We explain what living conditions are and what factors they depend on. Also, its indicators and areas.
What are living conditions?
The living conditions or quality of life of the statistical indicators used to study the specific way people live within the framework of a specific moment and society.
That is, both terms are used to refer to the objective, measurable and verifiable aspects of human existence in society, which can be used to know if a person (or a group of them) lives better or worse.
From a strict point of view, we should understand by living conditions the ways in which people live, and by quality of life the evaluation of these ways with respect to a scale of values, that is, how well they allow them to live. to people said conditions evaluated. However, these two terms are often used as synonyms, especially when it comes to statistical or population analyses.
The living conditions depend on multiple factors, which can be social, economic, political, cultural and health. For this reason, in the same country people lead very different lives in terms of their objective conditions, which constitutes a challenge for their governments to overcome: trying to ensure that the entire population lives in the best possible conditions.
To evaluate living conditions, five different areas of human existence in society are usually analyzed:
- physical well-being which has to do with health, nutrition and protection against agents harmful to health.
- material well-being which has to do with economic income, having a roof over your head and having your own belongings, as well as means of transportation available.
- Social welfare which has to do with fundamental personal relationships, such as the existence of a family support network, important friendships, or a community to join.
- emotional well-being which has to do with mental health and self-esteem, protection from abuse and free spiritual or religious practice.
However, There is no universal indicator to measure living conditions of people, which is why it is often linked to other more objective indicators, such as GDP per capita or, better yet, the Human Development Index (HDI): an indicator that takes into account both life expectancy and GDP per capita, like the education margins in the country.
All these indicators have the purpose of comparing models and living conditions between countries and/or regions. Other possible indicators are the Katz Index, the CAT Health, the Spitzer Quality of Life Index or the Karnofsky Scale.
Regardless of how they are measured, people's living conditions have a direct impact on their future development and even their life expectancy dear.
A homeless person, without a job that allows him to cover his needs and without an emotional support network that allows him to maintain his sanity, will probably live a short and helpless life, regardless of what the world has to offer to those he cares about. change objective conditions of life that are more benevolent.
The ideal, in this sense, would be for humanity to reduce as much as possible the gap in the quality of life between the different social classes: for people, despite being poor, to have the minimum conditions necessary to obtain through their efforts the due rewards and thus move towards more equitable societies.
Many States contribute to this through charitable or social aid policies aimed at remedying the immediate consequences of the harsh living conditions of some: employment plans, subsidies for basic services, products with agreed prices, free education institutions, etc. .
Continue with: Social health
References
- “Quality of life” on Wikipedia.
- “What is quality of life?” by María Galván at the Autonomous University of Mexico.
- “Living conditions” at the Health and Environment Observatory of Andalusia (Spain).
- “Quality of life” in Conicet Mendoza (Argentina).
