Human development (economics) facts for kids

Human development is all about making people's lives better and giving them more choices. It's not just about how much money a country makes. Instead, it focuses on things like people living long, healthy lives, getting a good education, and having a decent standard of living. It also includes having political freedom and respecting human rights.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) says human development is about "enlarging people's choices." This means giving everyone the chance to do and be what they value in life. It's about building "human capabilities"—the skills and opportunities people have.

History of Human Development

The idea of human development has been around for a long time. Ancient thinkers like Aristotle believed that wealth was just a tool, not the main goal. Later, economists like Adam Smith and Karl Marx also thought about what people could achieve.

In the 1980s, the idea became very important thanks to the work of Amartya Sen. He focused on "human capabilities," which helped him win the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998. Other important people who helped shape this idea were Mahbub ul Haq and Üner Kirdar. Their work led to the creation of the Human Development Index (HDI) for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Later, Martha Nussbaum helped people think more about the "human" side of development, including feelings and emotions. Other experts, like Manfred Max-Neef, looked at basic human needs that stay the same across different times and places.

Some experts, like Diane Elson, have also suggested that human development should consider how social structures and culture affect people's choices. This means understanding that people's lives are shaped by many things, including their age, gender, and family roles.

How We Measure Human Development

One main way to measure human development is with the Human Development Index (HDI). The United Nations Development Programme created it. This index looks at a few key things:

• How long people are expected to live (their life expectancy at birth).
• How much education people get (measured by years of schooling).
• The average income per person in a country (gross national income per capita).

Even though the HDI doesn't measure every single part of human well-being, it's a good way to compare human development across different countries. For example, it doesn't count things like staying home to raise children or trading goods without money.

Other ways to measure human development include the Human Poverty Index (HPI) and the Gender Empowerment Measure. These tools help us understand different parts of how people are developing.

Six Pillars of Human Development

There are six main ideas, or "pillars," that support human development:

• Equity: This means fairness for everyone, no matter if they are a man or a woman. Everyone should have the right to education and health care.
• Sustainability: This is about making sure people can earn a living that supports their lives. It also means sharing resources more fairly so that future generations can also thrive.
• Productivity: This means that everyone should be able to take part in creating income and wealth. Governments also need good programs to help their people.
• Empowerment: This is about people having the freedom to make choices and influence decisions that affect their own lives.
• Cooperation: This means working together and belonging to communities and groups. It helps people learn from each other and feel connected.
• Security: This means people should have opportunities to develop freely and safely. They should feel confident that their future won't suddenly disappear.

Human Development and Human Rights

Human development and human rights are very closely connected. Both aim for human freedom. For example, people need to be free to make their own choices and be part of decisions that affect them.

Imagine a place where people have long lives and good education, but no freedom. That wouldn't be true human development. So, human development and human rights support each other. They help make sure everyone has well-being, dignity, and self-respect.

In today's world, with fast globalization, human rights often come up when we talk about big companies and poverty. The idea of human development highlights the need for education, better working conditions, and more choices for individuals. These ideas go hand-in-hand with human rights. For example, the right to education helps people develop their minds, and political rights help a society develop politically.

Human Development and Health

The way a society develops can either help or harm people's health, which then affects human development. Health issues often involve diseases and poverty.

In 2006, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a report about preventing diseases through healthy environments. Everyone in the world faces environmental health issues and wealth problems. While development can bring new cures and hope, it can also have side effects like pollution. It can also create a bigger gap between the rich and the poor.

Achieving good health is very important for successful development and for reducing poverty. For example, diseases like HIV/AIDS and malaria have made development harder and increased poverty in many places, especially in Africa.

Human Development Reports

The Global Human Development Reports (HDR) are published every year by the UNDP. These reports include the Human Development Index (HDI). They also have other important indexes like the Gender-related Development Index and the Human Poverty Index.

Besides the global reports, there are also regional and national reports. These reports look at human development in different ways, depending on the specific needs of each area. For example, in the United States, an organization called Measure of America publishes reports using an "American Human Development Index." This index uses slightly different ways to measure the same basic things, but it's made to fit the U.S. context.

The Human Development Index helps countries see where they might need to improve their policies. Even though releasing this information is meant to encourage changes, it's up to each country to decide if and how they will act on it.

The Human Development Index (HDI)

HDI trends

OECD      Central and eastern Europe, and the CIS      Latin America and the Caribbean      East Asia

Arab States      South Asia      Sub-Saharan Africa

The Human Development Index (HDI) is a way to measure life expectancy, education, and per capita income for countries around the world. It's a better way to measure well-being, especially for children, and how much human development is happening. Even though it tries to make human development simple, it's actually much more complex than any single number can show.

For example, the 2007 report showed that the world's HDI went up a little. This was mostly because developing countries, especially the poorest ones, improved. However, the HDI in richer countries actually went down a bit.

Human Poverty Index (HPI)

To show what the Human Development Index might miss, the United Nations introduced the Human Poverty Index (HPI) in 1997. The HPI looks at what's lacking in the three main areas of the HDI: a long and healthy life, knowledge, and a decent standard of living. The HPI gives a wider view of human development and can even be used in developed countries to show social exclusion.

Social Progress Index

The Social Progress Index is another measure that combines different factors. It looks at things like social well-being, equality, personal freedom, and how sustainable a society is.

Global Goals for Human Development

The United Nations holds special meetings called Earth Summits every ten years to promote human development. At these summits, countries discuss the world's biggest problems and create plans to solve them. One such plan was Agenda 21, which aimed to make sure humanity would still be around after the year 2100. Many cities and organizations now follow this plan.

As the year 2000 approached, the UN created the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These were a set of goals to be achieved by 2015 to boost human development. Because these goals were seen as successful, a new program was created called the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Education and Human Development

Education is a huge part of human development. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by the United Nations in 2015, includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). One of these, SDG 4, is all about education. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) leads the work on SDG 4. They create projects, agreements, and events to improve education worldwide.

Since 1909, more and more children in developing countries have been going to school. By the early 2000s, most children in many parts of the world were attending some kind of school. By 2016, over 91 percent of children were enrolled in primary school.

However, there's a new challenge called a "learning crisis." This means that even though many students are in school, they aren't always learning enough. A study found that "53 percent of children in low- and middle-income countries cannot read and understand a simple story by the end of primary school." So, while more kids are going to school, learning hasn't kept up.

One of the original Millennium Development Goals was Universal Primary Education (UPE). While progress has been made, there are still challenges. Getting enough money from donors can be hard. Also, political corruption in education can stop progress, especially in Africa. Sometimes, parents in developing countries prefer their children to earn money right away instead of getting a long-term education.

Experts say that better planning and management in education can help the whole system. This means that:

• Countries should lead their own education plans.
• Strategies should fit the local situation.
• Plans should use different approaches together.
• Partners should commit to helping for a long time.
• Outside help should be based on how it will affect national education.

See also

In Spanish: Desarrollo humano para niños

• Human security
• International development
• Progress
• Social change