HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX

ANTONY MICHAELINE PRAVEEN

CONTENTS

 Human development index  Dimensions  Measurement  Human development report 2009  HDI trends  Human poverty in India  Comparisons within countries

The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite statistic used to rank countries by level of "human development" and separate developed (high development), developing (middle development), and underdeveloped (low development) countries. The statistic is composed from data on life expectancy, education and per-capita GDP (as an indicator of standard of living) collected at the national level using the formula Three dimensions in the HDI The HDI combines three dimensions:
y y

Life expectancy at birth, as an index of population health and longevity Knowledge and education, as measured by the adult literacy rate (with two-thirds weighting) and the combined primary, secondary, and tertiary gross enrollment ratio (with one-third weighting). Standard of living, as indicated by the natural logarithm of gross domestic product per capita at purchasing power parity.

Measurement The calculation of life existency is LE - 25 / 85-25 Calculate dimension indices. These are calculatedusing the formula: Dimension Index = actual value minimum value /maximum value minimum value Each difference in indicator value from its minimum is divided by its range (Max - Min), using fixed values or goal posts in order to get unit free numbers. They also have the nice property of varying between 0 and 1. Human Development Report 2009 India The Human Development Index - going beyond income Each year since 1990 the Human Development Report has published the human development index (HDI) which looks beyond GDP to a broader definition of well-being. The HDI provides a composite measure of three dimensions of human development: living a long and healthy life (measured by life expectancy), being educated (measured by adult literacy and gross enrolment in education) and having a decent standard of living (measured by purchasing power parity, PPP, income). The index is not in any sense a comprehensive measure of human development. It does not, for example, include important indicators such as gender or income inequality nor more difficult to measure concepts like respect for human rights and political freedoms. What it does

provide is a broadened prism for viewing human progress and the complex relationship between income and well-being. Of the components of the HDI, only income and gross enrolment are somewhat responsive to short term policy changes. For that reason, it is important to examine changes in the human development index over time. The human development index trends tell an important story in that respect. Between 1980 and 2007 India's HDI rose by 1.33% annually from 0.427 to 0.612 today. HDI scores in all regions have increased progressively over the years (Figure 1) although all have experienced periods of slower growth or even reversals. Figure 1: HDI Trends

This year's HDI, which refers to 2007, highlights the very large gaps in well-being and life chances that continue to divide our increasingly interconnected world. The HDI for India is 0.612, which gives the country a rank of 134th out of 182 countries with data (Table 1).

Table 1: Indias human development index 2007 HDI value Combined Life expectancy at Adult literacy rate gross enrolment GDP per birth (% ages 15 and (PPP US$) ratio (years) above) (%) 1. Georgia (100.0) capita

1. Norway (0.971) 1. Japan (82.7)

1. Australia 1. Liechtenstein (114.2) (85,382) 126. Cape Verde (3,041)

132. (0.619)

118. Congo 132. Bhutan 126. Turkmenistan (Democratic Madagascar Republic of the) (64.6) (61.3) (67.2)

133. Lao People's 127. Lao People's Democratic Democratic 119. Egypt (66.4) Republic (0.619) Republic (64.6) 134. India (0.612) 128. India (63.4) 120. India (66.0)

133. Trinidad 127. and Tobago (2,782) (61.1) 134. (61.0) India

Guyana

128. India (2,753) Nam

135. Solomon 135. Morocco 129. Viet 129. Yemen (62.5) 121. Ghana (65.0) Islands (0.610) (61.0) (2,600) 136. (0.601) Congo 130. Togo (62.2) 122. (64.9) Rwanda 136. (60.8) Nepal 130. (2,570)

Nicaragua

182. Niger (0.340)

176. Afghanistan 151. Mali (26.2) (43.6)

181. Congo 177. Djibouti (Democratic Republic of the) (25.5) (298)

By looking at some of the most fundamental aspects of peoples lives and opportunities the HDI provides a much more complete picture of a country's development than other indicators, such GDP per capita. Figure 2 illustrates that countries on the same level of HDI can have very different levels of income or that countries with similar levels of income can have very different HDIs.

Figure 2: The human development index gives a more complete picture than income

Human poverty: focusing on the most deprived in multiple dimensions of poverty The HDI measures the average progress of a country in human development. The Human Poverty Index (HPI-1), focuses on the proportion of people below certain threshold levels in each of the dimensions of the human development index - living a long and healthy life, having access to education, and a decent standard of living. By looking beyond income deprivation, the HPI-1 represents a multi-dimensional alternative to the $1.25 a day (PPP US$) poverty measure. The HPI-1 value of 28.0% for India, ranks 88th among 135 countries for which the index has been calculated. The HPI-1 measures severe deprivation in health by the proportion of people who are not expected to survive to age 40. Education is measured by the adult illiteracy rate. And a decent standard of living is measured by the unweighted average of people not using an improved water source and the proportion of children under age 5 who are underweight for their age. Table 2 shows the values for these variables for India and compares them to other countries.

Table 2: Selected indicators of human poverty for India Probability of not Adult illiteracy rate People not using an Children Human Poverty surviving to age (%ages 15 and improved water underweight for age Index (HPI-1) 40 (%) above) source (%) (% aged under 5) 1. Hong Kong, 1. Czech China (SAR) 1. Georgia (0.0) Republic (1.5) (1.4) 86. Djibouti 103. (25.6) (13.9) 87. Cambodia 104. (27.7) (14.2) 89. (28.1) 90. (28.2) Ghana 106. (15.6) 1. Barbados (0) 1. Croatia (1)

118. Congo Bolivia (Democratic 74. Kyrgyzstan (11) 135. Yemen (46) Republic of the) (32.8) Bhutan 119. Egypt (33.6) 75. Syrian Arab 136. Republic (11) (46) 76. India (11) 77. China (12) 138. (48) Timor-Leste

88. India (28.0) 105. India (15.5) 120. India (34.0) Yemen 121. Ghana (35.0)

137. India (46) Bangladesh

Malawi 107. Papua New 122. Rwanda (35.1) 78. Samoa (12) Guinea (15.9) 153. (47.4) Lesotho 151. Mali (73.8) 150. (78) Afghanistan

135. Afghanistan (59.8)

India has showed no progress in its ranking among countries on the human development index, according to the latest Human Development Report, for the year 2007, released today by the United Nations Development Programme. However Indias average annual growth rates for literacy, life expectancy and income have been moving up slowly. India continues to rank 134 among 182 countries. But, between 1980 and 2007, has seen a rise in life expectancy at birth by approximately eight years, in adult literacy by 25 percentage points and an increase in combined gross school enrolment by 20 percentage points. GDP per capita also increased by 199 per cent. This marks a slow annual human development growth rate of 1.33 per cent. India ranked 134 among 182 countries in 2007, the same as the ranking for 2006, which was released last year. Pakistan moved up one rank to 141, China moved up seven ranks to 92 and Bangladesh moved up two ranks to 146, compared to last years rankings.

As for the human development index, India started with 0.427 in 1980, moved to 0.453 in 1985, 0.489 in 1990, 0.511 in 1995, 0.556 in 2000, 0.596 in 2005, 0.604 in 2006 and was at 0.612 in 2007. There has been a 1.36 per cent increase between 2000 and 2007, according to the UNDP report. China, ranked at 99, progressed from a mere 0.533 in 1980 to 0.772 in 2007. Pakistan languishes at 0.572, while Bangladesh is at 0.543. Bhutan is better off at 0.619. The authors of the report, however, point out that progress in basic HDI for India has been consistent over the past 27 years. The country registered progress in most of its underlying indicators between 1980 and 2007, like life expectancy at birth, adult literacy and combined gross enrolment. The report also measures India on the Human Poverty Index (HPI) and finds it ranks 88th among 135 countries.

REFERENCES hdr.undp.org wikepedia.com