Ireland vs. United States

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Ireland is ranked number 7 on the HDI, not far away from the United States which is ranked number 3. Ireland has a higher life expectancy, which is 80.7 years, compared to the U.S. of 78.7 years. However, the U.S. has 13.3 mean years of schooling as adults and 16.8 children years while Ireland has 11.6 adult years and 18.3 children years. Also, the U.S. has a 0.821 inequality value which is significatly higher than Irelands, which is 0.121. I feel that by these statistics show that Ireland is more developed than the United States, which does not agree with the HDI. Ireland has a higher life expectancy, although not by much more than the U.S., which shows much about the country’s health. Although the U.S. has a greater amount of schooling in adult years, Ireland has a greater amount of school during the children years. I feel that it is more important to have a longer education in childhood. If school officially begins when in first grade when children are around 6, Ireland has people attending school until about 24. However, America has people attending up until 22. Lastly I feel that gender inequality is a big factor that shows whether a country has developed or not. Americas inequailty rate is significantly higher than that of Ireland.

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