NGO Another Way (Stichting Bakens Verzet), 1018 AM Amsterdam, Netherlands.

 

Edition 02: 24 May, 2009

 

01. E-course : Diploma in Integrated Development (Dip. Int. Dev)

 

Quarter 1.

 

 

SECTION A :  DEVELOPMENT PROBLEMS.

 

 

Study value : 04 points out of 18.

Indicative study time: 112 hours out of 504.

 

Study points are awarded only after the consolidated exam for Section A : Development Problems has been passed.

 


 

First block : Poverty and quality of life.

 

Study value : 02 points out of 18.

Indicative study time: 57 hours out of 504.

 

Study points are awarded only after the consolidated exam for Section A : Development Problems has been passed.

 


 

First block : Poverty and quality of life.  [57 hours]

 

First Block : Section 1. Analysis of the causes of poverty. [26.50 hours]

First Block : Section 2. Services needed for a good quality of life. [26.50 hours]

First Block : Exam. [ 4 hours each attempt]

 


 

First Block :  Section 2. Services needed for a good quality of life. [26.50 hours]

 

Part 1 : Introduction to the services needed for a good quality of life. [06.50 hours]

 

01. The bases of a good quality of life.

02. Physical safety.

03. Shelter.

04. Drinking water.

05. Typical drawing of a well/borehole area.

06. Typical water point.

07. Food security.

08. Health and sanitation.

09. Complete system for waste recycling.

10. Dry composting toilet.

11. Education for all.

12. Work for all.

13. Social security system.

 


 

Part 1 : Introduction to the services needed for a good quality of life. [06.50 hours]

 

12. Work for all. (At least 30 minutes).

       

An analysis will now be made of the sixth factor necessary to a good quality of life : work for all.

 

Look at slide :

 

22. Work for all. 

 

    What is «work » ?

 

Re-read the notes you made at the start of the course for  Section 1 of Block 1 : 02  In-depth analysis of some factors linked to poverty. Many formal activities considered to be «productive » by economists and which contribute to the formation of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) do not improve the quality of life of the populations. Many informal activities considered by economists as being «unproductive» which DO improve the quality of life of the populations are, instead, excluded from the formation of the Gross  Domestic Product.

 

    Read the following article published by NGO Stichting Bakens Verzet  (Another Way):

“2.1.03 Monetisation and the economy

Standards for economic comparisons are most often developed by western economists who fail to take the non-monetised part of economies into account. Yet only a relatively small part of the world's global economy is "monetised". The percentage represented by the monetised part of the economy tends to be higher in “industrialised” countries than it is in less developed economies. However, even in the most “developed” industrialised countries, only part of the real productive economy is “monetised”.   

“The output of domestic and personal services produced for own consumption within households is not included [in the Output product for own final use (p.12)]” (The 1993 SNA System of National Accounts, United Nations Statistics Division, Section VI  The Production Account, par. 6.46).

If one were to proceed to subtract the percentage of negative economic parasitic activities in industrialised nations from positive productive ones, the difference between the net pro-capita productivity of industrial countries and that of developing economies might turn out not to be so big as one might imagine. For instance, the costs in time, use of infrastructure, fuel consumption, and equipment write-off of a western commuter who loses four hours a day in queues going to and returning home from work are monetised though they tend to have a negative weighting on our quality of life. They become part of our so-called gross national product. Benefits enjoyed by an African herdsman who spends the same four hours a day in the shade of a tree discussing philosophy with his friends are not monetised. Yet which of them has the better quality of life at least during those four hours? How do the individuals involved perceive their quality of life during those four hours? How far is their quality of life directly influenced by money in such cases?

One acceptable way of assessing productivity is by connecting it with the length of a human life. While life expectancy varies from one country to another, most of us divide a day into 24 hours. Most of us spend about eight hours sleeping, which means our potential active productivity has to be fitted into the remaining 16 hours per day. We assume, for the purposes of making an example, an average life span of 75 years. Appropriate allowance has to be made for children. This allowance varies according to the customs and conditions of life in any given community. Let us assume the allowance is 15 years. No account is taken in this example of old age. Our potentially productive life-span is then 75 years (life span) minus 15 years (unproductive childhood) or 60 years. Our total potential for productivity is in that case 60 years x 365 days x 16 hours, or about 350.000 hours. The time each individual has available for active productivity is therefore finite. On an average, it is potentially comparable but not the same for every individual or for every community. How an individual chooses or is able to use the time potentially available to him for active productivity (in the example 350.000 hours) is in theory very subjective. In practice, however, it is usually subjected to restrictions.  In some cases, such as slavery, the individual may have no choice at all.

Any activity which tends to improve the quality of life of the individual and of the family and community he or she lives in is productive. Any activity which does not tend to improve one’s quality of life or that of the family and community he or she lives in is unproductive. Viewed this way, four hours spent by a woman cleaning the family home and preparing food for dinner is productive. The fours hours spent by a commuter in his car going to and returning from work are essentially unproductive, as are the use of infrastructure, fuel consumption, and equipment write-off involved. The work of the woman improves the quality of life of her family; the time spent by the commuter in his car in general does not.

Since women constitute about 50% of the world’s population, the productivity of women at home, working in the fields, bringing up children, helping elderly family members already represents at least 50% of the real productive economy. This productivity does not usually change much even where women also have a job outside of their home environments. Since many women work domestically this way at least 12 hours a day without payment compared with a theoretic average of 8 hours a day their husbands actually spend at their paid work, percentages of 60% non-monetised activity and 40% monetised activity already arise in western economies even before other factors are taken into account. If unemployed, the sick, the handicapped, and people on a benefit together with other common activities such as voluntary work, gardening and the like are also considered, the monetised productivity quota in a developed economy is in reality considerably lower than 40%. It may not exceed 20%.

In some developing countries the monetised part of the economy may be as small as 10% of a country’s notional national product.

The application of universal income policies might lead to some changes in this field. This is because the universal income system recognises, amongst other things, the productivity of women in the home, and the productivity of students during their study. However, universal income is apparently not considered by the elites currently holding economic power to be in their favour. So no country has yet adopted it. The important and useful traditional work of many women in looking after children and doing household chores is therefore not monetised, even in Western countries. Nor are the numerous other productive activities conducted by family members in general outside their period of paid employment and professional activities.”

For more detailed on this subject read Analyzing the Policy Implications of Time Use Data,  United Nations Economics and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Discussion Document drafted for  ESCAP  Workshop “Workshop for High Level Policy Makers on Counting Policy Implications of Time Use Survey Data”, 11-15 September 2000, Bangkok, Thailand.

 

On page 3 of the report it is said that:

 

“A progressive shift of activities from the non-monetised household sector to the monetised economy is the core of the development process. But economics, dominated by the neo-classical school, has largely confined itself to phenomena that take place within the monetised economy.”

 

The Model for integrated development projects :

 

a) Considers as productive any activity which tends to improve the quality of life of the population and unproductive any activity which doesn’t.

b) Recognises that many (most) productive activities are not monetised, while many unproductive activities are.

c) Provides for local money systems enabling the de facto monetisation of all productive activities in each project area.

 

1. Research.

 

On the basis of these three principles, make an analysis of the average number of hours of  «productive » activity  of an average woman and an average man in your chosen project area.

  

    Calculate the total number of  hours daily of productive work in your project zone..

   

    Multiply the hours of  productive activity by the average hourly salary  applicable in the formal sector in your project area..

 

    Determine (calculate) the relationship between the total value (expressed in formal money) of the productive activities that you have developed and the

    one presented for your chosen area in the national statistics calculated using the method provided by the 1993 SNA System of National Accounts .

 



 First  block : Poverty and quality of life.


Index : Diploma in Integrated Development  (Dip.Int.Dev)

 List of key words.

 List of references.

  Course chart.


 Courses available.

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