Standard of living and quality of life are two terms that are often confused. Therefore there may be some perceived overlap in how they are defined. Standard of living refers to some levels. Such as wealth, comfort, material goods, and necessities available to a certain socioeconomic class or geographic area. Quality of life, on the other hand, is a subjective term that can measure happiness. In simple words, it implies the level of welfare provided to the residents of a country, i.e. it may refer to all those goods and services that people are able to consume and the resources they can access
Compared to the standard of living, quality of life is more intangible. On the contrary, quality of life indicates the welfare and well-being of a person or group. Based on people’s lifestyles and their personal preferences the factors for measuring the quality of life are different. These factors play an important role in the financial decisions in everyone’s lives. Healthcare, education, the right to vote, freedom of religion, etc. are examples of these factors.
Both indicators can be flawed because the factors can vary between people in the same geographic area or socioeconomic class.
One measure of standard of living in the Human Development Index (HDI), which has been used by the United Nations since 1990. It considers life expectancy at birth and per capita GDP to measure a country’s level of development. The level for the standard of living and different factors to freedom and rights for measuring the quality of life.
