) Using information in Figure 4, and your own knowledge, explain why it is
Difficult to measure development. (10)
The reason why development is so difficult to measure is due to the many factors involved.
Figure 4 shows that the US is ranked top 20 for HDI, Income per capita and energy consumption per capita. However, it is also within the top 90 countries with the highest inequality of income. Firstly, measuring a country's development through the income per capita is not representative of the entire population, as money may be far more concentrated in one area while another group of people are suffering from poverty. This indicator does not provide an accurate way of measuring development as this varies on the distribution of income and the population also.
In addition, the highly-ranked HDI and the income per capita contradict the high level of income inequality in the US. This shows that the country's high GDP is perhaps reliant on the riches of the few, as the income inequality within that country indicates that the development gap is wider than should be.
The HDI indicator in figure 4 fails to show the differences between men and women. For example, women may be oppressed in particular countries and disallowed from continuing / even beginning to be educated within a formal education system. Therefore, it is difficult to use a country’s HDI to gain a clear understanding of how developed the education and healthcare system is – as it gives an average result and doesn’t show differences between men and women.
Using a country’s income per capita does not consider its purchase power parity (PPP). For example, the US may have a high level of income per capita, however, goods and services may correspond with the high wages. This means that there is a possibility that a similar percentage of a person’s income will be spent on necessities in a rich country as well as a ‘poor’. This means...