Measurements of regional and global disparity (3 hours)
Define indices of infant mortality, education, nutrition, income, marginalization and Human Development Index (HDI).
Infant mortality Rate (/1000) refers to the number of children in a 1000 who die before reaching the age of 5.
Education is commonly measured with Adult Literacy Rates (%).
Nutrition is measured with daily calorie intake or percentage of malnourished people.
Incomes are difficult to measure as people around the globe are paid in different incomes and those incomes have different purchasing powers. GDP and GNI are common measures of national wealth. The "Big Mac Index" is a measure of the purchasing power of a currency.
The Human Development Index is a measure of human development that takes into account wealth (GDP), Education (Mean Years of Schooling) and Health (Life Expectancy) to produce a number between 0 and 1. Australia is second highest in the world at 0.935 while Niger is lowest at 0.348.
Measurements of marginalisation are also useful, particularly within societies where people may be relatively poor. The UK Government developed the Multiple Deprivation Index. While the Australian Government identified 5 domains of marginalisation.
Infant mortality Rate (/1000) refers to the number of children in a 1000 who die before reaching the age of 5.
Education is commonly measured with Adult Literacy Rates (%).
Nutrition is measured with daily calorie intake or percentage of malnourished people.
Incomes are difficult to measure as people around the globe are paid in different incomes and those incomes have different purchasing powers. GDP and GNI are common measures of national wealth. The "Big Mac Index" is a measure of the purchasing power of a currency.
The Human Development Index is a measure of human development that takes into account wealth (GDP), Education (Mean Years of Schooling) and Health (Life Expectancy) to produce a number between 0 and 1. Australia is second highest in the world at 0.935 while Niger is lowest at 0.348.
Measurements of marginalisation are also useful, particularly within societies where people may be relatively poor. The UK Government developed the Multiple Deprivation Index. While the Australian Government identified 5 domains of marginalisation.
Explain the value of the indices in measuring disparities across the globe.
It is important to take a range of indicators as any nation may have favourable qualities in one domain yet be lacking in another. Moreover, while it is also true that money does not buy happiness, their does appear to be a threshold level of income (GDP >US$15,000) below which happiness and wealth are strongly correlated.
It is also almost impossible to make straight comparisons between nations as expectations are culturally subjective and currencies buy different amounts of goos in different countries.
Although development indicators can be useful to know where to target investment or where for industries to locate a new factory they do have their limitation. These limitations include:
It is important to take a range of indicators as any nation may have favourable qualities in one domain yet be lacking in another. Moreover, while it is also true that money does not buy happiness, their does appear to be a threshold level of income (GDP >US$15,000) below which happiness and wealth are strongly correlated.
It is also almost impossible to make straight comparisons between nations as expectations are culturally subjective and currencies buy different amounts of goos in different countries.
Although development indicators can be useful to know where to target investment or where for industries to locate a new factory they do have their limitation. These limitations include:
- Statistics disguise intra-country variations.
- In many countries data is inaccurate or incomplete. Some countries also refuse to release certain pieces of information or data.
- Most development indicators (with the exception of HDI) focus on only one aspect of development.
- Most indicators use averages and tend to neglect or highlight the sectors of the population that are marginalised.
- Indicators are always out of date. Once information has been collected, analysed, presented and published a lot of things can have changed either for the better or worse.
- Development indicators can be manipulated, used or ignored to suit peoples needs. One indicator may suggest an area is developed while another may suggest an area is undeveloped.
Origins of disparities (3 hours)
Explain disparities and inequities that occur within countries resulting from ethnicity, residence, parental education, income, employment (formal and informal) and land ownership.
The factors explaining inequality between nations are a combination of human and physical aspects of life. The factors explaining disparities within a nations are similar. However, within nations as Geographies can be similar disparities are more likely to be human factors.
The factors explaining inequality between nations are a combination of human and physical aspects of life. The factors explaining disparities within a nations are similar. However, within nations as Geographies can be similar disparities are more likely to be human factors.
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Ethnicity - Some ethnics groups are excluded due to prejudice, marginalisation or poor language skills.
Residence - People who exist at the periphery of an area find it difficult to access amenities.
Parental Education - People gain a range of social and cultural capital from their parents.
Income - High incomes gain access to a range of improved services.
Employment (Formal and informal) - higher paid and higher status jobs bestow a range of advantages on people. In USA employment was also important for access to healthcare. Informal (unregulated) employment can be dangerous as people have no entitlement if they are unable to work or injured at work.
Land ownership - Especially in agricultural areas, ownership of land is an important insurance policy against poverty as it allows subsistence farming to occur.
Disparities and change (5 hours)
Identify and explain the changing patterns and trends of regional and global disparities of life expectancy, education and income.
Almost all nations have experienced a reduction in poverty and a growth in incomes. Unfortunately, inequality has continued to grow and wealthier nations advance far more rapidly.
This trend is reflected regionally. The emerging economies of Asia has quickly increase their living standards. However, Subsaharan African nations remain abysmally poor.
Almost all nations have experienced a reduction in poverty and a growth in incomes. Unfortunately, inequality has continued to grow and wealthier nations advance far more rapidly.
This trend is reflected regionally. The emerging economies of Asia has quickly increase their living standards. However, Subsaharan African nations remain abysmally poor.
Examine the progress made in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in poverty reduction, education and health.
The Millennium Development Goals were 8 standards of progress which were to be achieved by 2015. They have now been superseded by the Sustainability Development Goals.
The Millennium Development Goals were 8 standards of progress which were to be achieved by 2015. They have now been superseded by the Sustainability Development Goals.
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Reducing disparities (5 hours)
Discuss the different ways in which disparities can be reduced with an emphasis on trade and market access, debt relief, aid and remittances.
Trade and market access
The ability for a nation to trade it way out of poverty is highly beneficial. This may be lacking because of poor infrastructure, barriers to trade or unfair trade deals that cripple markets.
Trade rules are set by the WTO who generally demand liberalisation in exchange for trade deals.
Oxfam and Fair Trade both aim to make fairer trade rules that allow poorer nations to protect their weaker markets.
Debt relief
During the 1970s when commodity prices were high many poor nations were leant money. By the 1980s commodity prices had fallen and interest rates had increased meaning that poor nations were often left with debts they could not service. Such large debts mean health and education campaigns cannot be funded in poor countries.
The Jubilee 2000 Campaign aimed to have the debt of the 30 heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) forgiven.
One of the down sides to the debt relief campaigns is the lack of accountability for indebted poor countries.
Overseas Development Assistance (ODA or Aid)
The world is no longer neatly divided into donor and recipient nations. Countries such as China receive a range of payments and loans but also pay out millions to many countries in Asia and Africa.
ODA can come in many forms. Tied and untied loans, bilateral and multilateral aid are all common.
Remittances
Remittance payments are made by individuals who have migrated to a country back to family or friends in their country of origin. Remittance payments now account for 4 times the value of traditional aid payments. They have the advantage of being made at appropriate times and can be used for self identified benefits.
Trade and market access
The ability for a nation to trade it way out of poverty is highly beneficial. This may be lacking because of poor infrastructure, barriers to trade or unfair trade deals that cripple markets.
Trade rules are set by the WTO who generally demand liberalisation in exchange for trade deals.
Oxfam and Fair Trade both aim to make fairer trade rules that allow poorer nations to protect their weaker markets.
Debt relief
During the 1970s when commodity prices were high many poor nations were leant money. By the 1980s commodity prices had fallen and interest rates had increased meaning that poor nations were often left with debts they could not service. Such large debts mean health and education campaigns cannot be funded in poor countries.
The Jubilee 2000 Campaign aimed to have the debt of the 30 heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) forgiven.
One of the down sides to the debt relief campaigns is the lack of accountability for indebted poor countries.
Overseas Development Assistance (ODA or Aid)
The world is no longer neatly divided into donor and recipient nations. Countries such as China receive a range of payments and loans but also pay out millions to many countries in Asia and Africa.
ODA can come in many forms. Tied and untied loans, bilateral and multilateral aid are all common.
Remittances
Remittance payments are made by individuals who have migrated to a country back to family or friends in their country of origin. Remittance payments now account for 4 times the value of traditional aid payments. They have the advantage of being made at appropriate times and can be used for self identified benefits.
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Evaluate the effectiveness of strategies designed to reduce disparities.
