Question 1.22 Choose the correct answerRead the following statements about the high living standards that you see or experience today and select the correct one.

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

High living standards became a sustained and widespread phenomenon only after the productivity breakthroughs of the Industrial Revolution in the early 18th century, so the correct choice is: They became a permanent feature only since the early 18th century.

1. Relevant knowledge points and concepts
- Long-run economic growth depends on sustained increases in productivity (output per worker), not short-term fluctuations.  
- Before the 18th century most of the world experienced a Malthusian regime: technological gains were largely offset by population growth, keeping per‑capita living standards roughly stagnant.  
- The Industrial Revolution (beginning in Britain in the late 18th century, with precursors in the early 18th century) introduced mechanization, steam power, and improvements in agriculture and manufacturing that allowed persistent per‑capita income growth.  
- Diffusion of these gains was uneven across regions and groups.

2. Step-by-step reasoning
- Observe historical pattern: until roughly the 1700s, sustained growth in GDP per capita was rare; periodic gains were often reversed by population increases or crises.  
- From the early-to-mid 18th century onwards a technological and organizational shift raised productivity persistently, enabling continuous increases in average living standards (better nutrition, higher real wages, longer life expectancy).  
- Because these changes were driven by industry, capital, institutions and technology, they did not immediately or evenly affect all regions or social groups.

3. Calculations
- No numerical calculation is required; the argument rests on qualitative historical-economic evidence about sustained per‑capita growth beginning in the 18th century.

4. Why the correct answer is correct
- It correctly locates the shift to permanent, cumulative improvements in living standards with the early stages of the Industrial Revolution and ensuing long-run growth.

5. Why the other options are incorrect
- a) Incorrect: high living standards are not spread evenly across all regions; large global and within‑country disparities persist.  
- b) Incorrect: claiming they have been a feature since the 14th century contradicts the pre‑industrial Malthusian stagnation evident until the 18th century.  
- d) Incorrect: living standards are strongly influenced by parents’ socio‑economic background and gender, so they are not independent of these factors.

6. Conclusion
Therefore the correct option is: They became a permanent feature only since the early 18th century. This matches the provided answer.

Question 1.22 Choose the correct answerRead the following statements about the high living standards that you see or experience today and select the correct one.Single choice

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