Standard of Living in Jordan
Jordan is ranked as having a superior standard of life in comparison to the region and developing countries as a whole. Jordan ranked as having the 11th highest standard of living in the developing world and the second highest standard of living in the Arab and Muslim World as measured by the Human Poverty Index-2. Decades of political stability and security and strict law enforcement make Jordan one of the top 10 countries worldwide in security. In the 2010 Newsweek "World's Best Countries" list, Jordan ranked as the third best Arab country to live in (53rd worldwide), after Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. Globally, it ranks higher than China and South Africa. According to the index, its standard of living is on par with Turkey and Argentina. In addition, Jordan is one of the most liberal countries in the Middle East with a pro-secular government. In the 2010 Human Development Index, Jordan was placed in the "high human development" bracket and came 7th among Arab countries, behind the oil-rich states and one place behind Tunisia. In the HDI index score excluding income, Jordan came in second in the Arab world, higher than most of the affluent Persian Gulf states, showing the huge emphasis the Jordanian government has placed on human capital in its development process. Furthermore, in the Inequality-adjusted HDI, Jordan came first among all the Arab countries showing that the average Jordanian was better off than the average citizen of any Arab country listed in the index.
A villa in West Amman
The 2010 Quality of Life Index prepared by International Living Magazine ranked Jordan as having one of the highest quality of life in the Arab world and North Africa. Jordan ranked second in the MENA with 55.0 points after Israel and followed by Kuwait with 54.47 points, Morocco with 54.45 points, and Lebanon with 54.3 points. Only 1.6 percent of Jordanians earn less than $2 a day, one of the lowest rates in the developing world and the lowest among the Arab states, according to the UN Human Development Report.
Low income neighborhood in East Amman
Access to adequate food and shelter in Jordan is the sixth highest in the world, and a relatively 72% of Jordanians are satisfied with their living standards. Despite high levels of perceived corruption in politics and business, Jordanians have relatively high confidence in the government. Over 8 in 10 people approve of their government which is the 13th highest level in the 2010 Legatum Prosperity Index. Levels of support for the countrys policies to preserve the environment and address poverty are also among the top 25 nations. Jordanians are highly enthusiastic about their other civil institutions: 96% support the military, the seventh highest rate overall, and 70% have confidence in the judiciary, the 25th highest rate. Jordanians also enjoy high levels of safety in their personal lives. In a 2009 survey, just 2.8% of respondents said they had been assaulted in the last 12 months, and less than 7% had experienced theft: these figures are the 21st and 10th lowest in the world, respectively. Jordan is also among the top ten countries whose citizens feel safest walking the streets at night.
Life expectancy and public health levels in Jordan are comparable to the West with 88% of the population on medical insurance, one of the highest rates in the world. The remaining 12% are covered under Royal makruma. As of 2011, 63% of working Jordanians are insured with the Social Security Corporation, as well as 120,000 foreigners, with plans to include the rest of Jordanian workers both inside and outside the kingdom as well as students, housewives, business owners, and the unemployed.
In 2008, the Jordanian government launched the "Decent Housing for a Decent Living" project aimed at giving poor people and Palestinian refugees the chance at owning their own house. Approximately 120,000 affordable housing units will be constructed within the next 5 years, and an additional 100,000 housing units can be built if the need arises.
Jordan was ranked as the 19th most expensive country in the world to live in 2010 and the most expensive Arab country to live in.
Despite these positive indicators, Jordan remains marred by chronic high unemployment rates, 11.9% in the fourth quarter of 2010 but some estimate it to be as high as a quarter of the working-age population. Also, an estimated 13.3% of citizens live under the poverty line. Wide disaparities in wealth are evident between urban and rural areas and even between the Western and Eastern districts of the capital Amman. Currently, there are over 700,000 highly skilled college graduates working temporarily in GCC nations like the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. These white-collar workers send home more than three billion dollars in remittances to Jordan each year, a vital part of the Jordanian economy. High cost of living and lower wages push thousands of fresh college graduates to seek their fortunes in the oil-rich gulf.
In the 2010 Gallup Global Wellbeing Survey, 30% of Jordanians described their financial situation as "thriving", higher than the global median of 21% but still lower than the Americas and only marginally ahead of the European median of 28%. Jordan surpassed most of the Arab countries with the exception of Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia.
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