Custom «Standards of Living» Essay Paper Sample

Standard of living is described as the level of comfort, material goods, wealth, happiness and basic needs that are needed to maintain certain social divisions of persons. Factors in this area are, for instance; availability and quality of employment, income, social classes, affordable housing and healthcare, availability of education, and costs of products and services.

There are some techniques that were developed in order to explain how these standards of living are classified. There are two of these techniques, namely, the poverty rate and the amount of income per person. Other measures used are availability and access to quality healthcare, and the availability and access to quality and effective education (Judith 138).

There are various factors that affect the standards of living. They are not discussed in the reference book ‘structural adjustments’. One of those factors is the idea of different geographic locations. People that live around the arctic areas of the earth experience all four seasons. The weather there is very cold in winter and very hot during the summer time. In this respect, they are forced to wear heavy clothing and purchase a lot of food for the winter season, and buy some lighter garments in order to feel comfortable during the summer season. Changes in the weather as well as the global warming crisis cause these differences.

Another factor that determines the standards of living is peer influence. This is an example of a psychological factor. Peers would like to live as their friends, families, and colleagues do. This, in turn, renders one vulnerable to the changes that their friends make. All resources need to be used efficiently. If one is overused it, therefore, means that one will be restrained (Judith 24).

In conclusion, it is evident that standards of living are affected by day-to-day activities and changes in the environment. With reference to ‘Not Buying It’, there are too many fallacies about the standards of living being psychological or rather sociological (Judith 136).