Essay Sample on the Human Development Index

According to the United Nations Development Programme, the Human Development Index refers to “a summary measure of average achievement in key dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, being knowledgeable and having a decent standard of living. The HDI is the geometric mean of normalized indices for each of the three dimensions”. The HDI has been calculated by Leandro Prados de la Escosura, an Economic History Professor from the University of Madrid, with his research dating back to 1870. The main purpose of the creation and use of the Human Development Index is to compare and measure the three components that make up our everyday lives: health, education, and the standard of living. The contents of the Human Development Index are composed of the micro-topics from the three main components: life expectancy at birth, expected years of schooling, mean years of schooling, and the Gross National Income per capita.

Within the category of health, the main component that is measured is the life expectancy across the world. The measurement of life expectancy allows for countries around the world to measure the population’s health, along with determining which countries have the lowest mortality rates. When this information was first being recorded and studied, it is estimated that the life expectancy across the world in the 1800s was 30 years old. This is because in every country, there was little to no medical knowledge, people were living in extreme poverty, as well as prone to illness and malnourishment; which a majority of the time, resulted in an early death. 

Overtime, we as a society have substantially evolved, and by 1950, the life expectancy in Norway was 72 years old, while in Mali it was only 26. The life expectancy in poorer, underdeveloped countries is significantly lower, due to the dangerous living conditions, combined with the lack of advancements in technology and medicine. Gathering this data establishes the ability to compare other countries to each other, to determine which countries have a lower number of poverty and mortality, which leads to the number of countries struggling to save their citizens. Throughout the previous two centuries, the life expectancy numbers dramatically increased from 30 to 72 years old, through the medical, technological, and economic advancements. 

The second component within the Human Development Index is access to education, which is measured by the expected years of schooling per child, as well as the mean years of schooling a child receives. In 1820, it was estimated by the United Nations Development Programme that in people aged 15 years and older, 87.95% of the world’s population was illiterate and had received no education. Despite those challenging numbers to turn around, by 2012, 85.36% of the world's population was literate. It is important to note, that while the percentage of literate people across the world is relatively high, in underdeveloped countries, particularly South Sudan, Mali, and Niger, the literacy rate is scarcely 28.7%. By the use of the data that has been collected over the span of the past two decades, we have the ability to see how third world countries are extensively struggling with increasing their numbers of literate citizens, regardless of  the fact that percentages are higher than ever in all other countries across the world. According to the data projections from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, it is predicted that by 2050, only 0.05% of the population in the United States will have no formal education, and in Mali, the percentage will be 33.73%, compared to 93.4% in 1975.

In addition to the growing rate of educated individuals across the world, the education component also measures the percentage of school enrollment and attendance, which is collected by individual families, as well as data contributions from public schooling institutions. While there was little to no collection of data from a majority of the more economically expansive countries, in 2015, third world countries, such as Niger, Liberia, and the Central African Republic, the total percentage of the amount of students attending school was only 47%, but in comparison to the 35% in 2000, it is a significant increase. In today’s day in age, the world is more educated than previously reported in history, and the numbers of students attending school is continually expanding, through the acceptance of women staying in school, and students over the age of fifteen attending classes. 

In the past two centuries education across the world has been highly promoted and rising, as the benefits are appreciated and the need for schooling are in demand. In 1998, it is estimated that 381 million children globally were not attending school, but by 2014, the number dropped tremendously to 263. In the primary school years, it is more common that boys attend school more than girls, but by secondary schooling years, more boys are not attending school than girls.  The Barro-Lee Data Set has collected data on the numbers on the mean years of schooling across the world, and they have determined that the rise in schooling is related to the direct effects of the increase in government provisions, as well as the increase in need for education, through the rising competitive job markets. 

The standard of living in the Human Development Index is measured by the Gross National Income per capita. Before the rise and increase in the world’s economy at the beginning of our history, the standard of living for the people on Earth meant functioning in poor conditions, malnourishment, little to no access to education, and dangerous health conditions. As seen in data collected from 1870 to 2015, Leandro Prados de la Escosura reports that there is an extreme correlation that connects richer and more stable countries to having a higher Historical Index of Human Development. The measurement of income per country is used within the data as a way to determine the way a person lives, and their access to essential resources for daily life. The Gross National Income numbers fluctuate and change overtime, due to inflation and the differences in currency across the world. As reported by the World Bank, in 1990, the Gross National Income for North America was $39,729, whilst South Asia’s Gross National Income was only $1,893. In 2019, the numbers shifted dramatically, as North America’s Gross National Income was $62,268, while South Asia’s Gross National Income was $6,204. 

The Historical Index of Human Development, as created by Leandro Prados de la Escosura, provides an accurate insight on the measurements of living, with his research dating back to 1870. The Historical Index of Human Development is very similar to the Human Development Index, but the The Historical Index of Human Development uses four categories of measurement, rather than three. Because of this, countries typically score higher on the Human Development Index, being that there are only three categories of living to be scored out of. 

The Human Development Index allows for a measure on how the human race has progressed, and what changes we need to make to enhance the lives of millions, and to make living an easier and enjoyable experience. Although we as a society have progressed through time, as we have reviewed in the data recorded by each country, a tremendous amount of change has been made to enhance lives, but there is still a long way to go to make the quality of life better for all. 

Works Cited

“Human Development Reports.” Human Development Index (HDI) | Human Development Reports, United Nations Development Programme, https://hdr.undp.org/en/content/human-development-index-hdi. 

Ravallion, Martin. “Valuing Longevity in the Human Development Index.” VOX, CEPR Policy Portal, 23 Jan. 2011, https://voxeu.org/article/valuing-longevity-human-development-index. 

Roser, Max, and Esteban Ortiz-Ospina. “Global Education.” Our World in Data, Global Change Data Lab, 31 Aug. 2016, https://ourworldindata.org/global-education. 

Roser, Max, et al. “Life Expectancy.” Our World in Data, Global Change Data Lab, 23 May 2013, https://ourworldindata.org/life-expectancy. 

Roser, Max. “Human Development Index (HDI).” Our World in Data, Global Change Data Lab, 25 July 2014, https://ourworldindata.org/human-development-index.