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India
Wealth, health and the cycle of progress 27
Figure 11 Rural (R) vs. Urban (U) divide access to safe water
and sanitation, 2000
100
R-Safe H2O
U-Safe H2O
R-Sanitation
U-Sanitation
75
50
25
0
Russia
South Africa
Nigeria
Mexico
Indonesia
China
Brazil
Bolivia
Source: World Resources Institute (2005)
Thus, while income inequalities might have widened between
countries, they seem to have shrunk between people. More importantly,
in the aspects of human well-being that are truly critical – life
expectancy, infant mortality, hunger – the world is far more equal
today than it was a half century ago, notwithstanding relapses in
Sub-Saharan Africa and, to a lesser extent, some countries in the
former Soviet Union.
Are rural residents better off?
Historically, as the currently developed countries embarked on
modern economic growth, the welfare of urban dwellers generally
lagged behind that of their rural compatriots (Easterlin, 1996; Fogel,
2000; Lerner & Anderson, 1965). Fogel notes that U.S. cities with