A more wealthy, healthy and educated world Steve Brace Head of Education RGS-IBG 13th October 2016

Is global poverty getting more or less? Yes? No? May be?

Primary pupils. Pupils characterize poverty as lack of basic needs: money, shelter, education and access to resources. IOE-UCL GLP research (forthcoming)

Secondary school pupils (2015) Young people found it difficult to say whether progress had been made in tackling global poverty.

Secondary pupils All groups of young people understood that average economic poverty or wealth has limitations as a measure or understanding of poverty Groups were able to suggest other ways in which to measure the quality of life of an individual, from their weight, to their education, to their level of power

Different Views of the World First, Second and Third worlds LEDC – MEDCs BRICS & MINTs

1. Number of children in the world? In 1950 there were fewer than one billion children (aged 0-14) in the world. By 2000 there were almost two billion. How many do UN experts think there will be in 2100? 4 billion 3 billion 2 billion 1 billion (adapted from Hans Rosling - BBC) It's two billion, much the same as in 2000. We have, in Hans Rosling's words, entered the age of Peak Child. When a similar question was put to just over 1,000 British respondents in May this year, nearly half guessed four billion, and most of the rest guessed three billion. Only 8% selected two billion or less.

2. Population distribution It's map B. The Americas, Africa and Europe each have a population of about one billion, while Asia's population is about four billion - in Hans Rosling's phrase, the Pin code of the world is 1114.

3. Life expectancy What is the average life expectancy at birth today 50 years 60 years 70 years It's 70 years. There has been a 10-year rise in life expectancy over the past five decades, thanks to great advances in healthcare.

4. Levels of literacy What is the literacy rate for adults in the world as a whole today? 80% 60% 40% Some 80% of adults in the world today can read and write.

5. Income distribution In the past our world was fairly clearly divided into two distinct groups of rich and poor, corresponding to what we called "developed" and "developing" countries (similar to curve C). But today the picture is different. When it comes to income, we have a continuously distributed world where most people live in the middle.

6. Education of women In the world as a whole, men now aged 25-34 years spent a total of eight years at school. How long did women in the same age group spend at school? Three years Five years Seven years It's seven years. Huge progress has been made in improving girls' access to education. It's tragic when girls are prevented from going to school by cultural taboos, but the numbers affected are shrinking.

7. Poverty reduction In the last 20 years, how did the proportion of the world population living in extreme poverty (<$1.25/day) change? Almost halved Remained much the same Almost doubled Extreme poverty has almost halved in the last 20 years. It's one of the great success stories of our age. One billion people still live in extreme poverty, but six billion do not

8. Energy production About XXX%? of world energy comes from solar and wind? 1% 5% 10% About 1% (or between 1% and 2%) of the world's energy today comes from solar and wind power. Two-thirds of British respondents severely overestimated the role of renewable sources of energy. The fact is that about 80% of the world's energy still comes from fossil fuels, and most of the remainder comes from nuclear and hydroelectric power.

9. Family size In 1965 women had five babies, on average worldwide. How many do they have on average today? 4.5 3.5 2.5 It's 2.5 babies. One of the great changes in the world in the last 50 years is the fall in the average fertility rate from five to 2.5 - and it's still falling.

Hans Rosling: How much do you know about the world? (BBC) Fast population growth is coming to an end The "developed" and "developing" worlds have gone People are much healthier Girls are getting better education The end of extreme poverty is in sight

But socio-economic levels still matter …

www.rgs.org/glp

MDGs to SDGs

Other ways of comparing countries Gap Minder & World Mapper 30,000 outlets, 45% in USA only 150 in Africa

Happy Planet Report 2016 These are the happiest countries in the world. The report measures how effectively countries’ residents use their resources to achieve long and happy lives. Nations are rated by: ecological footprint, inequality of incomes, life expectancy wellbeing. The Top Three

Number 3 Colombia

Number 2 Mexico

Number 1 Costa Rica

Where did the UK come? The UK comes in at 34th place, America languishes at number 108.

Further information www.glp-e.org.uk www.rgs.org/schools www.rgs.org/glp @RGS_IBGSchools S.brace@rgs.org Ask the expert interviews, case studies, videos, podcasts, animations and resources units: Brazil, Africa, China, India, trade and global governance etc