5.1.1 Human development

Content

Geographic inquiry and concept(s)
- Ways of supporting the processes of human development
Geographic knowledge and understanding
- The multidimensional process of human development and ways to measure it: validity and reliability of development indicators and indices, including the human development index (HDI) and gender inequality index (GII)
Case study or detailed examples
- Neither required by the syllabus
Aims of this lesson
- To understand that human development is a multidimensional process.
- To understand the measuring human development is difficult due to its multidimensional nature.
- To know that elements of human development can be measured using GNI, HDI and GII.

Women work longer and per hour earn a third of what men are paid, in figures that have changed little in 35 years, UN report shows

The Guardian · 10 December 2025

Composite index
- A mathematical combinations (or aggregations) of a set of indicators.

Gender Inequality Index
- Created by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), it measures the disparity between men and women across three key dimensions of human development. These are reproductive health, empowerment, and economic status.

Gross National Income
- An economic metric that measures the total income earned by a nation's people and businesses, regardless of whether they are located within the country or abroad.

Healthy life expectancy (HALE) at birth
- The average number of years a person can expect to live in full health. It reduces life expectancy to allow for years lived with disease or injury, so the gap between the two shows the burden of ill health in a population.

Human development
- A multi-dimensional process that focuses on improving the quality of life for a country's inhabitants. It encompasses more than just economic progress, and includes social and political criteria as well.

Human Development Index
- A composite measure created by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to assess a country's level of development. Unlike single indicators like Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, the HDI combines economic and social factors to provide a more holistic picture of development.

Life expectancy at birth
- The average number of years a newborn would live if current death rates stayed the same. It counts every year lived, healthy or not, which is why healthy life expectancy (HALE) is always lower.

Reliability
- Refers to the trustworthiness and consistency of the data used to calculate the indicator. Such an indicator is based on data that is accurate, consistent, and collected using sound methodologies.

Standard of living
- Refers to the level of wealth, comfort, material goods, and necessities available to a certain socioeconomic class or geographic area.

Validity
- In the context of human development indicators, it refers to whether an indicator accurately measures what it is intended to measure.

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Analyse criticisms of the validity and reliability of development indicators used to measure human development. [12]
International remittances contribute more to development than international aid. To what extent do you agree with this statement? [16]
Free trade zones and multi-governmental organisations do more to benefit wealthy countries than developing ones. To what extent do you agree with this statement? [16]
Empowering women and indigenous groups is the most important step towards closing the global development gap. To what extent do you agree with this statement? [16]
Economic growth is a more reliable pathway to human development than social entrepreneurship approaches. To what extent do you agree with this statement? [16]
The economic gains of global development always outweigh the cultural losses experienced by local communities. To what extent do you agree with this statement? [16]