Disability and Household Welfare in Ghana: Costs and Correlates

Abstract

Persons with disabilities face substantial barriers that impede their integration and participation in social and economic activities. Households with disabled members may be vulnerable to poverty due to the extra cost of living with a disability. However, there exists a knowledge gap in the magnitude of the extra cost of disabilities in sub Saharan Africa. Using data from a nationally representative household survey, this paper estimates the extra cost of disabilities in Ghana. The paper further examines the welfare effects of households with persons with disabilities. Based on the standard of living approach, we estimate the extra cost to households with a person with disability to be 26% of annual household consumption expenditures. Adjusting for the extra cost of poverty, the incidence of poverty increases from 38.5 to 52.9% amongst households with a disabled member. Our findings suggest the need to improve the efficiency of support programs to persons with disabilities to mitigate the extra costs of disabilities and reduce their vulnerability to poverty. In addition, enhancing access to economic opportunities and social services for persons with disabilities will be imperative to improve their quality of life and dignity.

Associations of Sustainable Development Goals Accelerators With Adolescents’ Well-Being According to Head-of-Household’s Disability Status–A Cross-Sectional Study From Zambia

“…Previous studies, including a systematic review, support this finding, showing that living with a household member with a disability entails high costs and poverty implications for the household [38,39]. These households must spend as much as 26% more to obtain an equivalent standard of living compared to those without disabilities [38,39]. Adolescents in our sample living with a head-of-household with disabilities reported themselves poorer, with much more diminished resources, and saddled with caregiving responsibilities that adversely affect their well-being compared to their peers in household headed by a person without disabilities.…”

“…Adolescents living with head-of-household with disabilities reported lower benefits from these potential accelerators in the areas of no poverty, informal cash transfers, good health, and no disability health access restrictions than their peers living with head-ofhousehold without disabilities. Previous studies, including a systematic review, support this finding, showing that living with a household member with a disability entails high costs and poverty implications for the household [38,39]. These households must spend as much as 26% more to obtain an equivalent standard of living compared to those without disabilities [38,39].…”

Associations between sustainable development goals accelerators and well-being, by household heads’ disability status among adolescents in Zambia – a cross-sectional study

“…Previous studies, including a systematic review, support this finding showing that living with a household member with a disability had high cost and poverty implications for the household [38,39]. These studies concluded that households must spend as much as 26% more resources to obtain an equivalent standard of living compared to those without disabilities [38,39]. Adolescents in our sample living with household heads with disabilities reported themselves poorer, may have had much more diminished resources and saddled with caregiving responsibilities adversely affecting their well-being than their peers living with household heads without disabilities.…”

“…Adolescents living with household heads with disabilities reported lower benefits from these accelerators in no poverty, informal cash transfers, good health, and no disability health access restrictions than those living with household heads without disabilities. Previous studies, including a systematic review, support this finding showing that living with a household member with a disability had high cost and poverty implications for the household [38,39]. These studies concluded that households must spend as much as 26% more resources to obtain an equivalent standard of living compared to those without disabilities [38,39].…”

How can we create a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace in society without the voice of disability? Lessons from Ghana

“…In 2005, the government established the Disability Fund to help reduce poverty among disabled people in the informal sector performing low‐paid and unskilled jobs that offer little or no career advancement. Yet, many were unaware of the existence of such a fund (Asuman et al, 2020). Ghana's disability policies have not been fully translated into practical outcomes to improve the lives of disabled people.…”