standard of living

In economics, the measure of consumption and welfare of a country, community, class, or person. Individual standard-of-living expectations are heavily influenced by the income and consumption of other people in similar jobs.

Universal measures of standards of living cannot be applied to individuals. National income and gross national product, which measure a country's wealth, do not take into account unpaid work (housework and family labour) or quality of life and do not show the distribution of wealth or reflect the particular national or individual aspirations, duties, or responsibilities, which differ widely from person to person, class to class, and country to country.