Innovations in measuring inequality and poverty

Human development is an expansion of the real freedoms of people to pursue lives that they value and have reason to value. The Human Development Index (HDI), launched in 1990, was a pioneering measure that went beyond income to reflect health and education. The 1990 Human Development Report (HDR) recognized that the HDI “captures a few of people’s choices and leaves out many that people may value highly—economic, social and political freedom, and protection against violence, insecurity and discrimination, to name but a few.” This gap has been highlighted in subsequent investigations of well-being. Regional and National HDRs have created innovative measures of human development in a wide variety of ways, and a sizeable academic literature has emerged around the HDI and related topics.

Related Subject(s): Economic and Social Development