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Article: Standards of Living
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
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STANDARDS OF LIVING
STANDARDS OF LIVING
include not only the ownership of consumer goods, but also aspects of living that cannot be purchased or are not under an individual's direct control
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for instance, environmental quality and services provided by the government. Social scientists debate how exactly to measure standards of living. In a comparison among nations, often the yardstick is per capita national income, although some scholars prefer the related measure, per capita consumption of goods and services. However, using per capita income, or consumption of those goods and services that are measured by economists, to calculate standards of living can obscure both significant ...