Quality of Life and Standard of Living

ENACTUS TRAINING

Measurement Tools

Developed by D Caspersz & D Bejr, 2013

All enactus projects should meet the enactus judging criterion

“Considering the relevant economic, social, and environmental factors, which enactus team

most effectively empowered people in need by applying business and economic concepts and an entrepreneurial approach to improve their quality of life and standard of living?”

Measuring Empowerment

One method of determining what social change has occur, or how empowered an individual or group of people have become, is to measure their quality of life or/and standard of living.

Variables that can be measured

Standard of Living is…• Tangible circumstances or variables in which people live, the

goods and services they are able to consume and the economic resources they have access to

• Such as material comforts, ease of living and opportunities for personal satisfaction.

• Often ‘income based• ‘access’ and ‘affordability’ of items such as:

- education or skills development

- health care and sanitation

- materialistic comforts such as housing, clothes and transportation

- sufficient food

Quality of Life is…• Intangible variables regarding human welfare or well-

being as measured by social indicators. This includes (but is not limited to) factors such as:

- self-esteem - overall satisfaction of life - working conditions - ability to care for one’s family - hope in life - acceptance in community, neighborhood and/or work environment

Comparing Quality of Life and Standard of Living

Quality of Life • Intangible• Often socially based

– Self-esteem– Hope in life– Life satisfaction

Standard of Living• Tangible• Often income based

– Education attained– Health care available– Access to clean water

Discuss…• What are the differences between quality of

life and standard of living?• By targeting one, do you think you will affect

the other through your enactus project work?• Do you target both at the same time?