of the country from all aspects. Standard of living tells us about the distribution of goods and services among the population. It requires a macro perspective and is measured by factors like real income per person and poverty rate. Quality of life is more of a subjective term and it looks into physical, material, emotional, social, and personal development activities. It is a micro perspective where conditions and perceptions of individuals play a key role. Some of the factors that can affect a person’s quality of life can include conditions in the workplace, healthcare, education, and material living conditions.

According to the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, these are some factors that affect the quality of life Freedom from slavery and torture Equal protection under the law, Freedom from discrimination, Freedom of movement, free choice of employment, Right to fair pay.

Standard of living predominantly focuses on objective external aspects of living conditions such as ownership of objects and resources. In contrast, quality of living is generally considered a measure of the overall well-being of a person. Quality of living is defined as a personal interpretation of subjective well-being. A higher quality of living across a population is associated with better levels of health, economic independence, and a more engaged workforce. (Felce 1997,Netuveli & Blane 2008,Sirgy 2012)

There is no universal definition of standard of living. There are many definitions and interpretations which have changed substantially over time. In the 1940s and 50s — the standard of living was conceptualized in purely material ways of goods and services available. This was based on the use of national measures such as GDP. The 1960s & 70s — brought a more inclusive definition that encompassed aspects of human development such as average life span and education.

Although there is general consensus on what quality of life is but there is no widely accepted definition, theory, or measurement of it. WHO definition of quality of life is the most widely encompassed –an individual’s perception of their position in life in the context of culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards, and concerns.

Conceptually, it makes sense that standard of living predicts quality of life as they are two different types of well-being. standard of living is sometimes called material or economic well-being (Felce 1997, Jensen et. al. 2002) and quality of life is considered a more global type of well-being, referred to as Global, general, subjective, and overall well-being (Felce 1997, Sirgy 2012). Hallerod & Selden 2013 concluded that quality of life cannot be segregated from its constituent parts' standard of living and health.

REFERENCES –

- Felce D(1997) — Defining and applying concepts of Quality of life; Journal of Intellectual Disability Research,41(2),126–135

- Easterlin R. A.(2000) The worldwide Standard of Living sine 1800.Journal o Economic Perspectives,14(1), 7–26

- World Health Organisation (1997) WHO quality of life: Measuring Quality of life

- Sirgy J.(2012) The psychology of quality of life: hedonic well being, life satisfaction, and eudaimonia

• Hallerod B and Sheldon D (2013): The multidimensional characteristics of well being: how different aspects interact and do not interact with each other; Social Indicators Research,113(3)’807–825

By Yuvakshi Dam