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BGCSE Development Studies study materials
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BGCSE Development Studies practice questions

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Question 1Economic Development and Economic Activity

A country's total output produced within its borders in a year, regardless of whether the producing firms are locally or foreign owned, is measured by which indicator?

  1. Per capita income
  2. Net national income
  3. Gross domestic product Correct answer.
  4. Gross national product

Explanation

Gross domestic product measures output produced inside a country's borders by both local and foreign-owned firms. Gross national product instead counts output produced by a country's residents wherever they are, adding income earned abroad and subtracting income sent home by foreign firms. That ownership distinction is the key difference between the two measures.

Question 2Economic Development and Economic Activity

A company buys freshly caught fish and cans it for sale in supermarkets. In which sector of the economy does the canning activity belong?

  1. Secondary Correct answer.
  2. Tertiary
  3. Quaternary
  4. Primary

Explanation

The secondary sector turns raw materials into manufactured goods, and canning fish is a manufacturing process that adds value to the catch. Catching the fish itself is a primary activity, while selling the cans in shops is a tertiary service.

Question 3Economic Development and Economic Activity

A farmer owns a small plot of land and can either plant maize or raise cattle on it. He decides to plant maize. What is his opportunity cost?

  1. The cattle he could have raised on the land Correct answer.
  2. The market price of the maize harvest
  3. The labour he provides on the farm
  4. The money he spends on maize seed

Explanation

Opportunity cost is the value of the next best alternative given up when a choice is made. Because the land could have been used to raise cattle, the lost cattle production is the real cost of choosing maize. Money paid for seed is a cash expense of the chosen option, not the sacrificed alternative.

Question 4Economic Development and Economic Activity

Which group is usually harmed most by an unexpected rise in the rate of inflation?

  1. Pensioners living on fixed money incomes Correct answer.
  2. Owners of property and land
  3. Borrowers with long-term fixed-rate loans
  4. Exporters selling in foreign markets

Explanation

Unexpected inflation erodes the purchasing power of money incomes that are fixed in nominal terms, so pensioners on fixed payments find that the same amount buys fewer goods. Borrowers with fixed-rate loans gain instead, because they repay in money worth less than when they borrowed.

Question 5Economic Development and Economic Activity

Citizens of a country working abroad send money home to their families. In the balance of payments, these remittances are recorded in which account?

  1. The official reserves account
  2. The capital account
  3. The current account Correct answer.
  4. The financial account

Explanation

Remittances are transfers of income for which no good or service is supplied in return, so they are entered in the current account as secondary income. The capital and financial accounts record transfers of assets and ownership, such as capital transfers, loans, direct investment and portfolio flows.

Question 6Economic Development and Economic Activity

The Human Development Index is built on which three dimensions of development?

  1. Population, land area and climate
  2. Inflation, debt and investment
  3. Employment, exports and savings
  4. Health, education and income Correct answer.

Explanation

The index averages three normalised measures: life expectancy for health, years of schooling for education, and gross national income per capita for income. It was designed to show that income alone is an incomplete indicator of how well people live.

Question 7Economic Development and Economic Activity

Country A must give up 2 tonnes of wheat to produce each extra tonne of rice, while Country B must give up 4 tonnes of wheat for each extra tonne of rice. Which statement about comparative advantage is correct?

  1. Both countries have an equal comparative advantage in rice
  2. Neither country has a comparative advantage in rice
  3. Country B has the comparative advantage in rice, because it gives up more wheat per tonne
  4. Country A has the comparative advantage in rice, since it sacrifices less wheat Correct answer.

Explanation

Comparative advantage depends on the opportunity cost of production rather than on absolute output. Country A gives up only 2 tonnes of wheat for a tonne of rice, less than Country B's 4 tonnes, so A should specialise in rice and B in wheat, with both gaining from trade.

Question 8Economic Development and Economic Activity

Why does the informal sector remain large in many developing economies?

  1. Workers in the informal sector earn higher wages than formal employees
  2. Governments deliberately reserve most jobs for informal traders
  3. Informal firms are usually larger and more productive than formal ones
  4. Formal jobs are scarce and business registration is costly Correct answer.

Explanation

When the formal sector cannot absorb a growing labour force, people create their own work, and high registration fees, taxes and complex rules keep them unregistered. Informal activity therefore works mainly as a survival strategy for people shut out of formal employment.

Question 9Economic Development and Economic Activity

A government facing a large budget deficit and high inflation adopts a structural adjustment programme backed by international lenders. Which set of measures is most typical of such a programme?

  1. Increasing import tariffs, fixing prices and tightening exchange controls
  2. Borrowing more from the central bank and printing currency to cover the deficit
  3. Raising subsidies, expanding the public payroll and nationalising private firms
  4. Cutting spending, removing subsidies and privatising state firms Correct answer.

Explanation

Structural adjustment combines stabilisation, which cuts the budget deficit and inflation through reduced spending and tighter credit, with reforms such as privatisation, deregulation and trade liberalisation. The intention is to shift resources towards private production and exports, although social spending often suffers in the short run.

Question 10Economic Development and Economic Activity

In an economy with no government and no foreign trade, the marginal propensity to save rises from 0.20 to 0.25. What happens to the value of the multiplier?

  1. It stays at 5
  2. It falls from 25 to 20
  3. It rises from 4 to 5
  4. It falls from 5 to 4 Correct answer.

Explanation

The simple multiplier equals 1 divided by the marginal propensity to save. With a saving rate of 0.20 the multiplier is 1/0.20 = 5, and when saving rises to 0.25 it becomes 1/0.25 = 4, so each injection of spending generates less extra income.

Question 11Economic Development and Economic Activity

Which activity is part of the primary sector of an economy?

  1. Extracting copper ore from a mine Correct answer.
  2. Teaching students in a secondary school
  3. Selling insurance policies to households
  4. Assembling cars in a factory

Explanation

The primary sector covers activities that take raw materials directly from nature, such as mining, farming, fishing and forestry. Assembling cars is manufacturing, which belongs to the secondary sector, while teaching and insurance are services in the tertiary sector.

Question 12Economic Development and Economic Activity

A worker earns a weekly wage in a furniture factory. Which factor of production does the worker represent?

  1. Capital
  2. Entrepreneurship
  3. Land
  4. Labour Correct answer.

Explanation

Labour refers to the human effort, both physical and mental, used in production, and wages are the return paid for it. Land earns rent, capital earns interest, and entrepreneurship earns profit.

Question 13Economic Development and Economic Activity

Which statement best describes the basic economic problem?

  1. All members of society can satisfy every want.
  2. Wants are limited while resources are unlimited.
  3. Resources are scarce relative to unlimited wants. Correct answer.
  4. Only money is scarce in an economy.

Explanation

The basic economic problem arises because resources such as land, labour and capital are limited, while human wants are unlimited. Every society must therefore choose what to produce, how to produce it, and for whom.

Question 14Economic Development and Economic Activity

Two countries have the same GDP per capita, but Country X has much greater income inequality and a lower life expectancy than Country Y. Which conclusion is most appropriate?

  1. GDP per capita ignores income distribution and wellbeing. Correct answer.
  2. The two countries must have identical living standards.
  3. Country X is economically less developed in every respect.
  4. GDP per capita is useless for comparing any countries.

Explanation

GDP per capita measures average output per person and says nothing directly about how income is shared or about health and education outcomes. Two countries can therefore share the same average income while having very different levels of inequality and wellbeing.

Question 15Economic Development and Economic Activity

A country exports cocoa and imports machinery. If cocoa prices fall on world markets while machinery prices stay unchanged, what is the most likely effect on the country's terms of trade?

  1. They deteriorate. Correct answer.
  2. They remain unchanged.
  3. They become fixed permanently.
  4. They improve.

Explanation

The terms of trade measure the ratio of export prices to import prices. A fall in export prices with unchanged import prices means each unit of exports buys fewer imports, so the terms of trade worsen.

Question 16Economic Development and Economic Activity

A foreign company builds a new electronics factory in a developing country and manages it directly. This investment is best classified as:

  1. A portfolio investment
  2. Foreign direct investment Correct answer.
  3. A grant from a foreign government
  4. Remittance income

Explanation

Foreign direct investment occurs when a firm based in one country establishes or controls productive assets in another country. Building and managing a factory is a lasting direct investment, unlike buying shares, receiving aid, or sending money home.

Question 17Economic Development and Economic Activity

A government wants to reduce demand-pull inflation. Which policy is most likely to achieve this directly?

  1. Paying larger export subsidies
  2. Raising the rate of income tax Correct answer.
  3. Increasing government spending on construction
  4. Lowering the central bank's interest rate

Explanation

Demand-pull inflation is caused by aggregate demand growing faster than the economy's output. Raising income tax reduces households' disposable income and consumption, which helps restrain demand pressure; the other policies would tend to increase demand.

Question 18Economic Development and Economic Activity

A government expands vocational training and adult literacy classes. This spending is best described as investment in:

  1. Human capital Correct answer.
  2. Physical capital
  3. Natural capital
  4. Financial capital

Explanation

Human capital refers to the skills, knowledge and health of workers, which raise productivity. Training and literacy programmes develop these qualities directly, whereas physical capital means machinery and infrastructure.

Question 19Economic Development and Economic Activity

A developing country discovers large oil reserves. Oil exports rise, the currency appreciates, and manufactured exports become less competitive. This pattern is best known as:

  1. Comparative advantage
  2. Structural adjustment
  3. Dutch disease Correct answer.
  4. Import substitution

Explanation

Dutch disease describes how a boom in a natural-resource export can raise the exchange rate and draw resources away from other tradable sectors such as manufacturing. The appreciation makes manufactured exports more expensive and less competitive.

Question 20Economic Development and Economic Activity

A developing country spends a large share of its export earnings on servicing external debt. Which effect is most likely?

  1. The country's terms of trade improve immediately.
  2. More resources become available for health and education.
  3. Less foreign exchange remains for development investment. Correct answer.
  4. The country becomes independent of foreign lenders.

Explanation

Debt service is a claim on foreign exchange earned from exports. When a large share goes to interest and principal payments, less remains to import capital goods or finance health, education and other development priorities.

Question 21Economic Development and Economic Activity

Which activity is an example of work in the tertiary sector?

  1. A miner extracting bauxite from the ground
  2. A factory worker assembling television sets
  3. A bank clerk processing loan applications Correct answer.
  4. A farmer harvesting vegetables for market

Explanation

The tertiary sector provides services rather than extracting raw materials or manufacturing goods. Bank lending is a service, so it belongs to the tertiary sector.

Question 22Economic Development and Economic Activity

Which item is a capital good used in production?

  1. A loaf of bread bought for a family's lunch
  2. A plot of farmland owned by a farmer
  3. A worker's wages paid at the end of the week
  4. A delivery van purchased by a bakery Correct answer.

Explanation

Capital goods are manufactured resources used to produce other goods and services. A delivery van helps a bakery distribute its products over many production periods, so it is capital.

Question 23Economic Development and Economic Activity

A country's GDP per capita rises, but school enrolment and life expectancy stay unchanged. Which conclusion is best supported?

  1. Economic development has definitely occurred.
  2. The country has become more equal in income distribution.
  3. Economic growth occurred, but development did not clearly improve. Correct answer.
  4. The country's population must have fallen.

Explanation

Economic growth is a rise in output or income, while development involves broader improvements in living standards such as education and health. Rising GDP per capita with unchanged schooling and life expectancy shows growth without clear development.

Question 24Economic Development and Economic Activity

In the circular flow of income, which item is an injection into the economy?

  1. Households saving part of their income
  2. Workers paying income tax
  3. Consumers buying imported goods
  4. Government spending on a rural road Correct answer.

Explanation

Injections add to the circular flow from outside households' consumption spending. Government spending on a road adds demand and income, while saving, imports and taxation are withdrawals.

Question 25Economic Development and Economic Activity

A factory releases untreated chemicals into a river, harming fishing families downstream. This situation is best described as:

  1. A monopoly charging prices above marginal cost
  2. A public good being underprovided by the market
  3. A negative externality causing market failure Correct answer.
  4. A shortage caused by a price ceiling

Explanation

A negative externality is a cost of production borne by people outside the market transaction. The factory does not pay for the downstream harm, so the market price fails to reflect the full social cost.

Question 26Economic Development and Economic Activity

Workers in a town lose their jobs when a textile factory closes because cheaper cloth is now imported. Their skills do not match available jobs in tourism. Which type of unemployment is this?

  1. Frictional unemployment
  2. Structural unemployment Correct answer.
  3. Cyclical unemployment
  4. Seasonal unemployment

Explanation

Structural unemployment arises when the pattern of demand or technology changes and workers' skills no longer match available jobs. The decline of textiles and lack of tourism skills reflect a mismatch, not a short search or seasonal lull.

Question 27Economic Development and Economic Activity

Which sequence best describes a common vicious circle of poverty?

  1. Low income leads to high consumption, high imports and faster growth.
  2. Low income, low saving, low investment, low productivity, low income Correct answer.
  3. High saving leads to high investment, higher productivity and higher income.
  4. High investment leads to lower productivity, lower income and lower saving.

Explanation

A poverty trap is a self-reinforcing cycle in which poverty causes conditions that keep income low. When low income limits saving and investment, productivity stays low, which again limits income.

Question 28Economic Development and Economic Activity

A developing country devalues its currency against major trading partners. What is the most likely direct effect?

  1. Its exports become more expensive for foreign buyers.
  2. Foreign tourists find its hotels more expensive.
  3. Exports cheaper abroad, imports dearer at home Correct answer.
  4. Its imports become cheaper for domestic consumers.

Explanation

Devaluation lowers the foreign-currency price of a country's exports and raises the domestic-currency cost of imports. This can improve export competitiveness but also raises import costs.

Question 29Economic Development and Economic Activity

A country's Gini coefficient rises from 0.35 to 0.48 over ten years. What does this change most strongly suggest?

  1. Average income has fallen sharply.
  2. Income distribution has become more unequal. Correct answer.
  3. Absolute poverty has been eliminated.
  4. The country's population has become more equal in income.

Explanation

The Gini coefficient measures inequality on a scale from 0 to 1, with higher values showing greater inequality. A rise from 0.35 to 0.48 therefore points to a more unequal distribution, not necessarily to lower average income or poverty elimination.

Question 30Economic Development and Economic Activity

A country's GDP rises after a mining boom, but unpaid subsistence farming declines and river pollution increases. Why does this make GDP a misleading measure of welfare?

  1. It omits unpaid work and environmental costs. Correct answer.
  2. GDP always falls when pollution increases.
  3. GDP measures income distribution rather than total output.
  4. GDP counts only government spending and ignores private consumption.

Explanation

GDP measures market output, so it can rise when activities damage the environment or when unpaid subsistence work is replaced by paid activity. It does not deduct environmental losses or value non-market work, so higher GDP need not mean higher welfare.

Question 31Economic Development and Economic Activity

An economy is shown producing a combination of two goods at a point that lies inside its production possibility frontier. What does this position most likely indicate?

  1. The economy has achieved technical progress that shifted the frontier outward.
  2. Some resources are unemployed or used inefficiently. Correct answer.
  3. All resources are fully and efficiently employed.
  4. The economy cannot produce any of the two goods shown.

Explanation

Any point inside a production possibility frontier lies below the maximum attainable combination, which can only happen when some factors of production are idle or poorly allocated. Points on the curve itself show full and efficient use, while points beyond it are unattainable with current resources and technology.

Question 32Economic Development and Economic Activity

A qualified teacher can find only two hours of paid work each week and spends the rest of her time selling vegetables in a market. This situation is best described as:

  1. Seasonal unemployment
  2. Structural unemployment
  3. Underemployment Correct answer.
  4. Frictional unemployment

Explanation

Underemployment exists when workers are engaged in paid work for fewer hours than they are willing and able to work, or in jobs that use far less of their skill than they possess. The teacher is employed, but her working time and qualifications are underused, which is the defining feature of underemployment rather than open unemployment.

Question 33Economic Development and Economic Activity

A country's index of terms of trade rises from 90 to 115 over five years. What does this change most directly indicate?

  1. The country's currency has fallen in value against all trading partners.
  2. Each unit of exports now purchases more imports than before. Correct answer.
  3. The volume of the country's exports has increased by 25 per cent.
  4. The country now imports more goods than it exports.

Explanation

The terms of trade index compares the average price of a country's exports with the average price of its imports. A rise from 90 to 115 means export prices have increased relative to import prices, so a given quantity of exports can now pay for a larger quantity of imports, improving the country's purchasing power abroad.

Question 34Economic Development and Economic Activity

Which event is most likely to cause cost-push inflation?

  1. A sustained rise in the price of imported oil Correct answer.
  2. Households borrowing more to buy consumer goods
  3. A rise in export demand from trading partners
  4. An increase in government spending on new roads

Explanation

Cost-push inflation originates on the supply side, when higher input costs such as wages, fuel or imported materials force firms to raise prices in order to protect their profit margins. The other events raise total spending in the economy and therefore create demand-pull pressure rather than cost-push pressure.

Question 35Economic Development and Economic Activity

Which statement best explains how microfinance institutions can support economic development?

  1. They set the official interest rate for the whole banking system.
  2. They lend small sums to poor borrowers without collateral to start small businesses. Correct answer.
  3. They provide non-repayable grants to the poorest households in rural areas.
  4. They concentrate their lending on large manufacturing firms that can create many jobs.

Explanation

Microfinance supplies small loans, savings accounts and insurance to low-income people who cannot offer the collateral that commercial banks demand. Because the funds are repaid with interest, the same capital can be lent repeatedly, letting poor households build small enterprises and smooth their incomes over time.

Question 36Economic Development and Economic Activity

In Country A, producing one tonne of rice takes 4 hours of labour and producing one metre of cloth takes 2 hours. In Country B, producing one tonne of rice takes 8 hours and one metre of cloth takes 8 hours. Assuming constant costs and no transport costs, which specialisation follows from comparative advantage?

  1. Country A should specialise in cloth and Country B in rice. Correct answer.
  2. Neither country gains, because Country A is more efficient in both goods.
  3. Country A should specialise in rice and Country B in cloth.
  4. Both countries should specialise in cloth because Country A is more efficient in both goods.

Explanation

Comparative advantage compares opportunity costs rather than labour hours alone. In Country A one metre of cloth costs 0.5 tonnes of rice, while in Country B it costs 1 tonne of rice, so A gives up less by making cloth. For rice, A gives up 2 metres of cloth per tonne against B's 1 metre, so B should specialise in rice.

Question 37Social Development and Human Welfare

Which set of measures is used to calculate the Human Development Index (HDI)?

  1. Literacy, unemployment and gross domestic product per capita
  2. Life expectancy, years of schooling and GNI per capita Correct answer.
  3. Life expectancy, infant mortality and the inflation rate
  4. Population growth, urbanisation and access to electricity

Explanation

The Human Development Index combines three dimensions: health, measured by life expectancy at birth; education, measured by mean and expected years of schooling; and living standards, measured by gross national income per capita adjusted for purchasing power. Mortality rates, inflation, unemployment and GDP per capita are not components of the index.

Question 38Social Development and Human Welfare

Sustainable Development Goal 1 commits member countries to a specific social target. Which statement states that target correctly?

  1. Provide free housing for every household by 2025
  2. Double the size of the manufacturing sector by 2035
  3. End poverty in all its forms everywhere by 2030 Correct answer.
  4. Achieve universal secondary education by 2040

Explanation

Sustainable Development Goal 1, adopted by United Nations members in 2015, commits countries to end poverty in all its forms everywhere by 2030. Housing, education and industrial targets belong to other goals or to national plans, and none of the other deadlines matches a global poverty goal.

Question 39Social Development and Human Welfare

Which description best explains what social protection means in development policy?

  1. A method of measuring national output at market prices
  2. A training scheme designed to raise factory output
  3. A set of policies and programmes that shield people from poverty and shocks Correct answer.
  4. A tax system that raises revenue for the national budget

Explanation

Social protection covers policies and programmes such as cash transfers, pensions, health insurance and social services that reduce poverty, vulnerability and risk across the life cycle. Taxation, industrial training and national output measurement serve different purposes and are not forms of social protection.

Question 40Social Development and Human Welfare

District A has a Gini coefficient of 0.61 and District B has a Gini coefficient of 0.28. Which conclusion about the two districts is best supported by these figures?

  1. District A distributes income more equally than District B
  2. District B has a lower average income than District A
  3. District B distributes income more equally than District A Correct answer.
  4. Poverty levels in the two districts are identical

Explanation

The Gini coefficient runs from 0, meaning perfect equality, to 1, meaning perfect inequality. A value of 0.28 therefore shows a much more equal income distribution than 0.61. The coefficient says nothing directly about average income levels or about absolute poverty in either district.

Question 41Social Development and Human Welfare

In one district, families pay secondary school fees only for their sons, while daughters are kept at home to do domestic work. Which term best describes this pattern?

  1. Child labour in the informal sector
  2. Population ageing caused by falling birth rates
  3. Gender inequality in access to education Correct answer.
  4. Rural-urban migration

Explanation

When access to schooling is decided by a child's sex rather than by ability or interest, the result is gender inequality in education. Migration, informal child labour and population ageing describe other processes and do not capture the discrimination that produces the pattern described.

Question 42Social Development and Human Welfare

A country has 12 million people under the age of 15, 3 million people aged 65 and over, and 25 million people aged 15 to 64. What is its total dependency ratio?

  1. 40 dependants per 100 working-age people
  2. 167 dependants per 100 working-age people
  3. 48 dependants per 100 working-age people
  4. 60 dependants per 100 working-age people Correct answer.

Explanation

The total dependency ratio divides all dependants, that is people under 15 plus people aged 65 and over, by the working-age population and multiplies by 100. Here (12 + 3) divided by 25 multiplied by 100 gives 60, meaning 60 dependants for every 100 people of working age.

Question 43Social Development and Human Welfare

A government expands vocational training for unemployed young people. Which outcome best illustrates the human capital argument for this policy?

  1. Trainees gain skills that raise their productivity and earnings Correct answer.
  2. The national population grows more quickly
  3. The government collects more revenue from import duties
  4. Fewer young people move from villages to towns

Explanation

Human capital theory holds that education and training raise workers' skills, productivity and lifetime earnings, which also benefits the wider economy through higher output and tax revenue. Population growth, import duty collection and migration patterns are not the core justification for investing in skills.

Question 44Social Development and Human Welfare

An elderly woman is entitled to a government pension but cannot receive it because she has no national identity document and lives far from the registration office. Which concept does this situation best illustrate?

  1. Cultural diffusion between communities
  2. Social exclusion from social protection Correct answer.
  3. Market equilibrium in the labour market
  4. A widening fiscal deficit

Explanation

Social exclusion occurs when administrative, physical or social barriers prevent people from accessing services and taking part fully in society. A missing identity document combined with distance from registration offices is exactly such a barrier, and it blocks access to a social protection entitlement.

Question 45Social Development and Human Welfare

Which statement best reflects Amartya Sen's capability approach to welfare?

  1. Welfare should be judged only by the total amount of income earned by all residents of a country
  2. Welfare should be judged by people's real freedom to achieve the lives they value Correct answer.
  3. Welfare improves automatically whenever the national birth rate rises sharply
  4. Welfare is best measured by counting the number of factories operating in a region

Explanation

Sen's capability approach evaluates welfare by what people are actually free to do and to be, such as being healthy, educated and able to participate in community life. Income and output matter only as means towards expanding those freedoms, not as ends in themselves.

Question 46Social Development and Human Welfare

A government must choose between a universal old-age pension paid to everyone above a set age and a means-tested pension paid only to the poorest elderly people. Which is the strongest argument in favour of the universal scheme?

  1. It guarantees that only the poorest older people receive a pension payment each month
  2. It avoids the stigma and cost of means testing, though it is fiscally costly Correct answer.
  3. It always costs the government far less to run than any targeted scheme would
  4. It removes any need for the government to collect tax revenue for pensions

Explanation

Universal schemes pay everyone in a defined category, so they avoid the stigma and administrative expense of assessing incomes, but they cost more because benefits also reach the non-poor. Targeted schemes cost less overall yet require costly identification of beneficiaries and may stigmatise them, which is the trade-off being tested.

Question 47Social Development and Human Welfare

The global Multidimensional Poverty Index measures poverty by counting which set of deprivations?

  1. Weak export earnings, high inflation and slow growth of national income
  2. Low household savings, heavy personal debt and limited access to bank credit
  3. Small farm size, low crop yields and a shortage of draught livestock
  4. Poor health, low education and inadequate living standards Correct answer.

Explanation

The index treats poverty as a bundle of overlapping deprivations rather than as low income alone. Households are counted as poor when they fall short across indicators grouped under health, education and standard of living, such as nutrition, years of schooling, drinking water and electricity. A household deprived in a weighted share of these indicators is classified as multidimensionally poor.

Question 48Social Development and Human Welfare

A national health survey reports the number of children per 1,000 live births who die before reaching their fifth birthday. Which indicator is described?

  1. Under-five mortality rate Correct answer.
  2. Infant mortality rate
  3. Maternal mortality ratio
  4. Crude death rate

Explanation

The under-five mortality rate records deaths of children between birth and the age of five, expressed per 1,000 live births. It is widely used as a summary measure of child survival and of the reach of basic health services, nutrition and sanitation. Because it captures the whole first five years, it is broader than the infant mortality rate.

Question 49Social Development and Human Welfare

A ministry reports the number of children of official primary school age who are enrolled in primary school as a share of all children of that age. Which indicator is this?

  1. Gross enrolment ratio
  2. Net enrolment ratio Correct answer.
  3. Primary completion rate
  4. Pupil–teacher ratio

Explanation

The net enrolment ratio restricts both the numerator and the denominator to the official school-age group, so it shows how far that age group is actually enrolled. The gross enrolment ratio instead counts all pupils regardless of age, which is why it can exceed 100 per cent. The net ratio therefore gives a cleaner picture of access for the intended age group.

Question 50Social Development and Human Welfare

A government pays a monthly cash sum to poor households on condition that their children attend school and visit a clinic for regular check-ups. Which statement best describes what this policy is designed to do?

  1. Replace the incomes of poor households with wages earned on public works employment schemes
  2. Reduce the consumer prices of staple foods so that poor households can afford to buy more
  3. Raise household income while also building the health and education of the next generation Correct answer.
  4. Provide free school meals and free clinic services directly to children in the poorest districts

Explanation

The payment transfers cash to raise immediate consumption, while the conditions encourage school attendance and use of preventive health services. The design therefore links short-term poverty relief with investment in children's human capital. It protects current welfare and, at the same time, aims to break the transmission of poverty to the next generation.