Human Development Index and Gender Inequality Index: Critical Overview of Importance

NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.

NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.

Most important dimensions of development

The most familiar dimensions of development are Economic Development, Social Development, Political development, and Environmental Development. But according to me, the most important ones are Economic Development and Social Development.

Economic Development

Economic growth is a subset of economic development. In simplest terms, economic growth refers to an increase in aggregate production in an economy (1). Generally, economic growth is thought about as the results of various functions like physical capital, labor capital, and human capital. The more the number of labor forces and raw materials, the more would be the number of goods produced, thereby increasing the economic output. It is conventionally measured as the percent rate of increase in real gross domestic product, or real GDP (2). Economic growth can also be thought about as an increase in the production of goods and services in a specific country. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is an indicator of a country’s economic growth. However, GDP tends to measure only the developmental aspect such as the financial gain or the income of people but does not encompass the black market or individuals receiving their incomes from family labor or prohibited activities.

Social Development

Social Development is mainly concerned with raising the well-being of each and every individual in a society so that they are able to reach their full capability. Therefore, Social Development is closely connected with Human Development. Social Development means uplifting the people and improving their standard of living and quality of life. Human Development can be outlined as the enlargement of people’s section in a way that they are able to live healthier, longer, and fuller lives. Therefore, this dimension, Human Development, so implies at achieving economic development through enhancements in various fields such as education, healthcare, the standard of living, happiness, and numerous different aspects of human welfare or well-being. According to Ranis et al. (2000), human development and economic growth reinforce each other (3). Proof gathered unconcealed that human development needs sequencing priority when viewing at human development and economic progress. It is therefore viewed that human development stands out to be multi-dimensional because it includes per capita income (GDP), life expectance, and education.

proof gathered unconcealed that human development needs sequencing priority once watching the linkage between human development and economic process. Adequate human capital sustains the economic process. it’s so viewed that human development stands bent on be multi-dimensional as a result of it includes per capita financial gain (GDP), life expectance, and education. The criticism that arises for the human development dimension is that it doesn’t appear to handle the matter issue of difference discrimination. According to UNDP (1990, p. 10), however, the human development multi-dimensional approach preferably addresses a more comprehensive development measure by considering three essential choices of people namely, to lead a long and healthy life, to acquire knowledge, and to have resources that enable a good standard of living.(4)

it’s instructed that it’d be a lot of informative if different aspects were incorporated for every one of the 3 elements thought of within the human development index (Sagar & Najam, 1997, p. 263). Secondly, it doesn’t appear to live changes in indicators that area unit long run in nature (such as those of life expectance). in line with UNDP (1990, p. 10), however, the human development multi-dimensional approach ideally addresses a lot of comprehensive development live by considering 3 essential selections of individuals specifically, to guide an extended and healthy life, to accumulate data, and to own resources that change a decent customary of living.

Most important indicators

According to me the most two important indicators of economic development from the mentioned table are:

a. Gender Inequality Index (GII)
b. Human Development Index (HDI)

Gender Inequality Index (GII)

Gender Equality remains a serious barrier to human development. Women and girls have created major strides since 1990, however, they have not acquired gender equity. The Gender Difference Index, which addresses the key criticisms of previous measures, is exclusive of crucial problems with academic attainment, economic and political participation, and generative health problems and in accounting for overlapping inequalities at the national level. As such, it represents a very important advance on existing international measures of gender equity. Measures of the disadvantages for females raise awareness of issues, allowing the observation of progress towards gender equity objectives. The Gender Inequality Index is intended to reveal the extent to which the conclusion of a country’s human development potential is curtailed by gender difference, and provides empirical foundations for policy analysis and support efforts. Gender Inequality Index (GII) is a metric introduced by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 2010 that shows the proportion of potential human development loss because of gender discrimination and ranges from zero representing “no lost opportunity” to one representing complete opportunity loss. The index was developed to mask the defect of two already developed indices: Gender Development Index (GDI) and Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM), each of which was developed in 1995. Gender Inequality Index (GII) encompasses three dimensions that are: generative health, empowerment, and labor market inclusion.

Human Development Index (HDI)

With respect to the above-mentioned indicators, the Human Development Index (HDI) also seems to be the foremost and most helpful indicator in characterizing the chosen dimensions. According to Sen (1984, p. 513-515), development is a process by which the freedoms that people enjoy are expanded. These freedoms involve access to basic human needs (such as food and shelter), people’s well-being, and social-economic growth (6). Development is thus perceived as more than just economic progress or economic growth. The human development index is thus chosen as the most helpful indicator in this case as it incorporates a relatively more comprehensive coverage of aspects of development in relevance to Sen’s (1984) definition of development. According to the Human Development Report (2016), the HDI is “a summary measure of achievements in three key dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, access to knowledge, and a decent standard of living” (7). it’s accepted that to attain long and healthy life, access to expertise, and a good measure of living, there must be the proper infrastructure for health facilities, education facilities, and employment opportunities reciprocally. This advocates a link between economic progress through industrialization and human development.

Analysis of lower-income country – Nepal

The human development index for Nepal is observed to fall under the medium category among the other countries globally. The table below shows some changes that have occurred in the HDI between 1990 – 2017.

Table 1. Table of HDI by country source: http://hdr.undp.org/en/composite/HDI
Figure 1. Showing trend in HDI for Nepal from 1990 to 2018 Source: http://hdr.undp.org/
Table 2. Nepal’s HDI trends are based on consistent time series data and new goalposts source http://hdr.undp.org/
Figure 2. Nepal’s GDP Per Capita growth (Annual %) Source: https://data.worldbank.org/
Table 3. Life Expectancy in Nepal source: http://hdr.undp.org/
Table 4. GNI per capita (PPP $) for Nepal Source: http://hdr.undp.org/en/indicators/141706

Nepal’s HDI value for 2017 was 0.574 due to which the country falls under the medium human development grade, standing at the 149th position out of 189 counties and territories around the globe. Between the years 1990 and 2017 Nepal’s HDI value expanded from 0.378 to 0.574, with an overall increase of 51.9 percent. Also, between the mentioned two years, 1990 and 2017, Nepal’s life expectancy at birth showed an increase of 16.3 years, and the average years of schooling showed an increase of 2.9. Nepal’s GNI per capita increased by about 111.6 percent between 1990 and 2017. Since the year 1990 to 2017, there has been a consistent increase in the life expectancy figures for Nepal.

Figure 3. Index Comparison source: http://hdr.undp.org/

Comparing the progress of other countries

According to World Bank Data, Nepal falls under the category of South Asia with other countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India Maldives, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka (9). The human development progress, as measured by the HDI, can usefully be compared to other countries. For instance, during the years between 1990 and 2017 Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan experienced completely different degrees of progress toward increasing their HDI as in figure 4.

Figure 4. HDI trends for Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, 1990-2017. source: http://hdr.undp.org/sites/all/themes/hdr_theme/country-notes/NPL.pdf

Nepal’s 2017 HDI of 0.574 is below the average of 0.645 for countries in the medium human development group and below the average of 0.638 for countries in South Asia. From South Asia, countries that are close to Nepal in 2017 HDI rank and to some extent in population size are Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, which have HDIs ranked 168 and 76 respectively as shown in the below table.

Table 3. Nepal’s HDI and component indicators for 2017 relative to selected countries and groups source: http://hdr.undp.org/sites/all/themes/hdr_theme/country-notes/NPL.pdf

Nepal’s HDI for 2017 was 0.574. However, when the rate is modified for inequality, the HDI falls to 0.427, a loss of 25.6 percent thanks to the difference within the distribution of the HDI dimension indices. Afghanistan and Sri Lanka show losses due to inequality of 29.6 percent and 13.8 percent respectively. The average loss due to inequality for medium HDI countries is 25.1 percent and for South Asia, it is 26.1 percent. The Human inequality coefficient for Nepal is equal to 24.6 percent.

An increase in the gross domestic product per capita (income) results from industry manufacturing that brings about additional merchandise and services in addition to employment opportunities from which individuals will have a supply of livelihood. It is also conjointly acknowledged that in the circumstances of consuming the resources to yield goods and services, the concepts of diminishing returns and marginal product on employment comes into the picture. The HDI graph in figure 1 appears to reverberate these notions. Life expectance in, table 3, is seen to have a regular boost although at various rates, after the GDP per capita picked up. This ends up in population increase thanks to doable reduced mortality. In relevance to the two-sector models, a population increase tends to cause a potential increase in labor quantity provided that there are restricted resources. The resulting increase in labor resources eventually leads to unemployment in the given country rendering the population to reduced incomes therefore eventually creating challenging situations for them to access their basic needs to maintain their health. The HDI as a behavior of life expectancy at birth (life expectancy index), information (education index), and standard of living (GNI index) shows a trend characteristic of the two-sector models of development. It’s however conjointly argued that a general expansion in the financial gain doesn’t essentially account for the development however thought on the equality of distribution of such financial gains does. The human development index, in this case, doesn’t contemplate equality or discrimination in the financial gain distribution and therefore the hidden details of such data might possibly be also committing to the visible changes in life expectance and overall HDI.

References:

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/economicgrowth.asp
Statistics on the Growth of the Global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 2003 to 2013, IMF, October 2012.
Ranis, G., Stewart, F. & Ramirez, A. (2000). Economic Growth and Human Development. World Development, 28(2), 197-219. Retrieved from https://ac-els-cdn-com.ezproxy.lincoln.ac.nz/S0305750X9900131X/1-s2.0-S0305750X9900131X-main.pdf?_tid=d9bba762-d240-11e7-8ada-00000aacb362&acdnat=1511656343_3737b4f23e5998c90ad33339a06de2ec
UNDP. (1990). Human Development Report 1990. New York. The USA. Retrieved from http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/219/hdr_1990_en_complete_nostats.pdf
Amie Gaye & Jeni Klugman & Milorad Kovacevic & Sarah Twigg & Eduardo Zambrano, 2010.’Measuring Key Disparities in Human Development: The Gender Inequality Index, ‘Human Development Research Papers (2009 to present) HDRP-2010-46, Human Development Report Office (HDRO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Sen, A. (1984). Development as a Freedom. New York: USA
UNDP. (2016). Human Development Report 2016. Human Development for Everyone. New York. The USA. Retrieved from http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/2016_human_development_report.pdf
http://hdr.undp.org/sites/all/themes/hdr_theme/country-notes/NPL.pdf
https://data.worldbank.org/region/south-asia?view=chart

Appendix

source: http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/gender-inequality-index-gii
source: http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/human-development-index-hdi
source: http://hdr.undp.org/en/2018-update
source: http://hdr.undp.org/
source: http://hdr.undp.org/

Click Here To Order Now!