Poor Urban Households Research Articles

The Role of Mobile Payment Apps in Inclusive Financial Growth

In the age of technology, the usage of mobile payment apps is playing a significant role in financially strengthening urban areas. This research aiming to identify the enablers affecting the use of mobile technology by the urban poor households in Pune, Maharashtra, India and to identify the user behaviour in technology adaptation. The published literature was thoroughly reviewed with respect to mobile payment, financial technology, and financial inclusion. The data has been collected through a field survey. Simultaneously, a structural equation model is developed using Amos software and Spss is used to perform factor analysis. The theoretical framework is based on the Unified theory of acceptance and the use of technology (UTAUT-2) Model. The enablers are Performance Expectancy (PE), Economic Benefit (EB), Convenience, Technical conditions (TC), Hedonic motivation (HM), and Behavioural intention (BI), Social influence (SI) are impacting the use of mobile apps related to finance under the mediating effect of behavioral intention, thereby supporting financial inclusion. Gender, education, occupation, and income are the control variables. Men are more frequent users of mobile payment apps. This study is unique in the context of urban poor households regarding the use of m-payment app and to understand their behavior and actual usage pattern. The current study also has some implications for the banking and mobile technology industry. They may start new strategies for mobile industries and certain factors such as security, convenience, and technical conditions can influence customer intention of using m-payment apps; hence, it needs proper consideration. Simultaneously, banks and technology industries must verify their privacy norms and make it easy for customers to use technology.

Out-of-pocket expenditures and catastrophic expenditures on inpatient care among households of an urban village in Delhi.

Out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) for inpatient care has been known to cause maximum impoverishment. It can have debilitating consequences for urban poor households. It is necessary to study inpatient care costs and the related factors among the households of an urban village to determine their vulnerability to catastrophic expenditure and to protect them from it. The study aimed to calculate the mean OOPE on inpatient care, and catastrophic health expenditure among households of an urban village in Delhi. This was a cross-sectional study conducted over 18 months among urban village households of Delhi who have been residing for the last 1 year. A sample size of 188 was calculated based on another study, and households were selected using systematic random sampling. A pre-designed, pre-tested, semi-structured, and interviewer-administered questionnaire in Hindi was used to elicit and record relevant information. Data were recorded and coded, and analysis was done using licensed SPSS v.26 software. Tables were generated for relevant data, and cross-tables were used to assess statistical association with chi-square or Fisher exact tests, as required. A p-value of 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The mean annual OOPE borne by a household on inpatient care was INR 6870.3 (SD ± 30,580.6), where 93.3% of OOPE was incurred while seeking treatment from public facilities. The OOPE on inpatient care had a statistically significant association with households having joint family, members from vulnerable population, and belonging to Delhi. The households of an urban village of Aliganj, Delhi, have high OOPE on inpatient care (60.6%) and catastrophic health expenditure (75.6%).

Does financial inclusion impact socio-economic stability? A study of social safety net in Indian slums

PurposeThe study aims to examine the impact of social assistance schemes introduced by the Indian government on poverty alleviation in urban slums.Design/methodology/approachTo accomplish the study's objectives, primary data were collected from 585 beneficiaries of government schemes operating in India's northwestern state using a multistage sampling technique (Punjab). The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) technique reduced the total dataset to its minimum factors. Then, using second-order confirmatory factor analysis, the data's validity and reliability were determined. The data were analyzed using statistical techniques such as one-way ANOVA, t-test and structural equation modeling (SEM).FindingsThe study's findings indicate that social assistance provided by the Government of India has a direct and substantial influence on poverty alleviation in urban slums. The study demonstrates how access to basic credit financial services through social assistance programmes has improved the lives of urban poor households living in slums and assisted them in escaping poverty.Research limitations/implicationsThe investigation was undertaken among a few limitations. First, the in-depth investigation of the study is restricted to only the northwestern state of India solely because of limited resources and time availability. Second, the study focuses primarily on the perspectives of beneficiaries of the social assistance schemes in India. Still, it might be expanded in the future to include additional stakeholders such as bank executives, business colleagues and municipal town panchayats.Practical implicationsDue to policymakers' increased emphasis on poor households living in urban slums, this topic is critical for studying many issues.Social implicationsThe research explores gaps in social welfare schemes to direct policymakers and government authorities to take appropriate steps to aid the urban poor people in sliding out of poverty.Originality/valueBy examining the influence of the Indian government's social welfare schemes on poverty reduction in slums, this study contributes to the literature on public assistance schemes and poverty alleviation. This article can assist policymakers in developing nations in increasing financial capability among disadvantaged urban families on a national and international level.

Pollution from cooking in rural and poor urban households of Africa: A methodological review

The article examines the effect of cooking food in kitchens on the health of women, as women and children are at a greater risk to indoor air pollution (IAP). It is important to study the cooking practices and prevalent behaviours among African women to understand the magnitude of the danger they face. The study suggests that a decline in the combustion of solid fuels and the use of clean energy can improve health among women and children, as well as sustainability goals. Proverbs 17:22 says, ‘A joyful heart is the health of the body, but a depressed spirit dries up the bones’. Bible verse Numbers 35:33–34 indicates, ‘You shall not pollute the land in which you live’. The cooking fuel analysis framework among rural women in Africa will guide forward the governments’ sustainability policies for communities to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being of women and children.Contribution: The article conducts a comprehensive analysis of the literature on African cooking practices. A combined search string is made with keywords. Thematic content analysis is conducted with NVivo (produced by QSR International). The article covers two themes, namely improved well-being and suggesting policies to combat climate change and its impacts. Policies and schemes at grassroots levels and better economic conditions in African countries can help to overcome challenges and change health-damaging cooking behaviours. The new advanced sustainability analysis framework has the potential to influence modern kitchen fuels and increase the adoption of new technologies in African villages.

Impacts of urban safety net on income, food expenditure and intake capacity of poor households in Addis Ababa city, Ethiopia, 2021

Although measures taken to address food insecurity and income inequality showed notable outcomes, they have continued to be major global issues mainly in urban areas of developing countries. To relieve these problems, Ethiopia started an urban safety net program in Addis Ababa city in 2017. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impacts and progress of the urban safety net program, mainly its cash transfers (CTs) on income, consumption, and food security of poor households using indicators based on elements of a theory of change and Engel's coefficient. It assessed whether the program was significant (or not) to program beneficiaries compared to situations before the start of the program, non-beneficiaries, and beneficiaries' sex. A total of 560 sample households were selected through a multi-stage sampling for household surveys. Comparative approaches, paired and independent t-tests, and linear regression were used to analyze the data. Results revealed that the CTs had a satisfactory targeting accuracy of the poor and produced positive effects on monthly income, savings, food expenditures and intake, and seed money for a business start. Since financial transfers account for a larger proportion of the income of households, current income becomes significantly bigger compared to income during the pre-program periods and non-beneficiary households. Food access, expenditure, and savings capacities of beneficiaries in post-CT became better than in pre-CT along with better food access and diet intake two to three a day than non-beneficiaries. Besides, coverage and benefits were statistically significant for women compared to men. The implementation of the urban safety net program is good in its positive impacts and progress toward nutrition and food security of poor households as a result of an increase in their income, food expenditure, intake, and access. This implies policymakers could potentially expect to see improvements in nutrition and food security, especially when targeting urban poor and female-headed households. However, delays in payments and work equipment, declining size and value of payments, and weak supplementary services are the program's shortcomings. Policy implications to improve the size of transfers, emergency aids, timely payments and equipment provisions, and interventions like regular business training, supervision, and guidance are recommended.

(Re)constructing (re)settlement: risk reduction and urban development negotiations in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

This article discusses the effects of a celebrated resettlement of a flood-prone informal settlement in Santo Domingo, the capital city of the Dominican Republic. Drawing on data collected from 102 resettled households, three years post-relocation, we document perceptions of the new community and self-reported changes on several risk-reduction and development indicators. We found mixed outcomes. Moving to an upgraded built environment led to improved perceptions of happiness, climate resilience and security against crime. Yet, for most respondents, the resettlement had adverse impacts on social capital and economic mobility. In the new site, social norms imposed upon residents, restricting individual and collective freedom, have resulted in sentiments of captivity and immobility. There is a major disconnect between the rhetoric of the political elites that promote the project as socio-environmental justice and urban development, and residents’ experiences on the ground. This article brings attention to the negotiations and trade-offs that urban poor households are exposed to, even in well-designed resettlement interventions.

The Changing Balance in Households amidst the Shocks of the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Case of Kamukunji village, Eldoret, Kenya

In Kenya, the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing government policy on the prevention of the spread of the pandemic pushed poor urban households into extreme mental, social and economic stress. This study shows the impact of pandemic containment public policies on everyday life in Kamukunji, a low-income urban settlement in the region of Eldoret. It discusses the ability of social protection measures to palliate the socioeconomic consequences of containment. An individual-centred approach was adopted in this study based on face-to-face interviews, observations and informal discussions with residents of Kamukunji. The study shows that COVID-19 and its prevention policy caused widespread loss of income: small businesses collapsed and employment was lost. As a result, households were faced with a deep psycho-socioeconomic crisis, which necessitated major adjustment to their everyday life. The study further establishes that though chiefs and village elders were responsible for the identification of vulnerable households in view of their enrolment in the social protection programme, residents lacked general information on how the enrolment process and the distribution of food aid would be conducted. This led to mistrust and frustration. In addition, the study highlights that households experiencing this crisis relied more on social capital, extended through social networks within Kamukunji itself, whilst in rural areas family networks provided temporary safety nets. However, some households in distress adopted coping strategies which aggravated the psychosocial wellbeing of their members.

Coverage of social assistance in Ethiopia during the COVID-19 pandemic: a time-to-event analysis

ObjectiveIn a pandemic, government assistance is essential to support the most vulnerable households as they face health and economic challenges. However, government assistance is effective only when it reaches vulnerable...

The Effect of Sociodemographic and Environmental Factors on Food Consumption Expenditure of the Urban Poor in Indonesia

The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of economic, social, and environmental on food consumption of urban poor households in Indonesia in 2006-2019. The data of which are obtained from the Welfare Statistics sourced from the results of the National Socio-Economic Survey. In Indonesia, studies on poverty using a proxy model for the food consumption of poor households are still relatively limited. This study provides empirical evidence that the economic, social, and environmental dimensions have a significant and negative effect on the level of food consumption of urban poor households in Indonesia. Policy implications that can be prioritized improving the quality of human capital of the urban poor will trigger optimal competence of the poor and increase employment opportunities in the formal sector which will contribute to increased income and welfare—improvement of environmental quality by providing access for the urban poor to WASH in their respective houses. Furthermore, controlling the population is one component that is no less important in reducing urban poverty.

How well are Indonesia's urban poor being provided access to quality reproductive health services?

Accommodating the needs of Indonesia’s rapidly growing urban population is essential to reaching national reproductive health goals and international commitments. As in other rapidly urbanizing low- and middle-income countries, satisfying the needs of Indonesia’s urban poor is both a high priority and a significant challenge. In this study, we assessed both how being from urban poor or near-poor households affects the quantity and quality of family planning and maternal health services received and the extent to which differentials had narrowed during the 2012–2017 period. This time interval is significant due to the introduction of a national social health insurance scheme in 2014, establishing the foundation for universal health care in the country. Data from the 2012 and 2017 Indonesian Demographic and Health Surveys were analyzed using logistic and multinomial logit regression. Poverty status was measured in terms of urban household wealth quintiles. For family planning, although urban poor and near-poor women made different method choices than non-poor women, no substantial 2017 differences in contraceptive prevalence, unmet need for family planning or informed choice were observed. However, urban poor women and to a lesser extent near-poor women systematically lagged non-poor urban women in both the quantity and quality of maternal health services received in connection with recent pregnancies. Significant maternal health service gains were observed for all urban women during the study reference period, with gains for poor and near poor urban women exceeding those for non-poor on several indicators. While the deployment of pro-poor interventions such as the national social health insurance scheme is likely to have contributed to these results, evidence suggesting that the scheme may not be influencing consumer health-seeking behaviors as had been anticipated along with continued limitations in public health sector supply-side readiness resulting in service quality issues suggest that more will have to be done.

Assessment of Food Security and Its Implication on Urban Poor People in District Peshawar

Purpose: This study was carried out to address the issue of food security and the factors affecting it in the semi-urban area of district Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. More specifically the study reviewed the food security situation among urban poor households using their food expenditures patterns and further investigated its various dynamics.
 Methodology: Data were collected with the help of interviewing techniques from randomly sampled 100 households in the Peshawar suburb. Household food security was assessed using the food security index adopted from Omonona (2007). Using the Omonona index, the threshold which differentiated the food secure from the food-insecure households in the study area was Rs. 1500 per month (i.e., 2/3 of mean food expenditure).
 Findings: The result legitimized using the Omonona food security index as a smart indicator in determining food security status at the household level.
 Implications: To help the urban poor in improving the situation of food security efforts are needed to enhance awareness of food security by promoting education regarding livelihood strategies, self-sustainability programs, and the importance of a proper diet.

The locational and gendered impacts of Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) on children education in Ghana

PurposeThis study seeks to identify locational and gendered determinants of inclusion of households in Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) and estimate the respective impacts of LEAP on children education enrolment of beneficiary households in Ghana.Design/methodology/approachThe study used secondary data of the Ghana Living Standard Survey Round 7 and employed the propensity score matching (PSM) model for the analysis of the objectives.FindingsThe PSM results established that different factors determine the inclusion of households in LEAP in rural and urban areas. Similarly, different factors determine the inclusion of male-headed and female-headed households in the programme. The impact of LEAP on children education is higher in urban areas compared to rural areas. The impact of LEAP on children's education is 10.4% higher in urban areas than in rural areas. Lastly, female-headed households are better at using the cash received from LEAP to take care of their wards' education relative to male-headed households.Practical implicationsThe study recommends that different selection criteria should be used in selecting male-headed and female-headed as well as urban and rural poor households for inclusion in the LEAP programme. Female-headed households should be prioritised for benefiting from LEAP. The social welfare department disbursing the LEAP funds in rural areas should intensify education on the need for LEAP beneficiary households to enrol their wards in schools.Originality/valueIn this paper, the authors demonstrate that household inclusiveness of LEAP is influenced by locational and gendered factors. Also, the impact of LEAP on children education enrolment is relatively higher in urban areas than rural areas. Lastly, female-headed households relatively educate their wards with LEAP benefits than male-headed households.

Developing occupant archetypes within urban low-income housing: A case study in Mumbai, India

Rapid urbanization pressure and poverty have created a push for affordable housing within the global south. The design of affordable housing can have consequences on the thermal (dis)comfort and behaviour of the occupants, hence requiring an occupant-centric approach to ensure sustainability. This paper investigates occupant behaviour within the urban poor households of Mumbai, India and its impact on their thermal comfort and energy use. This study is a first-of-its-kind attempt to explore the socio-demographic characteristics and energy-related behaviour of low-income occupants within Indian context. Three occupant archetypes, Indifferent Consumers; Considerate Savers; and Conscious Conventionals, were identified from the behavioural and psychographic characteristics gathered through a transverse field survey. A two-step clustering approach was adopted for occupant segmentation that highlighted considerable diversity in occupants’ adaptation measures, energy knowledge, energy habits, and their pro-environmental behaviour within similar socio-economic group. Building energy simulation of the representative archetype behaviour estimated up to 37% variations for air-conditioned and up to 8% variation for fan-assisted naturally ventilated housing units during peak summer months. The results from this study establish the significance of occupant factors in shaping energy demand and thermal comfort within low-income housing and pave way for developing occupant-centric building design strategies to serve this marginalized population. The developed low-income occupant archetypes would be useful for architects and energy modelers to generate realistic energy use profiles and improve building performance simulation results.

Student leadership programme: igniting the young minds

Learning outcomes This case will help students to understand the following: Develop a basic understanding of competency building processes. Learn about the mentoring process and its application in leadership development. Develop awareness about the methodology for assessment of the effectiveness of training. Case overview/synopsis Dr A. R. K. Pillai founded the Indian Leprosy Foundation in 1970 in response to the national call by late Mrs Indira Gandhi, prime minister of India, to the public-spirited people to take up leprosy eradication. It collaborated with international agencies to reduce leprosy drastically in India from four million, in 1982 to around a hundred thousand cases in 2006. In 2006, the Indian Leprosy Foundation was renamed as Indian Development Foundation (IDF) as the trustees decided to expand the work of IDF in the areas of health, children’s education and women’s empowerment. Dr Narayan Iyer, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of IDF initiated a leadership development intervention called the Students’ leadership programme (SLP) for children in the age group of 12 to 14, from the urban poor households in 2014. It was a structured mentoring programme spanning over three months in collaboration with the schools. It aimed at incubating skills in the areas of leadership, teamwork, personality, behavioural traits and provided career guidance. It had a humble beginning in 2014 with a coverage of 50 students. Initially, IDF welcomed executives from the corporate sector as mentors. As there was a need to rapidly expand the scope of SLP to the other cities of India, IDF tied up with the graduate colleges and invited the students to be the mentors. The other objective behind this move was to create social awareness among the students from more affluent strata of society. IDF was able to dramatically increase the participation of the students through SLP by approximately up to 100,000 by 2020. However, rapid progress threw up multiple challenges. The teachers complained about the non-availability of the students for regular classes to teach the syllabus as the students were busy with SLP. The schools forced IDF to shorten the duration of SLP to two months. Also, many undergraduate mentors were unable to coach the participants due to lack of maturity and found wanting to strike a rapport with them. There was a shortage of corporate executives who volunteered for the mentoring, due to work pressures. Dr Narayan, CEO & National Coordinator and Ms Mallika Ramchandran, the project head of SLP at IDF, were worried about the desired impact of SLP on the participants and its sustainability due to these challenges. So, with the support of Dr Narayan, she initiated a detailed survey to assess the ground-level impact of SLP. The objective was to get clarity about what was working for SLP and what aspects needed to improve, to make the programme more effective. Overall feedback from the survey was very positive. The mothers had seen very positive changes in the participants’ behaviour post-SLP. The teachers had specific concerns about the effectiveness of undergraduate mentors. The need for a refresher course to inculcate ethical behaviour and the inadequacy of the two-month duration of the SLP to reinforce values were highlighted. Respondents also voiced the requirement to build responsible citizenship behaviours among the participants. Mallika was all for preparing a model to further enhance the effectiveness of SLP. Dr Narayan and Mallika embraced the challenge and they were raring to go to develop SLP as a cutting-edge leadership programme and to take it to new heights. Complexity academic level This case can be used in courses on human resource management in postgraduate and graduate management programmes. It can also be used in the general and development management courses and during executive education programmes to teach methodologies for evaluating the effectiveness of the training interventions, with emphasis on the voluntary sector. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 6: Human Resource Management.

Exploring the effects of increasing underutilized crops on consumers\u2019 diets: the case of millet in Uganda

Known in the literature as underutilized, neglected or orphan crops, these crops have been cited as having the potential to improve food and nutritional security. The literature also highlights however that consumers in developing countries are increasingly abandoning their traditional diets that these crops are part of, and are replacing them by western diets. In this context, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the consumption and nutritional implications of expanding the participation of underutilized crops in current diets. This was done using a modified version of the microeconomic consumer problem. This was augmented with a linear constraint using generalized rationing theory that can be found in the economics literature. The method was applied to the case study of the consumption of millet (finger millet, botanical name: Eleusine coracana) by rural, urban-poor and urban-affluent Ugandan socioeconomic groups. The results indicated that millet could contribute to improving the intake of macronutrients and of some micronutrients, though the overall picture is complex. However, under current preferences and given its demand inelasticity, to achieve a substantial increase in the quantity of millet in the diet will require a significant reduction of its price. Otherwise, the net impact on nutrition as measured by the mean adequacy ratio will be only slightly positive for rural and urban-poor households. Our findings indicate that supply-side initiatives aimed at increasing the productivity of underutilized crops (reducing crop price) are likely to produce disappointing results in restoring their importance unless accompanied by specific interventions to expand demand.

FROM ENERGY SECURITY TO SECURITY OF ENERGY SERVICES: THE ROLE OF GENDERED INNOVATIONS IN LIVING LABS

Energy security remains a concern in Sub-Saharan Africa. The conceptualisation of energy security at the urban household level has shifted from the security of energy supply to the security of energy services, which is focused more on the demand side. Women and young girls are affected the most by insecure energy services. However, energy policy discourses often fail to focus on the security of energy services or to recognise gender roles in the provision of energy services at the household level. It is therefore imperative to develop innovative and gender-sensitive energy services solutions with a new paradigm of participatory solution design, such as living labs. We assessed living labs and the energy security landscape in poor urban environments through a systematic literature review, and proposed a framework for demonstrating how living labs could be used as a lever to promote the security of energy services. The security of energy services in poor urban households could be improved by harnessing the different innovative strengths of the respective genders. Living labs provide an ideal space for co-generating, co-designing, and co-learning to produce tailored energy services solutions. There is a need for a collaborative effort in resourcing researchers to undertake practical investigations of interactive multi-stakeholder platforms with those who are intended to benefit from the policy to increase its impact and to bridge the science-policy divide. Keywords energy security, energy services, gendered innovations, living labs, poor urban environments

Socio-Economic Determinants of Loan Repayment Capacity of Somali Microfinance Clients in Kebridahar Town, Somali Regional State, Ethiopia

Somali microfinance finance institute (SMFI) was established to provide inclusive financial services to rural and urban poor households with the ultimate goal of poverty alleviation in the Somali regional state. Even though SMFI is working better to upgrade itself to a licensed bank-Shabelle Bank and is showing livelihood improvement for poor households in the Somali region so far, loan repayment problems are currently the major challenge facing the institute, which can discourage it from promoting and extending credit to poor people in the future. Therefore, this study intended to assess the determinants of the loan repayment capacity of borrowers in the Kebridahar District of Korahey Zone. Out of the total 4330 borrowers received from the SMFI Kebridahar branch, 188 representatives were selected by dividing the borrowers into two strata, in terms of loan payment status defaulters and non-defaulters. Data were collected from both primary and secondary sources. The primary data was collected from a sample of 188 borrowers using a two-stage sampling method. Descriptive statistics and an econometric model were used to analyze the data. The result of descriptive statistics revealed that Education level, household head experience in credit, family size, marital status, loan diversion, occupation type, and getting trained were shown significant differences between defaulters and non-defaulters. According to the logistic regression model result out of nine variables included in the model, Age, education level, and access to training of household head positively and significantly affected the loan repayment capacity of the borrowers while marital status (get-married) and loan size were found to be negative and significantly affecting the repayment capacity of the borrowers. Therefore, this study recommends that the microfinance and other regional concerning offices should give attention to these significantly affecting variables for further strategic and policy decisions.

Understanding Wealth Inequalities in Education Access in Urbanizing Sub-Saharan Africa

Introduction: Urbanization is a double-edged sword, while it is transforming the world, it is also creating spaces that pose threats to its benefits. In sub-Saharan Africa, urbanization is occurring amidst slowed economic growth and into spaces that are already strained. This is resulting in the growth of urban poverty and possibly increasing inequalities. It is thus imperative to understand the effects of urbanization in realizing inclusive and equitable education for all.Objective: We examine inequalities in enrolment of schooling going children aged 6–17 years living in urban areas using the latest Demographic and Health Surveys data from 24 SSA countries.Methods: We utilize three measures of inequality: Rate difference, rate ratio, and relative concentration index to examine inequalities in education access. Using wealth status as the key inequality indicator, we compute and compare school enrollment of children living in urban poor households with that of those living in urban rich households for each measure of inequality. Where appropriate, we stratify the results by country, age, and gender.Results: The results show high levels of inequalities in education access in urban settings. Across all the measures of inequality, in most countries, children from urban poor households were significantly less likely to be in school compared to those from the richest ranked households. The degree of inequality varied considerably between countries and the age groups. Among children aged 6–11 years, Tanzania, Burundi, Nigeria, and Uganda had the highest degree of inequality favouring the urban rich. We also find intriguing results in few countries such as Ethiopia, Benin, Senegal and Mali, which the urban poor had, better school enrolments than the urban rich. We do not find a clear pattern to suggest girls from poor households are overly disadvantaged than boys from similar households.Conclusion: Our study shows a high level of inequalities in education access in an urban setting, with children age in urban poor settings hugely disadvantaged. There is a need for strategic efforts in terms of deliberate interventions and policy frameworks to combat the apparent inequalities that disadvantage children from poor families from accessing education.

Livelihood under stress: The case of urban poor during and post‐flood in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Urban floods resulting from climate change and unplanned urban growth are creating tremendous stress on the urban poor who are already living in vulnerable conditions. This paper sets out to analyse the livelihood status of the urban poor in a regular situation and a situation under stress due to urban flood in Dhaka city. Two urban poor settlements were surveyed; 400 households were interviewed. It was found that the urban poor households had different types of livelihood capitals at different levels which expressed the livelihood status of the households. In a normal situation, slum dwellers were living with a moderate level of livelihood status, which dropped down to a poor level during a stressed period. The store of capitals of households influenced the capacity of a household to cope with stressed situations because adaptive capacity and sensitivity were controlled by the stock of capitals. Capitals were influencing each other internally, which produced differences in livelihood status among households in both normal and stressed situations. The geographical setting, intensive flooding, poor socio‐economic conditions, and lack of collective actions profoundly increased the vulnerability of slum dwellers. These findings suggest that more emphasis should be given to improve capital assets, particularly human capital and social capital, for increasing the capabilities of the urban poor to reduce poverty and to cope with periods of crisis.

Editor's Letter

AbstractThis letter from the editor provides a brief summary of the articles contained in this issue and invites readers to respond and submit their own articles.