Making international comparisons in the standard of living is flawed because they aren’t measurements of comparable entities. A younger population is disadvantaged compared to an older one when using these measures. The younger could appear to suffer lower living standards because many more benefit from the health of youth, which is free. The elderly require more medicines and treatments that are expensive and drive up the statistics of the country’s output. The infirm man in a wheelchair cannot be meaningfully said to be enjoying their economic advantage over the twenty-year-old athlete who doesn’t need such expensive equipment.