HDI Expands Beyond Economic Metrics for Holistic Living Standards

Steps:

• Recall HDI definition: combines life expectancy, education, and GNI per capita to assess human development.
• Identify GDP limitation: focuses only on economic output, ignoring health and knowledge.
• Evaluate options: check which addresses why HDI supplements GDP for standard of living.
• Select A: it directly explains HDI's inclusion of non-economic factors.

Why A is correct:

• HDI's formula integrates health (life expectancy), education (mean and expected years of schooling), and income (GNI per capita), recognizing these as essential to well-being beyond GDP.

Why the others are wrong:

• B: GDP per capita is measured independently, not by HDI; HDI incorporates it as one component.
• C: HDI does not measure inequality; that's addressed by separate indices like IHDI.
• D: Literacy is part of HDI's education metric, so it's effective within HDI, not dismissed.

Final answer: A