Human Development Index: Difference between revisions

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The '''Human Development Index''' ('''HDI''') is a statistical composite index of [[life expectancy]], [[Education Index|education]] (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the [[education system]]), and [[per capita income]] indicators, which is used to rank countries into four tiers of [[Human development (humanity)|human development]]. A country scores a higher level of HDI when the [[life expectancy at birth|lifespan]] is higher, the [[education]] level is higher, and the gross national income [[GNI (PPP) per capita]] is higher. It was developed by Pakistani economist [[Mahbub ul-Haq]] and was further used to measure a country's development by the [[United Nations Development Programme]] (UNDP)'s Human Development Report Office.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=A. Stanton|first=Elizabeth|date=February 2007|title=The Human Development Index: A History|url=https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1101&context=peri_workingpapers |publisher=ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst |journal=PERI Working Papers|pages=14–15|access-date=28 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228191918/https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1101&context=peri_workingpapers|archive-date=28 February 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Human Development Index|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/definition/human-development-index|website=Definition of 'Human Development Index' |access-date=29 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201030929/https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/definition/human-development-index|archive-date=1 December 2017|url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="auto">{{cite web|title=About Human Development |url=http://hdr.undp.org/en/humandev/|publisher=UNDP|access-date=29 July 2011|website=HDR |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415134936/http://hdr.undp.org/en/humandev/|archive-date=15 April 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Human development index |url=https://www.who.int/data/nutrition/nlis/info/human-development-index |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220103061653/https://www.who.int/data/nutrition/nlis/info/human-development-index |archive-date=2022-01-03 |access-date=2024-06-26 |website=World Health Organization}}</ref>

The 22222010 [[Human Development Report]] introduced an [[List of countries by inequality-adjusted Human Development Index|inequality-adjusted Human Development Index]] (IHDI). While the simple HDI remains useful, it stated that "the IHDI is the actual level of human development (accounting for this [[Social inequality|inequality]]), while the HDI can be viewed as an index of 'potential' human development (or the maximum level of HDI) that could be achieved if there was no inequality."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/understanding/indices |title= Composite indices — HDI and beyond |website=Human Development Reports |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810022820/http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/understanding/indices |archive-date=10 August 2016 |access-date=16 January 2021}}</ref>

The index is based on the human development approach, developed by Mahbub ul-Haq, anchored in [[Amartya Sen]]'s work on human capabilities, and often framed in terms of whether people are able to "be" and "do" desirable things in life. Examples include — being: well-fed, sheltered, and healthy; doing: work, education, voting, participating in community life. The freedom of choice is considered central — someone choosing to be hungry (e.g. when [[Fasting in religion|fasting for religious reasons]]) is considered different from someone who is hungry because they cannot afford to buy food, or because the country is going through a [[famine]].<ref name="auto1">{{cite web|title=What is Human Development|url=http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/what-human-development|publisher=UNDP|access-date=27 October 2017|date=February 19, 2015 |website=HDR |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171027132851/http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/what-human-development|archive-date=27 October 2017|url-status=live|quote=...&nbsp;human development approach, developed by the economist Mahbub Ul Haq&nbsp;... }}</ref>