Development and Aid

What is Development and Aid?

Within Economics & Civics, which covers money, markets, business, government, law and citizenship: how societies are organised and run, this topic explains Development and Aid. Economics and civics topics explain how money, markets, laws and government affect people, so each topic here pairs a clear definition with a model.

Check that you can explain Development and Aid in your own words and give one example from everyday life. If you can do that, you have understood the core idea.

Understanding Development and Aid helps you read the news critically and weigh up policies, choices and arguments about society.

Development and Aid in detail

Development is the improvement of living standards, health and education in a country, not only economic growth. Indicators include GDP per capita, life expectancy, literacy and the Human Development Index. Barriers to development include conflict, corruption, debt, poor infrastructure, disease and dependence on exporting raw materials.

Aid is help given to developing countries, such as emergency aid after disasters, long-term development aid for projects, and technical help. It can be bilateral (between two governments), multilateral (through organisations such as the World Bank) or from charities. Aid may reduce poverty but can create dependency or be misused, so trade, debt relief and investment are also important.

How the interactive helps you understand Development and Aid

Watch the globe in the interactive. Use any sliders or buttons it offers to change the values and see how the globe responds.

Before you change anything, predict the result. Then change one value at a time and check whether your prediction was right. This is a quick way to build a correct mental model of Development and Aid.

Real-life uses and examples

• Relate Development and Aid to a news story about prices, jobs, elections or government spending.
• Use Development and Aid to weigh up the pros and costs of a policy or decision.
• Explain Development and Aid to a classmate using a choice you make yourself, such as spending pocket money.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Giving an opinion without evidence or a clear economic or civic reason.
• Confusing a short-term effect with a long-term one.
• Learning the definition without testing it. Use the quiz and the interactive to check that you can apply the idea.