Determinants of subjective wellbeing in rural communities: Evidence from the Juaben Municipality, Ghana

Abstract

This paper explores the determinants of subjective wellbeing in rural communities in Ghana. Using data collected from 310 households from ten rural communities in the Juaben Municipality in Ghana, we investigate the factors that influence subjective wellbeing among residents as well as formulate a model to measure happiness using the OLS and ordinal probit regression models. The study shows that happiness for rural residents, just like in urban areas, is multidimensional and depends on household characteristics. The findings indicate that self-reported happiness varied significantly with gender, marital status, religious background, occupation and source of employment as well as settlement type. Based on the model formulated, the study further found that the average level of happiness in the study communities was 4.79 on a scale of 0–10. The results of the ordinal regression indicate that respondents employed in the public service are happier than those who are self-employed. The transportation dimension was ranked as the most significant dimension basically because of the poor condition of the roads to these villages. The paper therefore recommends the improvement of the major roads in rural areas as good roads tend to contribute substantially to the overall wellbeing of rural dwellers in Ghana.