For the Human Development Index Calculation, the United Nations accounts for the health, education and income of countries, as these are considered to be the main facets of human development. For the 2020 calculation in particular, the UN accounted for child life expectancy, the amount of time kids stayed in school, and the living standards. Despite these being important aspects of human development, they do not form the best nor most complete measure of human development by themselves.
Additional data that should be incorporated into the HDI measure is gender inequality. Although the UN did account for this in 1995, because gender inequality is such a major issue and determinant of human development, it should be one of the annual factors examined for the HDI. Even across many different cultures, men and women overall have different livelihoods and do not coexist as a homogeneous group, so gender-disaggregated measurements are necessary in order to get a fuller picture of the developmental circumstances in countries. Additionally, gender equality is an important factor in human well-being. By being able to live up to their full potential without the restrictions of gender expectations, people can attain much greater livelihoods, which according to Amartya Sen is paramount when considering human development. Discounting the importance of gender inequality results in ignorance to a large swath of problems that countries face, so it is necessary for it to be regularly considered in order to have a better HDI. Some people Tyler Cowen may argue that measuring GDP is sufficient for determining gender inequality of because of the correlation between the two. However, as correlation does not equal causation, measuring just one factor does not tell the full story, so it is still best to measure gender inequality separately.
In addition to gender inequality, another factor that should be regularly considered in the HDI is the level of democracy and freedom of speech. In his book, Development as Freedom, Sen emphasizes the importance of various freedoms, including democracy, when considering human development. Sen discusses how having freedoms of speech is an important factor in well-being, and is therefore necessary to consider when determining human development. For example, in China, there have been major advances in health, education and the economy. However, despite all these advances, because of the government’s restrictions on free speech, the people do not enjoy the best livelihoods, which in Sen’s view acts against human development. Therefore, democracy and freedom of speech should be an additional factor that is regularly evaluated for the HDI of countries.
The HDI provides a general evaluation of countries’ development levels based on health, education and income. However, because of the importance of many other factors in human development, it would be best for the HDI to account for them in order to increase the accuracy in terms of the actual situations within each country.