2023 H2 Economics Paper 2 Essay 5: Suggested Answers
How to use these essay answers. The responses below, including the part (a) answer, are structured guides to the requirements of the question, the content, analysis and evaluation a strong answer must cover, rather than full essay prose with a written introduction and conclusion. Use them to see what to include and how to build the argument, then write it up in your own continuous prose, adding your own introduction and conclusion.
This essay explains how improvements in a country's material and non-material standard of living can be measured, then asks whether increases in the living standards of residents in densely populated, rapidly growing cities are achievable and sustainable in the long term.
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Explain how improvements in a country's material and non-material standard of living can be measured. [10]
A country's standard of living has two dimensions: the material standard of living, which concerns access to goods and services and economic prosperity, and the non material standard of living, which concerns qualitative aspects such as health, education, environment and work life balance. Economists use a range of indicators to judge improvements in each.
Measuring the material standard of living. The most common indicator is real GDP per capita, the value of all final goods and services produced, adjusted for inflation and divided by population. A rise indicates that, on average, each person can access more goods and services, implying higher purchasing power. The real adjustment strips out inflation so changes reflect actual output, and the per capita adjustment accounts for population growth. However, it is an average and ignores income distribution: if gains accrue mainly to the wealthy, average figures may overstate typical living standards, which a higher Gini coefficient would reveal. Median household income or median wage can therefore serve as more representative complementary measures.
Measuring the non material standard of living. These measures assess quality of life beyond income. Life expectancy at birth reflects healthcare access, nutrition and environmental conditions. Educational attainment, such as literacy rates or enrolment ratios, reflects opportunity and human development. Average working hours per week gives insight into work life balance, though it must be read with care since fewer hours could signal underemployment. Environmental quality indicators, such as air pollution levels and access to green space, are increasingly recognised, especially in dense cities. Because each captures only part of the picture, composite indices such as the Human Development Index, which combines life expectancy, education and income, give a more holistic view.
Explain a material measure with its limits, then several non material indicators, noting the role of a composite index.
Tests: Standard of living, Gini coefficient
Discuss whether increases in the living standards of residents in densely populated, rapidly growing cities are achievable and sustainable in the long term. [15]
- Define sustainable improvements in living standards and the particular pressures faced by dense, fast growing cities.
- Develop why rising living standards may be difficult, through the externalities and resource constraints that urbanisation generates.
- Develop why they may be achievable and sustainable, through corrective policies that internalise externalities and expand capacity.
- Weigh the constraints against the policy responses and identify what the outcome hinges on.
- Reach an evaluative conclusion on whether the gains are achievable and sustainable in the long term.
This part is gated. The full model answer with the worked externality analysis and the evaluation, with the diagrams and the full evaluation, is in the ETG TYS Answers book from SAP and is worked live in the TYS Crashcourse. ETG students also get the AI TYS coach that guides them through this exact question. Message the team to find out more.
Questions students ask
Where can I get the full worked answers to the 2023 H2 Economics paper 2 essay 5?
The full model answers, with the diagrams and the higher mark evaluation, are in the ETG TYS Answers book published by SAP and sold at Popular, and are worked live in the TYS Crashcourse. Every ETG student also gets the AI TYS coach on our learning management system, which guides you through how to tackle every essay and every case study question from the last ten years.
Are these the official 2023 A Level Economics answers?
No. SEAB sets and marks the A Level paper. These are suggested answers by Mr Eugene Toh, author of the H1 and H2 A Level Economics TYS answer keys, published by SAP and sold at Popular.
How should I use these suggested essay answers?
Treat them as a guide to the requirements of the question, the content, analysis and evaluation a strong answer must cover, not as full essay prose. Write the essay up in your own continuous prose, with your own introduction and conclusion.
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