Households In Urban Areas Research Articles

Health Expenditure Patterns by Marginal and Vulnerable Groups

Health expenditure patterns by marginal and vulnerable groups. Utilization of health care is influenced by many factors. Most important are geography, socioeconomic, gender inequality, culture, and quality of care. This study aimed at providing policy formulations evidence based in formation for RRO poor, The study is a cross sectional study using National Socioeconomic Survey data set of 1998 representing about 205.000 households. This analysis is conducted to respond the equity issue in Indonesia, with particular emphasize to equity of access (health services use). The study revealed that in urban areas 88.8% of the people pay the outpatient services from their out-of-pocket, while in rural the fi gure is 94.3%. The data shows that in urban areas, among the lowest group, expenditure for health placed about 13% of non-food expenditure. In rural areas the health expenditure accounted to around an average of 12% non-food expenditure. For the highest group of socioeconomic status, expenses on health reached only 10% of non-food expenditure. In rural areas, the highest group has spent for health about 14% of their non-food expenses. Most of the poor (almost 90%) have spent for health below a quarter of non-food expenses. In general, households have spent about 6-15% and 20-71% of their non-food expenses for outpatient and in-patient respectively. Those who spent more than 50% of their non-food expenditure for outpatient is accounted to 3.63% of the households in urban and 4.31% in rural areas. A relatively small percentage of the households in urban and rural areas used a catastrophic spending for outpatient care. Nevertheless, almost 77% of them in urban and rural areas have spent more than 50% of their non-food expenditures per month for inpatient care. This catastrophic spending has affected 72.88% of the households in the urban area and 80.98% in rural areas. Apparently the fi nancial risk is very high for the people in responding the probability of loss due to sickness. Since most Indonesian people are not insured, this phenomenon will become a burden for them.

The Effect of Refugee Inflows on Host Communities: Evidence from Tanzania

Despite the large and growing number of humanitarian emergencies, there is little economic research on the impact of refugees and internally displaced people on the communities that receive them. This analysis of the impact of the refugee inflows from Burundi and Rwanda in 1993 and 1994 on host populations in western Tanzania shows large increases in the prices of nonpaid food items and more modest price effects for aid-related food items. Food aid is shown to mitigate these effects, though its impact is smaller than that of the increases in the refugee population. Examination of household assets suggests positive wealth effects of refugee camps on nearby rural households and negative wealth effects on households in urban areas.

The use of liquefied petroleum gas by South African low-income urban households: A case study

At the end of 2005 and in 2006, the Western Cape suffered extended blackouts. The cuts came as a shock and customers were loud in their criticism of Eskom and the City of Cape Town’s failure to provide a reliable electricity supply. The utility Eskom’s responses included the introduction of an aggressive Demand Side Management (DSM) programme with the goal of saving electricity and reducing the need to shed customers. In Khayelitsha, Cape Town, the DSM programme entailed an exchange and subsidy programme: households were encouraged to swop their two-plate electric stoves for Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) stoves. This intervention is the subject of this paper. The results of the study were analysed in terms of the socio-economic characteristics of the sample interviewed, multiple fuel use and transition trends in households in urban areas, changes in behaviour in electricity and LPG use, changing perceptions of LPG and the impact of the intervention. Previous studies in household energy use showed that people perceived LPG to be dangerous saying that it posed a greater danger to the household than paraffin since it might explode. Surprisingly, during the electricity power cuts in 2006, people in low-income communities, readily accepted LPG stoves in great numbers and a year later, up to 89% of the households surveyed, reported still using LPG for cooking.

Modelling fuel demand for different socio-economic groups

The fuel demand literature provides a range of estimates of the long and short-run price and income elasticities of gasoline demand for different countries and states. These estimates can be very useful in predicting the overall impacts of policy approaches designed to reduce fuel consumption and to address concerns of carbon emissions or energy security. However, analysis of policy options based on elasticities that are homogenous across income groups provides no information about the relative distributional burden that may be faced by different sectors of the population. Different responses to the same change in price or income are likely to occur, dependent on both travel needs and income levels. This paper estimates gasoline demand elasticities for different income quintiles in the United States to test for heterogeneity in demand response. Group wise summary consumer expenditure data for 20 years is used to derive the elasticity estimates. The results show that the elasticities do vary across groups and follow a U-pattern from the lowest to the highest income quintile. The lowest income quintile is found to have the largest price elasticity. The lowest and the highest income quintiles appear to be statistically insensitive to any changes in income. The rebound effect also follows the U-pattern, with the highest rebound observed among the wealthiest households. Rural households appear to have lower price elasticity than households in urban areas.

Thai Household´ s Rice Consumption and Its Demand Elasticity

This paper analyses expenditure and price elasticities of demand for rice consumption in Thai households. The elasticities were measured from cross-sectional data of a socio-economic survey conducted in 2002. The average rice consumption in Thai households was 101 kg/ person/year. The overall expenditure elasticity of demand was positive but very inelastic. Households in urban centres had lower expenditure elasticity than those in the villages. Households in the highest 25 per cent of the income rank had a negative response to the expenditure variable for quantity rice demand but those households had a positive response for quality rice demand. Price elasticity was negative and inelastic. Households in urban areas are more sensitive to the rice price increase than those in the suburbs and villages. The results reflect the quality concern over rice consumption in Thai household consumption driven by the country's rapid economic growth and urbanization. A strategic policy for rice in Thailand should more focus on development of high-quality rice.

Gender Differentials in Household Structure and Socioeconomic Characteristics in South Africa

This study used the 2002 South Africa General Household Survey (GHS) to explore differentials in household structures and socioeconomic characteristics. Household structures by gender of head were examined to inform the types of household that females are more likely to head compared to males. The study found that females are more likely to form extended households than males. Household size in female headed households was also found to be larger than that in male headed households. The study utilized principal component analysis to estimate wealth of households. Wealth estimate results indicated that female headed households are poorer than male headed households. However, comparison between female headed households in urban areas and male headed households in rural areas indicated that the former were better off than the latter. The study recommends that governments should assist poor female headed households. Furthermore, the study cautions that generalization of poverty among female headed households should be avoided as it can mislead the policy formulation and subsequent interventions.

Trade Policy and Poverty in Benin: A General Equilibrium Analysis

Economic and financial crisis in Benin since 1980s led the government to embark on a process of economic reforms in 1991. These reforms sought to remedy the fiscal and trade imbalances in order to accelerate economic growth. Trade policy reform was given priority. Import bans and quotas were eliminated, import duties abolished and a compensatory tax on commodities sold in the domestic market instituted. This study analyzes the effects of the trade policy reforms using a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model and household survey data. Results show that these reforms are more beneficial to households in urban areas, but contribute to worsening poverty conditions of the most poor in rural areas. If liberalization policies target better strategies aimed at fighting poverty, or at least not deteriorating the situation, they need to be designed in a way that they do not worsen the poverty conditions of the most destitute in society.

An econometric analysis of urban households’ animal products consumption in Turkey

People in developing countries are increasing their consumption from the very low levels of the past, and they have a long way to go before coming near developed country averages. In this study, households’ animal products consumption patterns are analysed by using Linear Approximation of Almost Ideal Demand System (LA/AIDS) and survey data collected from households in urban areas in Turkey. According to the results of the study, annual per capita consumption of animal products were 48.18 kg for milk, 26.89 kg for yogurt, 18.55 kg for cheese, 6.45 kg for meat, 22.11 kg for poultry and 10.05 kg for fish. Price elasticities were found to be lower than 1 for milk, yogurt, cheese, poultry and fish and higher than 1 for meat. Moreover, the impacts of socio-demographic factors on the demand for animal products were found to be very low. Determination of production targets and formulation of polices are possible by obtaining the proper information related to the livestock products.

Can Insurance Reduce Catastrophic Out-of-Pocket Health Expenditure?

In India, the out-of-pocket health expenditure by households accounts for around 70 percent of the total expenditure on health. Large out-of-pocket payments may reduce consumption expenditure on other goods and services and push households into poverty. Recently, health insurance has been considered as one of the possible instruments to reduce impoverishing effects of large out-of-pocket health expenditure. In India, health insurance has limited coverage and the present paper studies whether it has been effective so far. Literature defines out-of-pocket health expenditure as catastrophic if its share in the household budget is more than some arbitrary threshold level. In the present paper, we argue that for households below poverty line any expenditure on health is catastrophic as they are unable to attain the subsistence level of consumption. Thus, we take zero percent as a threshold level to define catastrophic health expenditure and examine the impact of health insurance on probability of incurring catastrophic health expenditure. Our findings show that the extent of OOP health expenditure is lower for insured households in urban areas. Thus, health insurance may prove to be an important policy instrument to reduce OOP health expenditure.

Trade Policy and Poverty in Benin: A General Equilibrium Analysis

Economic and financial crisis in Benin since 1980s led the government to embark on a process of economic reforms in 1991. These reforms sought to remedy the fiscal and trade imbalances in order to accelerate economic growth. Trade policy reform was given priority. Import bans and quotas were eliminated, import duties abolished and a compensatory tax on commodities sold in the domestic market instituted. This study analyzes the effects of the trade policy reforms using a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model and household survey data. Results show that these reforms are more beneficial to households in urban areas, but contribute to worsening poverty conditions of the most poor in rural areas. If liberalization policies target better strategies aimed at fighting poverty, or at least not deteriorating the situation, they need to be designed in a way that they do not worsen the poverty conditions of the most destitute in society.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice about Malaria Transmission and Its Preventive Measures among Households in Urban Areas of Assosa Zone, Western Ethiopia

Background: Knowledge about the modes of transmission and preventive measures of malaria are important preceding factors for the acceptance and use of proven control tools by the community. Objective: To assess knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) about modes of malaria transmission and preventive methods in the study areas. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in three urban areas of Assosa zone, Western Ethiopia from January to February, 2006. Data analysis was carried out using SPSS for windows version 12.0.1. Adjusted odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals were employed to test the strength of association. Results: About 48% of the study participants were aware that malaria can be transmitted by mosquito bites. Thirty percent (30%), of respondents were aware that mosquitoes carry disease causing microorganism, 95% were aware that mosquitoes bite during night, and 61% were aware that mosquitoes rest at dark places inside the house. Sleeping under a mosquito net and eliminating mosquito-breeding sites were identified by 58% and 52% of respondents, respectively, as major malaria preventive measures. Respondents' education and wealth status were associated with comprehensive knowledge on malaria preventive measures (OR= 2.42, 95% CI: 1.09, 5.4 and OR= 3.89, 95% CI: 1.99, 7.6, respectively). Conclusion: Knowledge of the role of mosquitoes in malaria transmission and comprehensive knowledge about malaria prevention strategies among the study population were observed to be lower than 50%. Comprehensive behavioral change and communication is required to improve the knowledge of the mode of malaria transmission and its preventive and control measures. The Ethiopian Journal of Health Development Vol. 21 (2) 2007: pp. 157-165

An assessment of food consumption within urban households in Osun State, Nigeria

PurposeMalnutrition affects one out of every three individuals living in developing countries. This disturbing state of affairs causes untold suffering. Little attention has been paid to the general food consumption within households in the developing countries. This study therefore aims to focus on the food consumption of urban households in Osun State, Nigeria.Design/methodology/approachOne‐hundred‐and‐fifty‐eight nuclear households were purposively selected, which contained an average of four to six household members. Structured interview Schedule was used to collect information on the socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents, while a chart designed to collect information on daily individual food intake was also used. Statistical techniques like frequency count and percentage were used in data quantification of socioeconomic characteristics, while food composition table was used to analyse the Recommended Dietary Allowance met by the respondents.Findings – The results indicated that the body mass index (BMI) of women between the age range of 21 and 40 was 17.89, which implied mild malnutrition, while women who are 40 years and above had BMI of 18.64 which was marginal, whereas, their male counterparts of the same age ranges were normal with BMI of 23.69 and 20.81, respectively. Other age groups in the households had relatively normal BMI.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitation of the research was that it only assessed nuclear households in urban areas. Future study could include extended and polygamous households in both urban and rural areas.Originality/valueThis research established the facts that women of reproductive age tend towards being malnourished as a result of inadequate nutrients intake and this could be corrected through effective nutrition education.

Sustainable income-generating projects for HIV-affected households in Zimbabwe: evidence from two high-density suburbs

An estimated 25% of the adults in urban areas of Zimbabwe are living as HIV-positive. In HIV-affected households the need for income increases with the demand for medicines, food and funeral costs. One way to mitigate this effect of the epidemic is by expanding micro enterprises that can enhance the livelihoods of urban households affected by HIV. To identify viable income-generating projects for such households, five possible projects facilitated by two HIV/AIDS support organisations were selected for assessment. These were: selling second-hand clothing, poultry-keeping and nutritional/herbal gardens, freezit-making, mobile kitchens, and payphone set-ups. A case study of 200 households benefiting from one of these projects was done in two high-density suburbs in the town of Bindura, northern Zimbabwe. Information was collected from each household four times per year, over four years (2001–2004). Information on the income generated from the micro enterprises was collected monthly during the period. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse household demographic data; income data was analysed using cost-benefit analysis and analysis of variance. The results show that all five income-generating projects were viable for these households, although some were not feasible for the most vulnerable HIV-affected households. Making more efficient use of micro enterprises can be a valuable part of mainstreaming HIV-affected people and households in urban areas, and so allow people living with HIV to have longer and more meaningful lives.

ANALISIS KONSUMSI PANGAN TINGKAT RUMAH TANGGA DI PROPINSI LAMPUNG

This research diamed to: 1) knowing the selft-price elasticity, cross-price elasticity and income elasticity of consumption per food item on household level according to location and income level; and 2) knowing the reation between level of income and food consumption on household level according to location and income level.This research used data from SUSENAS of Lmapung Province in 2002 with number of sample of 2091 household, which being differed between rural and urban areas based on low, middle, and high level of income. The data analysis used tobit model and sensored regression.The result showed that: 1) the demand of rice and beeh for household consumption in every level of income in rural and urban areas were inelastic; 2) Coen only been consumed by low income level household in rural areas and the demand was inelastic; 3) the demand of cassava for household consumption on low income level in urban area was elastic, While in middle income level, high income level and every level of income in rural area, cassava demand was inelastic. Cassava was considered as inferior goods; 4) The demand of fish for household consumption an every level of income in rural and urban areas was elastic. Household in rural area on every level of income and in urban areas on middle and high income level consider fish as a main necessity. While on low income level household in urban areas, it was considered as classy/exclusive good; 5) the demand of chicken; for household in rural areas on middle and high income level was inelastic. When in rural low income level and urban middle and high income level, was inelastic chicken meat was considend as classy/exclusive good the rural low income level household; 6) egg demand for household consumption in rural areas on every level of income was inelastic, while in urban area it was elastic for every level income; 7) the rural and urban household on every level of income considered rice as the stpale food; 8) Household in rural and urban areas on middle and high level of income considered beef as main necessity; 9) On household with middle income level in rural areas, egg was considere as inferior good; while an low income level in urban areas, egg was considere as expensive good.

Oral health behaviour of children and adults in urban and rural areas of Burkina Faso, Africa

To assess the level of dental knowledge and attitudes among 12 year-old children and 35-44 year-olds in Burkina Faso; to evaluate the pattern of oral health behaviour among these cohorts in relation to location, gender and social characteristics and; to evaluate the relative effect of social-behavioural risk factors on caries experience. Across sectional study including urban and rural subgroups of population. Multistage cluster sampling of households in urban areas; in rural areas random samples of participants were based on the recent population census. The final study population covered two age groups: 12 years (n = 505) and 35-44 years (n = 493). For both children and adults, levels of oral health knowledge, attitudes and self-care were low; 36% of 12-year-olds and 57% of 35-44-year-olds carried out toothcleaning on a daily basis. Pain and discomfort from teeth were common while dental visits were infrequent. Tooth cleaning was mostly performed by use of chewsticks. Use of toothpaste was rare, particularly fluoridated toothpaste was seldom; 9% of 12-year-olds and 18% of 35-44-year-olds reported use of fluoride toothpaste. Significant differences were found in oral health knowledge, attitudes and practices according to location and gender. At age 12, important factors of high caries experience were location (urban), and consumption of soft drinks and fresh fruits. In 35-44-year-olds, gender (female), high education level, dental visit and occupation (government employee) were the significant factors of high dental caries experience whereas adults using traditional chewing sticks had lower DMFT. Health authorities should strengthen the implementation of oral disease prevention and health promotion programmes rather than traditional curative care. Community-oriented essential care and affordable fluoride toothpaste should be encouraged.

Situation analysis in a large urban area of India, prior to launching a programme of mass drug administrations to eliminate lymphatic filariasis

The main strategy now adopted for the elimination of lymphatic filariasis (LF) is based on mass drug administrations (MDA). Annual administration of antifilarial drugs to 65%-80% of the population at risk of the disease is believed to be necessary if LF is to be eliminated, at least as a public-health problem, within a reasonable time-frame. To facilitate the development of drug-delivery strategies that are sufficient to ensure such high treatment coverages in large urban areas, a situation analysis was undertaken in the Indian city of Chennai. The subjects interviewed came from households with high, moderate, low or very low incomes. A lack of information on the prevalence and socio-economic impact of the disease meant that LF was not viewed as a major pubic-health problem in the study area, even though cases of elephantiasis and hydrocele were detected in 2%-8% and 7%-20% of the households investigated. Overall, 40% of the interviewees from very-low-income households and 78% of those from middle-income households knew that (the parasite causing) elephantiasis was transmitted by mosquitoes. Only 4% of the subjects from high-income areas and 1% of those from low-income areas were aware that filarial infection was a major cause of hydrocele. Most of the subjects (>55% of each of the four socio- economic groups considered) felt that they were not at risk of developing elephantiasis. When specifically asked, only 35% of the subjects from high-income households but 84% of those from low-income households said that they would be willing to consume tablets of an antifilarial drug (diethylcarbamazine) in MDA to eliminate LF. It is therefore unclear whether high-income households in urban areas should be included in MDA programmes. The interviewees felt that an intensive campaign of information, education, communication and advocacy would be necessary if an effective MDA-based programme were to be implemented. Drug distribution through the health services was the most preferred option.Clearly, factors such as a lack of appreciation of the socio-economic impact of LF, a general belief that the risk of elephantiasis is low, doubts about the need to include all sectors of the eligible population in MDA, and a common dependence on private practitioners make successful MDA against LF in urban areas a challenging task. On the positive side, however, an urban population is often covered by a huge network of colleges, private practitioners, non-governmental organizations and residents' associations, and such networks provide new opportunities in the development of effective drug-delivery strategies.

Oral health status of children and adults in urban and rural areas of Burkina Faso, Africa

To analyse the oral health status of children and adults in rural and urban areas of Burkina Faso; to provide epidemiological data for planning and evaluation of oral health care programmes. Cross-sectional survey including different ethnic and socio-economic groups. Multistage cluster sampling of households in urban areas and random samples of participants selected based on the recent population census in rural areas. The final study population covered four age groups: 6 years (n = 424), 12 years (n = 505), 18 years (n = 492) and 35-44 years (n = 493). Clinical oral health data collected according to WHO methodology and criteria. At age 6, 38% of children had caries, with prevalence higher in urban than rural areas. At age 12, the mean DMFT was 0.7 with prevalence significantly higher among urban than rural children. Mean DMFT was 1.9 in 18-year-olds and 6.3 in 35-44-year-olds and figures were higher for women than men. In adults, no differences in caries experience were found by location whereas the caries index was significantly affected by ethnic group and occupation. CPI score 2 (gingivitis and calculus) was dominant for all ages: 6 years (58%), 12 years (57%), 18 years (58%), 35-44 years (49%). In addition, 10% of 35-44-year-olds had CPI score 4. Rural participants had more severe periodontal scores than did urban individuals. Health authorities should strengthen the implementation of community-based oral disease prevention and health promotion programmes rather than traditional curative care.

Regional Energy Consumption and Income Differences in Denmark

Internationally a debate on the distributional impact of energy taxation has focused on the tax burden relative to income. The general conclusion is that taxes are regressive, but at a varying degree for different countries. This study examines the relationship between location, income, heating technology characteristics and the energy tax that households pay. The article aims at identifying general implications of energy taxes with respect to different impacts on population groups depending on location and income. Tax payments associated with energy use are considered relative to total disposable income of households grouped in income deciles and by other characteristics. The impact of environmental taxes depends on income levels in rural areas compared to income in urban areas. In Denmark, the income difference is found to be quite small, but energy consumption and, therefore, also the burden of energy taxation, is higher in rural areas. Furthermore, the low-income households in rural areas consume much more energy than low-income households in urban areas. Low-income households in rural areas are, therefore, a group that is specifically exposed to increased energy taxation. Households living in rural areas have the disadvantage of not having access to public heating grids and natural gas grids, which is adding to the risk of high welfare losses from higher taxes. Apart from higher energy costs, the rural households also pay considerably higher taxes on transport by private cars. This article documents that rural populations have higher energy bills also compared to income, but there is no income inequality between rural and urban areas in Denmark. In countries with higher inequality in income distribution and a higher proportion of low-income households in rural areas, the impact of energy and transport taxes might be more uneven. In such cases, the environmental tax structure should compensate the low-income rural households. For countries with a high proportion of low-income households living in urban areas and little income inequality, this issue might, as in the Danish case, not be a problem in the design of energy and environmental taxes.

Modelling Work-Trip Mode Choice Decisions in Two-Worker Households

This paper proposes that the theoretically more appropriate approach for modelling mode choice decisions for the journey to work by workers residing in two-worker households is through the development of a choice model at the household level that takes into account the decisions of both workers. There are at least two reasons for this. First, in the majority of cases the model estimation data comes from household travel surveys, which have the household as the sampling unit and not the individual worker. The majority of households in urban areas these days have two or more workers. Thus once a household is selected into the sample all its working members are necessarily selected as well. The idea of a random sample therefore holds at the level of the household and not the individual worker. Second, workers from the same household in the long run select modes for their journeys to work so as to minimize their combined disutility to travel as opposed to independently minimizing their respective individual disutilities. The household model thus treats the alternatives available to the household workers as a "modal bundle" with the two household workers, after intra-household bargaining, selecting the modal bundle that minimizes their combined total disutility to travel. An empirical test of both household and individual choice models is conducted and the household model found to give more precise predictions.

Portuguese household food availability in 1990 and 1995.

To examine the changes in Portuguese household food availability from 1990 to 1995. Using the DAta Food NEtworking (DAFNE) classification scheme for nutritional and socio-economic variables, data from the Portuguese Household Budget Surveys collected in 1989/90 and 1994/95 were analysed. The mean availability (quantity person(-1) day(-1)) for the total population, by locality and by level of education of the household head, was computed for each of the main food and beverage groups. Portugal, 1989 to 1995. Although still among one of the countries with high availability of cereals, pulses, fish and seafood and olive oil, Portugal is gradually moving away from the traditional 'Mediterranean diet'. Between 1989 and 1995, the availability of complex carbohydrates and olive oil was reduced, while the availability of protein-supplying food groups increased. Considerable disparities can be observed by locality and by the level of education of the household head. Households in urban areas and of higher socio-economic status are the main actors of the changes in 'traditional' food habits. Although these findings are based on household food availability rather than consumption, they indicate the direction of the changes taking place in the Portuguese diet and can be used effectively by agriculture specialists, nutrition experts and policy makers.