Meaning & use
high standard of living
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A level of comfort, wealth and access to goods and services that is considered good or above average.
Grammar: Usually used with 'a': the country enjoys a high standard of living. The plural is 'high standards of living'.
Patterns
- a high standard of living
- enjoy a high standard of living
- maintain a high standard of living
The country has a high standard of living, with good schools and hospitals.
Many people move to the city hoping for a higher standard of living.
A high standard of living usually means better housing, health care and education.
nouncountabletechnical
The level of material comfort typical of a particular group or place, measured by income, housing and services.
Grammar: Often used in comparisons: a higher standard of living than in the past.
Patterns
- a higher standard of living
- a lower standard of living
- compare standards of living
Economists compared the standard of living in the two countries.
The report shows a falling standard of living for young families.
Rising wages led to a higher standard of living for many workers.
Word forms
| plural | high standards of living |
|---|
Common combinations
- enjoy a high standard of living
- Residents of the town enjoy a high standard of living.
- maintain a high standard of living
- It is hard to maintain a high standard of living on one salary.
- a higher standard of living
- Education often leads to a higher standard of living.
- a falling standard of living
- The crisis caused a falling standard of living across the region.
- the cost of a high standard of living
- The cost of a high standard of living is rising in big cities.
Synonyms and how they differ
- quality of life
- This is wider and includes health, happiness and environment, while 'high standard of living' focuses mainly on money, goods and services.
- affluence
- This means great wealth in general and is more formal; 'high standard of living' can describe a whole country, not just rich individuals.
- prosperity
- This stresses economic success and growth, while 'high standard of living' describes the everyday comfort that people actually experience.
Opposites
Word family
- standard of living noun
- The general level of comfort and wealth of a person or group.
- cost of living noun
- The amount of money needed for basic things such as food, housing and transport.
- living standard noun
- Another way of saying standard of living, common in economics writing.
Commonly confused: high standard of living or cost of living? high standard of living or quality of life?
high standard of living vs cost of living
This is how expensive life is in a place, while 'high standard of living' is about comfort and access to goods and services. A high cost of living does not always mean a high standard of living.
high standard of living vs quality of life
This includes health, happiness and environment, not just money and possessions, so it is broader than 'high standard of living'.
Practice
After the economy grew, many families enjoyed ___ standard of living.
Choose one answer.
The phrase is countable and needs an article: 'a higher standard of living'. 'Higher' alone misses the article, 'the higher' wrongly suggests a specific known level, and 'a high' does not show the comparison with the past.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “high standard of living”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.