Standard of living vs. quality of life

Lesson: Happiness in lifestyles
Unit: population growth
Materials: none
Age Level: 3rd-6th
Space Requirements: classroom
Time: ½ hour
Objectives:
· Students will learn what standard of living and quality of life are, and their differences
· Students will discuss and write about their personal beliefs
· Students will explore the messages our culture sends us about standard of living.
Plan: 20 minutes: Happiness in lifestyles
Directions: Discuss what standard of living and quality of life are with the participants. Ask them if they know the difference between the two. Read the included Lifestyle Stories to them and have them discuss what each rank in terms of standard of living and quality of life. Have each participant say which lifestyle they would choose for themselves and why. Afterwards have them write in their journal about the activity.

Background Information: Standard of living is the amount of money that an individual has. The more money they have, the more the can buy, and the more their “needs” are met. Standard of living places people into economic classes. And most often people strive for the class above theirs. Standard of Living assumes that money brings happiness. Quality of life is a measure of how happy you are with what you have. If you are always striving to be in a higher economic class your quality of life is low. Quality of life means that you don’t necessarily have to have a lot of money to be happy. Both rich and poor people can have either a high or low quality of life.

Lifestyle Stories:

Marie: Marie is a well-known lawyer who earns $50,000 a year. She works 16 hours a day and most weekends. She has a partner and a daughter whom she rarely sees, but she makes up for it with buying them whatever they want. She lives in a three-story house on a lake. They own a boat and two jet skis. They also have an indoor pool and hot tub. She and her family take a vacation every year to exotic places around the world, but Marie always has work with her. They have every material possession that they could ever desire.

Jane: Jane is a teacher in a small town elementary school. She earns just enough to support her families basic needs. She and her partner have two kids. They live in a one-story house and have one car. Jane gets home around three everyday to fix her children a snack and help them with their homework. Every evening the whole family sits down for a nice home cooked meal that Jane prepared. After dinner they usually try to play a game or go on a walk together. Every summer they try to take a little vacation together. They usually go to a nice campground about an hour north of their home. They do not have enough money to buy a lot of expensive things, so they buy their clothing at second hand stores. They also have a garden where they grow a lot of their vegetables.

10 minutes- Messages
Talk about messages that our culture sends us. We are constantly being told that we aren’t good enough, aren’t happy enough, and that we need a certain product to make us happy. Split students in to groups of four to brainstorm messages from advertising that support this statement. Then come back together as a group to share them. Discuss what they can do to raise their quality of life.