Disability and Household Welfare in Ghana: Costs and Correlates
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Disability and Household Welfare in Ghana: Costs and Correlates Derek Asuman1 · Charles Godfred Ackah2,3 · Frank Agyire‑Tettey4 Accepted: 26 November 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
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. Keywords Disability · Household welfare · Poverty · Standard of living · Ghana The last two decades have seen increased global commitments towards reducing poverty in all its forms as well as promoting inclusive, accessible and sustainable development. These commitments have been expressed in two sets of global development objectives—the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The period of the MDGs (2000–2015) saw significant reductions in the prevalence of poverty, with global extreme poverty declining from 47 in 1990 to 14% in 2015 (UN 2015). Despite the successes of the MDGs, the incidence of poverty remains endemic among some subpopulations. One such group is persons with disabilities (PWDs) and households that include a person with disability * Derek Asuman [email protected] 1
Health Economics Unit, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Medicon Village 301:5, Scheelevagen 2, 223 81 Lund, Sweden
2
Centre for Social Policy Studies, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana
3
Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana
4
Department of Economics, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana
(PWD) (Mitra et al. 2013; Trani et al. 2015; Mont and Nyugen 2011; Hoogeveen 2005; Palmer et al. 2019). Though accounting for about 10% of the world’s population (WHO and World Bank 2011), the MDGs excluded targets and indicators directed at the needs and conditions of PWDs. The succeeding SDGs (2016–2030) on the other hand include seven targets and eleven indicators specific to PWDs, covering improvin
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