Addressing the Burden of Education Financing in Low and Lower-Middle-Income Countries: The Role of Savings Accounts,Cash Transfers,and Other Income Sources

Journal of Family and Economic Issues - Cost-sharing between governments and families remains a strategic part of many governments’ post-secondary education funding policies in low-income...     

Effect of Financial Inclusion on Poverty and Vulnerability to Poverty: Evidence Using a Multidimensional Measure of Financial Inclusion

This study examines the effect of financial inclusion on poverty and vulnerability to poverty of Ghanaian households. Using data extracted from the seventh round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey in 2016/17, a multiple correspondence analysis is employed to generate a financial inclusion index, and three-stage feasible least squares is used to estimate households’ vulnerability to poverty. Endogeneity associated with financial inclusion is resolved using distance to the nearest bank as an instrument in an instrumental variables probit technique. Results showed that while 23.4% of Ghanaians are considered poor, about 51% are vulnerable to poverty. We found that an increase in financial inclusion has two effects on household poverty. First, it is associated with a decline in a household’s likelihood of being poor by 27%. Second, it prevents a household’s exposure to future poverty by 28%. Female-headed households have a greater chance of experiencing a larger reduction in poverty and vulnerability to poverty through enhanced financial inclusion than do male-headed households. Furthermore, financial inclusion reduces poverty and vulnerability to poverty more in rural than in urban areas. Governments are encouraged to design or enhance policies that provide an enabling environment for the private sector to innovate and expand financial services to more distant places. Government investment in, and regulation of, the mobile money industry will be a necessary step to enhancing financial inclusion in developing countries.

     

Gambling and Financial Stress

Social Indicators Research - In recent years, gambling harm has been considered a significant public health concern due to its increasing socioeconomic costs. Although the adverse effects of...     

Introducing the Disease Outbreak Resilience Index (DORI) Using the Demographic and Health Surveys Data from sub-Saharan Africa

Social Indicators Research - Although most studies on disease emergencies underscore the need for household readiness for shocks associated with disease outbreaks, no study to date has provided a...     

Work patterns and gender reproduction in the Talensi small‐scale gold‐mining industry in Ghana: Implications for social welfare policy

Although women have access to work in the Talensi small‐scale gold‐mining industry in Ghana, gender inequities persist. This study analyzed these persistent gender differences, taking into consideration implications for social welfare policies. Based on 12 months of ethnographic fieldwork, the study examined how work organization in Talensi mining activities affects the values and meanings that influence gender roles. A purposive sampling technique and ethnographic methods, including audio‐taped and semi‐structured interviews and storytelling, were used as tools to collect and analyze the data. Findings show that normative values, symbolic representations, and meaning‐making influence gender roles and practices, which reproduce gender inequities. This study contributes to an understanding of the fundamental issues underlying persistent gender inequities in the Talensi mines that lead to a lack of improvement in women's lives.     

I agreed to go because........examining the Agency of Children within a phenomenon conceptualised as trafficking in Ghana

The legal and policy framework on child trafficking is dismissive of children's agency and regards them as vulnerable personalities. This paper examines the scope of children's agency in their transportation to other communities for fishing in Ghana. Using a phenomenological design, 17 child returnees' views were elicited on their movement for fishing activities. Findings revealed that children's agentive capabilities progressed primarily from consent giving to negotiation. Highlighting the relational and material context within which children's agency unfolds, the study suggests that it is erroneous to generally ascribe the discursive label of ‘innocence’ to children who are considered as trafficked.