If a country has high life expectancy and high schooling, which development indicator is likely high?

If a country has high life expectancy and high schooling, which development indicator is likely high?

• A. Gross Domestic Product
• B. Infant mortality rate
• C. Human Development Index
• D. Life expectancy

Answer: (C)

Development is often assessed with a single measure that combines health, education, and living standards. The Human Development Index does exactly that: it uses life expectancy to gauge health, schooling measures to reflect education, and income per capita to represent living standards. If a country already has high life expectancy and high schooling, those strong health and education components lift the overall HDI, making it high even without knowing the exact income level. In contrast, GDP per capita alone doesn’t capture education and health together, and infant mortality would be low with better health rather than high, while life expectancy is only one piece of the picture. So, the best indicator that would be high given both strong health and education is the Human Development Index.

Development is often assessed with a single measure that combines health, education, and living standards. The Human Development Index does exactly that: it uses life expectancy to gauge health, schooling measures to reflect education, and income per capita to represent living standards. If a country already has high life expectancy and high schooling, those strong health and education components lift the overall HDI, making it high even without knowing the exact income level. In contrast, GDP per capita alone doesn’t capture education and health together, and infant mortality would be low with better health rather than high, while life expectancy is only one piece of the picture. So, the best indicator that would be high given both strong health and education is the Human Development Index.