Is the standard of living, such as living costs, better or worse in Jamaica than in the United States?

Question

Is the standard of living, such as living costs, better or worse in Jamaica than in the United States?

Answer 1

The standard of living in Jamaica is much lower. Sure there are a few wealthy but the majority live in poor third world conditions, espsecially in the rural areas.

Answer 2

its hard to make a real orange to orange comparison.  Standard of living is high in jamaica, but earning potential and opportunity is lower.  

As a middle income earner im living on par or in some cases better than my peers in the states. We both pay 1/3 - 1/2 of our earning on rent  and Im sure I pay less on food, entertainment and gas....thing is the availability of some resources for example an MSc in Cognitive Science or a brand new bmw requires overseas purchase for this reason many day to day expenses are out of the basic budget.  So though the ratio of things are the same... the impact of imported goods has to be considered.  

eg bread in ja is less or the same as bread in US

    a car in ja is 2 times the cost of that car in the US

    Education for international student is 3 times cost of citizen

So in general standard of living may be higher in the US but quality of life might be better here..in terms of food, air, water, social, cultural etc.

To compare people below the poverty line I think Jamaicans are in a far better place for some things...no one dies of hunger or freezes to death etc.  so even though the US may have better standards….. quality of live is far better in Jamaica if you are below the poverty line.

if u were to look at number of fridge, computers, dvd per household

cultureal and socail activities

stress levels

But our standards need work .  We lack some institutions to properly support poor, elderly, disabled or mentally submormal but i think that is more a matter of governing than resources as many things are privately owned or sponsored by external or non profit orgs.

.  

So in terms of living cost... if i was earning what my peers earn id be excellent as opposed to okay.  If i was getting minimum wage US i would be okay as opposed to stuggling on minimum wage Jamaica. But my quality of life is much better than theres

Answer 3

Standard of living in Jamaica is lower in general.  However,  if you go to the slums in US, the difference is neglible.  Things are actually cheaper in Jamaica outside the resort area.  Of course, an average citizen earns a lot less.