Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Preface
- Language and measures
- Acknowledgements
- Permissions
- Part I The Litany
- Part II Human welfare
- 3 Measuring human welfare
- 4 Life expectancy and health
- 5 Food and hunger
- 6 Prosperity
- 7 Conclusion to Part II: unprecedented human prosperity
- Part III Can human prosperity continue?
- Part IV Pollution: does it undercut human prosperity?
- Part V Tomorrow's problems
- Part VI The Real State of the World
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
4 - Life expectancy and health
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 March 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Preface
- Language and measures
- Acknowledgements
- Permissions
- Part I The Litany
- Part II Human welfare
- 3 Measuring human welfare
- 4 Life expectancy and health
- 5 Food and hunger
- 6 Prosperity
- 7 Conclusion to Part II: unprecedented human prosperity
- Part III Can human prosperity continue?
- Part IV Pollution: does it undercut human prosperity?
- Part V Tomorrow's problems
- Part VI The Real State of the World
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
One of the basic necessities for human welfare is, of course, life itself. Life expectancy is therefore an essential aspect of any welfare measure. However, living longer does not necessarily mean living better, if that extra time is simply spent suffering more. It is therefore also important to consider whether we live healthier lives and spend less time being ill.
The main point of this chapter is to show how our lives and our health have improved dramatically over the past couple of hundred years. We live longer, and we are more healthy. This is one of the great miracles of our civilization.
Life expectancy
Until around the year 1400, human life expectancy was amazingly short – a newborn child could on average only expect to live 20–30 years. This was mainly due to the fact that infant mortality was incredibly high. Only every other child survived beyond its fifth birthday.
For the early part of human history we have little or no precise statistics to rely on, so the figures must be based on the examination of skeletons and on mathematical population growth models.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Skeptical EnvironmentalistMeasuring the Real State of the World, pp. 50 - 59Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2001