Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
are often still in existence and have maintained strength despite the onslaught of
modernization. On this strong social base, such countries have been able to make
good use of the early stages of welfare, the provision of primary education
facilities, of basic medical aid, and of housing for the needy. In these countries,
welfare is not destructive of society but supportive, so that our conclusions as to
the role of social programmes may be quite different from the preceding
discussion.
Another point to be drawn from the data presented on Brazil is that there are
strong regional patterns within countries, and many remote or inaccessible
regions have difficulty in receiving the welfare on offer.
Empirical evidence
Because of the uncertainty as to how social provision works, and the direction of
causality, it is worth detailing some of the levels of national provision in
individual countries. A complete survey cannot be attempted, but two sectors,
education and health provision, are examined below.
Education
From
Table 4.1
below, it becomes evident that there are major differences
between the LDC groups, and that South American countries compare well with
sub-Saharan Africa.
The major achievements since 1965 in all countries are apparent. But there are
substantial gaps between each level in the income table. Low income countries,
particularly when China and India are excluded, have improved from a very low
base in 1965, but still have only 26 per cent of the relevant age group in
secondary
Table 4.1
Educational levels in LDCS compared with other countries, by percentage of
each 12-18 year cohort in secondary education.
Group
1
965
1
987
F
emale 1987
Low income states 20 37 29
China & India 25 41 33
Other low income 9 26 16
Low middle states 23 49 50
Upper middle 32 67 65
High income
6
2
9
3
9
6
Source:
World Bank Development Report (1990). Low income, under US$545 per capita
income in 1988; lower middle, £545-2,200; upper middle, $2,200-6,000; high
income, over $6,000.
