Living standards between Cardiff and Manchester (Essay Sample)

COMPARING LIVING STANDARDS IN CARDIFF AND MANCHESTER
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Introduction
The standard of living entails the level of material affluence or the measure of life quality enjoyed by people in a given demographic group or a geographic area. It refers to the level of necessities and material goods, comfort and wealth accessible to a given socioeconomic group in a given geographic region. The living standards involves aspects such as affordability and quality of housing, rate of poverty, availability and quality of employment, cost of services and goods, GDP, health accessibility, infrastructure, availability and quality education and life expectancy to mention but a few. Different cities in the United Kingdom hold different living standards. Drawing from the analysis of employment rate, disposable income, cost of living, rate of poverty and crime and GDP in Cardiff and Manchester, persons dwelling in Cardiff enjoy the best living standards and quality of life.Employment Rate and Disposable IncomeCardiff holds the best quality of living compared to Manchester. According to Coles (2013), the quality of living in Cardiff stands at 0.659 compared to Manchester’s 0.585. The quality of living in Cardiff has been boosted by increased employment rate and average earnings. Average earnings for people residing in Cardiff city is higher compared to the earnings of people residing in Manchester. The earnings are boosted by the fact that the city is a centre for white-collar jobs, hence a higher rate of employment in the tourism, media, finance and retail sectors. The rise in the employment rate and average earnings in Cardiff increases the rate of disposable income. Apparently, high disposable income leads to better living standards. According to Babu (2007, p.174), disposable income at a higher level helps in mobilising savings that are useful in the production of more goods and services to the economy. Disposable income facilitates asset creation that in turn instigates better living standards.Cost of LivingThe cost of living in Cardiff is lower compared to the cost of living in Manchester. According to Money Super Market (2014), among major cities in the UK including Manchester, Cardiff holds the lowest cost of living standing at 359 pounds per week. Although there are other sources that states, Waseonline (2014), which is a reliable source also confirms that Cardiff residents hold the lowest living standards of 359 pounds. These costs involve money used on food and drinks, footwear, clothing, health and recreation, transport, household services and goods. Evidently, Cardiff City is blessed with the best quality of life following a constant drop in the rate of unemployment and reduced cost of living.
GDPCardiff has a strong GDP compared to Manchester. According to NI (2011, p.70), Manchester ranks the second in comprehensive competitiveness and market share in the United Kingdom. However, as regard economic efficiency, Cardiff ranks position one in the UK and position five across the world. Although Manchester takes the lead in economic aggregation with a GDP of 326.22 million dollars per square kilometre, Cardiff takes the second position in economic growth after Newcastle. GDP is a useful measure of living standards and is widely used as an indicator of living standards. GDP is determined by the market value of services and goods produced in a region. Cardiff has the highest economic growth compared to Manchester and it is the fastest developing city in the UK with the highest development in private sector employment. It is estimated that Cardiff would be the third, after London and Nottingham, with the strongest GDP growth by 2017 (Meadwell 2103). The rise in the GDP in Cardiff implies better and quality standards of living.The Rate of Poverty and CrimePoverty and crime rates are higher in Manchester than in Cardiff. A report by the UK police indicated that by the end of March 2015, the rate of crime in Manchester was higher than the average rate of crime in other cities in the UK. The crime rate in Manchester stands at 106.41 compared to 90.61 in Cardiff (Police UK, 2015). More so, a study carried out in 2014 indicated that Manchester City holds the fourth highest child rate of poverty in the United Kingdom. Nearly half of children, forty-seven percent, live in poverty in Manchester city (Wood 2014]. This is contrary to Cardiff city given the rise in the rate of employment. Given the increased rate of crime and poverty in Manchester, the living standards in the city are poor compared to the living standards in Cardiff.ConclusionLiving standards entails the measure of life quality enjoyed by people in a given demographic group or a geographical area. The analysis depicts that the living standards in Cardiff and Manchester cities are very different. Cardiff holds the lowest living costs, reduced crime and poverty rate, reduced unemployment and a strong GDP. Given the increased employment rate and disposable income, lower living costs, reduce poverty and crime rate and a strong GDP, living standards in Cardiff are better compared to living standards in Manchester. In my opinion, people would probably feel sat...