image
Cost of living. This was a familiar word but I first became aware of it properly when I was searching for options to study abroad. Along with the program's nature, university ranking, and career opportunities, the cost of living was also important to be considered. The cost of living is the cost of basic amenities i.e. food, living, transport, health, education, and entertainment. Not only does it vary from country to country but city to city as well.
Many determinants determine the cost of living in a particular territory. The money influx, development, availability of resources, accessibility to resources, and the economic situation of the territory along with per capita income are the key determinants of the cost of like. One wonders why it varies significantly like though Pakistan is a deprived and under-developed country, the cost of living here is far less than in the most developed country i.e. America.
image
Let me compare the cost of living in my area with New York and then to the capital of my own country.
We are a family of 6 and it took me some time to extract comparative figures. I live in a countryside area where although some facilities are missing some natural perks and privileges have tempted us to stay here. Here our monthly expenditure is $550 almost of which all the basic life commodities are included and we live in this budget in a wide air-conditioned house, eat delicious food three times a day and occasionally go to visits as well by also covering health and educational expenditures.
But when it comes to New York, even I was astonished to see that it costs $2000 for a single person to live there and a family of 6 people needs almost $7000 to meet all its basic needs and lead a comfortable life though not luxurious. Similarly, if I talk about the capital of my country which is only a 3-hour distance from me, the cost of living varies. To live the life that I am currently living in my area, almost $1500 monthly is required minimum for a family of 6 persons.
So is it shrewd to change locality? Should Americans migrate to Pakistan as the cost of living is low? Should Islamabad leave Islamabad and migrate to Mianwali? I guess “No”.
First of all, though the cost of living is very low in my area, it is because the area is productive and produces its food items but it is also the fact that it is deprived of many life amenities like for an emergency health situation, we have to travel 3 hours to get treatment. Similarly, for higher education, we have to look towards other countries and cities. Thirdly the employment ratio and per capita income are also very low in my area.
Big countries and big cities, though, are costly but they provide really good opportunities to earn a livelihood as well. They provide you with basic amenities which are not available in remote areas. So it will be unwise to change locality just because of the cost of living.
This is my blog for #hl-exclusive and #hl-w159e1.