An example of application of the sociological model based on needs from an historical point of view. Needs and well-being since 1820. Comment on the report “What was life like?” of the OECD

Abstract

This work proposes a comment on the UCA publications on multidimensional poverty measurement and the OECD “What was life like?”. A needs-based sociological model can also describe past societies and follow the evolution of the indicators over time. Here it is exemplified by the aforementioned studies. The first is the one used by the UCA Observatory. The following, from an OECD team, "What was life like?", Carries out an analysis based on a series of criteria from a little before the industrial revolution took hold. This is the one that is mainly discussed as an example, which we estimate is still developed on the basis of not too many needs, of an application of the possible model to historical evolution. It is compared with the one proposed in a previous article and its expansion is proposed. It is suggested that Thomas Piketty's work on capital concentration could be included in these types of models. Some difficulties of the historical approaches in this matter are also discussed.