Quality of Life

Basic Needs

Basic needs are what we NEED to survive.

Basic needs include:

1) food2) clean water3) health care4) shelter

NEEDS are very different from WANTS

Wants include things like:

1) Video games2) Fast Food3) iPods4) Computers

Standard of Living

Quality of life are the extent to which both our needs and wants are satisfied.

Standard of Living is the physical comfort determined by the number and quality of goods and services available to us.

Some countries seem to have high standards of living, like Canada and the United States.

But, simply by stating that a country has a high standard of living ignores 2 important facts.

1) Not all people in a country have the same standard of living.

2) Standard of living of a country does not determine the factors influencing the quality of life for its people. Examples include pollution and overcrowding.

Therefore, standard of living is only a partial measure of quality of life.

There are other factors that determine quality of life including:

1) Government2) Schools3) Recreational Facilities

How Do We Get our Stuff??

There are three levels of industry. Not all countries have all three levels. There is a direct relationship between the level of industry and the overall quality of life.

Remember, standard of living is the access to goods and products...

Primary Industries

Primary industries are the first step in making goods we need and use.

Many jobs in primary industries are taking materials out of the earth to be used to manufacture goods.

Examples would be: mining, fishing or forestry.

Primary Industries

Primary industries do not produce goods that are sold to stores.

They provide the raw materials to make the goods.

Secondary Industries

The second step in manufacturing is to take the raw materials and turn them into a product.

Secondary industries take unfinished pieces from multiple primary industries and complete the product.

How a Desk is Made...

Tertiary Industries

Tertiary Industries do not make goods. They provide services to help us use the goods we buy.

Example: A car.A car needs gasLicense platesBanks lend money to buy the car.Insurance to drive the car.A license to drive the car.A gas station to run the car.

Tertiary Industries

Tertiary Industries NEED to be located near the customers.

People like to stay close to home when they go shopping. The closer the shop the better.

The only exception is the internet. People can shop on the internet wherever they are.

Think A Moment

What types of services result from these industries?

Clothing salesBankingGas StationsTV RepairFood PreparationDry CleaningAccountingEntertainment

Gross Domestic Product

A country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the total market value of all goods and services in a year.

Countries with a high quality of life earn only a small percentage of their GDP primary industries.

Most of the GDP in countries like Canada come from Tertiary Industries. Why?

Human Development

Human Development is more about creating places in which people are able to lead full and productive lives of their choosing than about how much we are able to produce and consume.

Each year, a report is created to determine the quality of life in every country.

Human Development Index

The United Nations Human Development Index measures things like:

1) Political2) Economic3) Environmental4) Social

Political and Military

1) The number of seats held by women in government.

2) The number of people in the military.

3) Military cost.

Economic

1) What is produced in a country.

2) The value of goods and services received from and provided to the rest of the world.

3) Development assistance to other countries.

4) National unemployment rate.

Environmental

1) Electricity consumption

2) Fuel consumption

3) Carbon dioxide emissions

4) Efforts to protect the environment

Social

1) Health factors (nourishment, life expectancy, disease)

2) Educational factors (Literacy, required schooling, the amount of money spent on education)

3) Living conditions (water sources, sanitation facilities, crime, cell phone and internet)

If countries with high quality of life get most of their money from Tertiary Industry, where would countries with low quality of life would get their money from where?

This relates to the HDI. Countries that score high on the HDI earn most of their money from Tertiary Industry

Countries that score low on the HDI, earn most from Primary Industry.

Primary Industry and the HDI

There are few jobs available in developing countries.

Many workers depend on farming to feed themselves and their families.

They use simple tools and work by hand.

They often produce only enough food to feed their families.

Secondary Industry and HDI

Richer countries have a bigger choice of jobs because of secondary industries.

Richer countries have more money to invest in manufacturing and construction.

Countries with less money cannot invest in manufacturing.

Lower wages can be paid to people in some Asian countries and in Africa.

This is called outsourcing and has attracted major international corporations like Nike in recent years.

It allows them to produce goods in less developed countries to keep costs low.

Lower costs equals higher profits.

Tertiary Industries and the HDI

People who live in countries with lower quality of life have low income levels.

This means that people do not have money to spend on goods.

This means people do not demand services.

Therefore, there are few tertiary industries in less developed countries.

FOR RICHER OR POORER...

It is no secret that there are rich countries and poor countries.

But what makes a country poor?

What makes a country rich?

Who decides???

Economic systems are different everywhere and at different times. Decisions can be made by:

The governmentIndustries and businesses in the countryInstitutions that are important, such as

human rights or environmental groupsIndividuals in the economic system

Are all people in rich countries “rich”?

Are all people in poor countries “poor”?

Is it fair that some countries have so much and others have so little?

All countries have economic resources. They all have land, labour, capital, and technology. Not ALL countries have an equal share of the resources and not all countries organize their resources in the same way.

Material Wealth means that a person has a lot of goods and products. They have fancy cars, big televisions and iPad’s etc.

Non-Material Wealth means that there is protection of human rights, freedom and protection of the environment.

Remember GDP? This is an average of all the wealth in a country. It is all the money in one year divided by all the people in the country.

What are the problems with this method?

There needs to be a method that includes both the material and non-material wealth of countries.

This is where the HDI comes in. It measures material and non-material wealth.

HDI COMPARISONS

Today you will use the atlas and the charts provided to find a pattern with quality of life.

You will need coloured pencils or crayons for class today.

Follow the directions on the handouts provided. You have the whole class to complete the task and must submit the map and final question for a mark out of 20.

What Can Rich Countries Do?

Wealthy countries offer AID to poorer countries to help them establish services that are vital to a good quality of life.

This AID assists in helping poorer countries invest in various projects in their country.

Ensuring countries have good drinking water is a major type of AID wealthy countries provide.

Short term aid helps with food shortages and is temporary.

Long term aid helps build health clinics and schools, help with water supply and developing more effective farming techniques.

Problems With Aid

Providing aid to a less developed country is not always easy.

If a receiving country is corrupt, the aid may not reach those who need it most.

Or, the transport facilities to move aid to those in need may not be adequate.

Types of AID Agencies

There are many types of AID agencies in Canada and around the world.

Red Crescent, CIDA (Canada International Development Agency), Unicef, Amnesty International etc., all raise and donate money to various projects around the world.

CIDA

Goal = to actively reduce poverty by promoting the economic and social well-being of less developed countries around the world.

How??

Development begins with meeting the most basic human needs.

1) Food 2) Clean water3) Good health4) Shelter

The balance of wealth in the world is unequal and unfair. Two factors affect this inequality:

1) More developed countries are in temperate areas of the world. These areas are well suited for agriculture and do not experience extreme climate.

2) The less developed countries were colonized by European countries. This limited economic opportunity for them, but, enhanced the European opportunities.

There are positives though...

1) Poverty is decreasing worldwide.

2) The literacy rate is higher than ever (82%)

3) Life expectancy is increasing with world rate of 65 years.

Still, there are areas that need improvement:

1) Too many people have insufficient health care.

2) Lack of formal education in schools.

3) People have insufficient money.

4) Starvation.