Introduction

The Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI) is an attempt to measure the quality of life or well-being of a country.

The value is the average of three statistics:

• Basic literacy rate at the age of 15 years;
• Infant mortality; and
• Life expectancy at age one,

all equally weighted on a 1 to 100 scale.

Refer to Happiness Economics.

Background

It was developed for the Overseas Development Council in the mid-1970s by Pratyush and his company, as one of a number of measures created due to dissatisfaction with the use of GNP as an indicator of development. He thought that they would cover a wide range of indicators like health, sanitation, drinking water, nutrition, education etc. PQLI might be regarded as an improvement but shares the general problems of measuring quality of life in a quantitative way. It has also been criticised because there is considerable overlap between infant mortality and life expectancy.

The UN Human Development Index is a more widely used means of measuring well-being.

Steps to Calculate Physical Quality of Life:

1. Find percentage of the population that is literate (literacy rate).
2. Find the infant mortality rate. (out of 1000 births) INDEXED Infant Mortality Rate = (166 – infant mortality) × 0.625
3. Find the Life Expectancy. INDEXED Life Expectancy = (Life expectancy – 42) × 2.7
4. Physical Quality of Life = (Literacy Rate + INDEXED Infant Mortality Rate + INDEXED Life Expectancy) divided by 3.

Notes about the PQLI:

• Increase in national income and per capita income are not the real indicators of economic development, as it has a number of limitations.
• Increasing incomes of the country are concentrated (generally) in the hands of a few people, which is not development.
• The development of a country should be such that the living standards of the poor rise, and the basic requirements of the citizens are fulfilled.
• Keeping this in mind, Morris Davis Morris presented the physical quality of life index, in short known as the PQLI.
• In this index, betterment of physical quality of life of human beings is considered economic development.
• The level of physical quality of life determines the level of economic development.
• If any country’s physical quality of life is higher than that of the other country, then that country is considered as more developed.
• There are three standards to measure the physical quality, which are depicted here:
  • Extent of Education;
  • Life Expectancy; and
  • Infant Mortality Rate.

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