Simulic
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Living standards in the 20th century – life expectancy, causes of death, income and food since 1900

History20th Century & TodayAges 15–16

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Compare the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States, India and the world from 1900 to today with approximate, sourced data: life expectancy, infant mortality, causes of death, GDP per head, cereal yields, working hours and the share of households with a car, television, fridge or internet. Markers for the world wars, the Great Depression, antibiotics, vaccines, the NHS and the Green Revolution sit on the timeline, and a two-year comparison table helps students identify change, continuity and their causes.

Lesson: Changing living standards in the 20th century: life expectancy, health, income, food, working hours and consumer goods – change, continuity and causation

What it shows

Living standards changed more in the 20th century than in any earlier period. In the UK, Australia and the USA life expectancy rose by roughly 25–35 years and infant deaths fell by more than 90 %, while in India and the world most of the gain came after 1950. Clean water, better food and housing, vaccines, antibiotics and public health services explain much of the change; rising productivity raised incomes and shortened working hours. The data are rounded estimates with uncertainty bands, especially before 1950, and come from sources such as Our World in Data, the Maddison Project, FAO, ONS, ABS, NCHS and IHME.

How to use

Choose an Indicator and tick the regions to compare. Drag the From and To sliders, or drag on the chart, then read the comparison table for the change and the ratio between the two years; press Play to run through time. Use Markers to show health, economy or war events and read the event closest to the To year. For Causes of death pick a Place; for Households with goods pick an Item; turn on Log scale for GDP or infant mortality.

Parameters you can change

  • Indicator Life expectancy, Infant mortality, GDP per head, Cereal yield, Working hours per year, Causes of death, Households with consumer goods
  • Year shown 1900–2020 year
  • Comparison start year 1900–2020 year
  • Show the United Kingdom
  • Show Australia
  • Show the United States
  • Show India
  • Show the world
  • Consumer good Car, Television, Fridge, Home internet
  • Place for causes of death United Kingdom, United States, Australia, India, World
  • Event markers All, Health and welfare, Economy and food, Wars, None
  • Log scale (GDP, infant mortality)

Questions to explore

  1. Why did life expectancy in 1900–1950 rise mainly because fewer babies and young children died?
  2. How did the gap in life expectancy between India and the UK change between 1946 and 2020, and why?
  3. Why did heart disease and cancer become the main causes of death as infectious diseases declined?

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