Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI)

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Physical Quality Of Life Index (PQLI)

Physical Quality of Life Index (P.Q.L.I) was developed by famous economist Morris David in 1979 for 23 developed and developing countries. Morris David used the following three indicators to prepare a composite index known as Physical Quality of Life Index:

  • Life Expectant Rate (L.E.I)
  • Infant Mortality Rate (I.M.I)
  • Basic Literacy Rate (B.L.I)

Life Expectant Rate (L.E.I)

Life expectancy means Average number of year a person is expected to live. As per census of 2011, it is 66.8 years in India.

Infant Mortality Rate (I.M.I)

It refers to the number of infants dying within one year of their birth out of every 1000 births. As per census report of 2011, it is 47 per 1000. Higher infant mortality is harmful for Economic Development.

Basic Literacy Rate (B.L.I)

Any person above the age of 7 year who can read and write in any one language with an ability to understand it is considered as literate. As per census 2011, it is 74.04% in India.

For each of the above indicator, the performance of individual country is rated on a scale of 1 to 100 where 1 represents the worst performance and 100 represent the best performance. P.Q.L.I is then constructed by averaging these three indicators giving equal weight to each of them.

Morris David has given following formula to obtain P.Q.L.I

P.Q.L.I = L.E.I.+ I.M.I.+ B.L.I. / 3

Advantage of P.Q.L.I

  • Q.L.I helps to government to understand the overall welfare in the economy and how well its welfare policies are being implemented. This helps the government to take corrective action.
  • The method followed to measure P.Q.L.I is standard for all the countries. Therefore, it can be used to make comparison between countries and this helps the relatively underdeveloped countries to take corrective measure.
  • The three indicator i.e. life expectancy rate, infant mortality rate and literacy rate very well represent the welfare of the people of the country. A country wherein all the three indicators are good can be said to be a developed economy.
  • The P.Q.L.I considers the distribution of welfare in the country. A country cannot have a high average of literacy rate, life expectancy and low infant mortality rate unless a large part of the Population is covered by the benefits of economic development.

Limitations of P.Q.L.I.

  • Q.L.I ignores many factors which influence the quality of life such as EMPLOYMENT, housing, Justice, social security as well as Human Rights.
  • Q.L.I is a simple average of literacy rate, infant mortality rate and life expectancy rate i.e. all the factors have been giving equal weightage. However, it is difficult to understand the rationale behind giving equal importance to all factors.
  • Q.L.I. does not explain the structural change in the economy of a country. Moreover, it does not at all consider economic or monetary concept. Hence, it is a poor measure of economic development as well as economic Growth.

Inspite of these drawbacks, P.Q.L.I. is considered as an improvement over traditional measure of economic welfare. However, recently developed Human Development index (HDI) is a better and more refined version of PQLI.,

The Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI) is a composite index of three basic indicators of human welfare: life expectancy at age one, infant mortality rate, and adult literacy rate. It was developed by Morris David Morris in 1979 as a way to measure the quality of life in developing countries. The PQLI is calculated by assigning a value of 0 to the worst possible value for each indicator and a value of 100 to the best possible value. The PQLI for a country is then calculated as the average of the three indicator values.

The PQLI has been criticized for being too simplistic and for not taking into account other important factors such as income inequality and environmental quality. However, it remains a useful tool for comparing the quality of life in different countries.

Life expectancy at age one is a measure of the average number of years that a person is expected to live if they are born today. It is calculated by taking the number of people who die in a given year and dividing it by the number of people who are alive at the beginning of the year. Life expectancy is a good indicator of the quality of Health care in a country, as well as the overall standard of living.

Infant mortality rate is the number of deaths of infants under one year of age per 1,000 live births. It is a good indicator of the quality of health care in a country, as well as the level of POVERTY and Malnutrition. A high infant mortality rate is often a sign that a country has a number of social and economic problems.

Adult literacy rate is the Percentage of adults aged 15 and older who can read and write. It is a good indicator of the level of Education in a country, as well as the overall standard of living. A high adult literacy rate is often a sign that a country has a strong economy and a well-educated population.

The PQLI is a useful tool for comparing the quality of life in different countries. It is a simple and straightforward way to measure the level of human welfare in a country. However, it is important to remember that the PQLI is just one measure of the quality of life. It does not take into account other important factors such as income inequality, environmental quality, and social justice.

The PQLI has been used to track the progress of development in developing countries over time. It has also been used to compare the quality of life in different countries. The PQLI is a valuable tool for policymakers and researchers who are interested in understanding the factors that contribute to a good quality of life.

The PQLI has been criticized for being too simplistic and for not taking into account other important factors such as income inequality and environmental quality. However, it remains a useful tool for comparing the quality of life in different countries.

What is the Human Development Index (HDI)?

The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite statistic of life expectancy, education, and per capita income indicators, which are used to rank countries into four tiers of human development. A country scores higher on the HDI if it has a higher life expectancy, higher education attainment, and higher per capita income.

What are the components of the HDI?

The HDI is calculated using three indicators: life expectancy at birth, mean years of schooling, and expected years of schooling, and per capita income.

How is the HDI calculated?

The HDI is calculated using the following formula:

HDI = (Life expectancy at birth × 0.25) + (Mean years of schooling × 0.25) + (Expected years of schooling × 0.25) + (Logarithm of per capita income × 0.25)

What are the limitations of the HDI?

The HDI has been criticized for a number of reasons, including the following:

  • It does not take into account inequality within countries.
  • It does not take into account non-economic factors such as environmental quality and political freedom.
  • It is based on Averages, which can mask significant differences within countries.

What are the alternatives to the HDI?

There are a number of alternative measures of human development, including the following:

What is the future of the HDI?

The HDI is likely to continue to be used as a measure of human development, but it is likely to be supplemented by other measures that take into account inequality, non-economic factors, and differences within countries.

  1. The Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI) is a composite index of three indicators:
    (A) Life expectancy at age one, infant mortality rate, and adult literacy rate.
    (B) Life expectancy at birth, infant mortality rate, and mean years of schooling.
    (C) Life expectancy at age 60, infant mortality rate, and mean years of schooling.
    (D) Life expectancy at age 65, infant mortality rate, and mean years of schooling.

  2. The PQLI was developed by Morris David Morris and Measuring the Condition of the World’s Poor.
    (A) True
    (B) False

  3. The PQLI has been criticized for being too simplistic and for not taking into account other important factors such as income inequality and environmental quality.
    (A) True
    (B) False

  4. The PQLI has been used to compare the quality of life in different countries and to track changes in the quality of life over time.
    (A) True
    (B) False

  5. The PQLI is no longer used as a measure of the quality of life.
    (A) True
    (B) False

  6. The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite index of three indicators:
    (A) Life expectancy at birth, education, and income.
    (B) Life expectancy at age one, education, and income.
    (C) Life expectancy at age 60, education, and income.
    (D) Life expectancy at age 65, education, and income.

  7. The HDI was developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
    (A) True
    (B) False

  8. The HDI has been criticized for being too focused on economic development and for not taking into account other important factors such as Equality/”>Gender Equality and environmental sustainability.
    (A) True
    (B) False

  9. The HDI has been used to compare the level of human development in different countries and to track changes in the level of human development over time.
    (A) True
    (B) False

  10. The HDI is the most widely used measure of the quality of life.
    (A) True
    (B) False

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