Standard of Living
Pg 29- 34
Standard of Living:
• Refers to the level of material comfort
people experience (e.g., food, shelter,
transport).
• High standard: Rich individuals or
developed countries; easy, comfortable
lives.
1. Standards of • Low standard: Poor individuals or less
Living vs developed areas; harder living conditions.
Lifestyles • Governments can improve standards of
living through infrastructure, healthcare,
and education.
Lifestyle:
• Refers to the way people choose to live
their lives, not their wealth.
• Examples include academic, social, or
entrepreneurial lifestyles.
• Two people with similar income may have 2
very different lifestyles.
2. Societies – Self Sufficient,
Modern and Rural
Modern Societies:
Self-sufficient Societies: •Rely on money and specialized jobs.
•Provide for their own •People produce specific goods/services, earn
needs—no buying or money, and buy what they need.
selling.
•Individual ownership is common, with a clear
•Depend on natural division of labor.
resources and manual
labor.
Rural Societies:
•Practice bartering
instead of using money. •A mix of self-sufficient and modern
characteristics.
•Live communally, with
traditional gender roles. •May still include communal elements but also
require money for modern goods.
•Some rural areas have access to modern
facilities, while others remain more traditional.
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3. Impact of Development 4. Unemployment
Positive: •Economic growth creates job opportunities and
•Economic development increases income lowers unemployment.
and improves standards of living. •When development slows, job creation declines,
increasing unemployment.
•It leads to better infrastructure, services,
•In South Africa (2015), 25% of people seeking jobs
and opportunities. were unemployed.
Negative:
•Long-term unemployment can worsen poverty and
•Pollution from factories, vehicles, and reduce standards of living.
waste.
•Overuse of energy, especially from
harmful sources like coal and oil. 5. Productive Use of Resources to
•Unsustainable resource use, such as Promote a Healthy Environment
deforestation and overfishing.
•Balance is key: we need development and environmental
•Overpopulation, which stresses natural
protection.
resources. •Development should be sustainable and resource-efficient.
•Environmental degradation, including •Use clean, renewable energy like wind and water instead of
loss of biodiversity and soil erosion. fossil fuels.
•Reduce pollution and waste, and practice birth control to
manage population growth.
•Protect ecosystems and natural habitats for future generations.
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• Economic development changed the lifestyles of
individuals and communities.
• Self-sufficient societies are able to provide
everything they need for themselves, with no
outside help.
• Standard of living refers to how poorly or well
people live.
• Economic development raised the standard of
Summary of topic living across the world so people live more
comfortably today.
• This happened through industrialization and this
can be really detrimental to the environment.
• We tend to over-use and deplete resources and
pollution has increased a lot.
• Unemployment is a huge obstacle to economic
development. It affects production, support of
other businesses and the standard of living, in a
very bad way. 5
