Real Consumption Measures for the Poorer Regions of the World

Author

Alwyn Young, Visiting Fellow London School of Economics

Abstract

Measures of real consumption based upon the ownership of durable goods, the quality of housing, the health and mortality of children, the education of youth and the allocation of female time in the household indicate that sub-Saharan living standards have, for the past two decades, been growing about 3.5 percent per annum, i.e. three and half to four times the rate indicated in international data sets.