Slum Households Research Articles

How do slums change the relationship between urbanization and the carbon intensity of well-being?

This study examines how the relationship between urbanization (measured as the percentage of total population living in urban areas) and the carbon intensity of well-being (CIWB) (measured as a ratio of carbon dioxide emissions and life expectancy) in most nations from 1960–2013 varies based on the economic context and whereabouts of a substantial portion of a nation’s urban population. To accomplish this, we use the United Nations’ (UN) definition of slum households to identify developing countries that have substantial slum populations, and estimate a Prais-Winsten regression model with panel-corrected standard errors (PCSE), allowing for disturbances that are heteroskedastic and contemporaneously correlated across panels. Our findings indicate that the rate of increase in CIWB for countries without substantial slum populations begins to slow down at higher levels of urbanization, however, the association between urbanization and CIWB is much smaller in countries with substantial slum populations. Overall, while urbanization is associated with increases in CIWB, the relationship between urban development and CIWB is vastly different in developed nations without slums than in under-developed nations with slums.

Implementation of Public Works in Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation

<p>A majority of the slum households in Warangal are working as labourers. The slums lack infrastructure facilities such as roads, drainage, housing, electricity, basic education and health, etc. With the implementation of programmes like Swarna Jayanthi Sahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY), the community based organizations like neighborhood groups and neighborhood committees have taken roots and they have been participating in the poverty alleviation and other development programmes effectively. Spread of slums across the city is contributing to unhygienic environment in terms of cleanliness, water stagnation, presence of vectors, etc., which increases vulnerability towards deceases. Living conditions of the poor have consistently deteriorated due to several factors like inadequate environmental infrastructure and basic services. This research article to be discussed the problems and prospects of Implementation of Public Works Programmes in Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation. </p>

An Empirical Investigation into Measurement and Determinants of Food Security

ABSTRACTWe examine the association between calorie-based indicators and experiential indicators of food security using data from slum households of Kolkata surveyed in 2010–2011. Experiential indicator is constructed following the United States Household Food Security Survey Module. Calorie based indicator is constructed using household-specific calorie norms. Modelling techniques take account of potential endogeneity in the relationship. The two indicators are aligned in the same direction implying more accurate targeting. However, there is a lack of one-to-one correspondence between the two measures and the drivers of calorie deprivation and food insecurity also differ, suggesting a one-size-fits-all policy cannot address both concerns simultaneously.

Standalone, Collective or Both? How Low-income Urban Households Employ Strategies to Secure Basic Service Access in Hyderabad, India

Basic service security remains grossly insufficient for many urban slum households in low-income and middle-income countries. While participation in collective action has often been hailed as the most effective means to secure improvements, households also employ standalone strategies to enhance service provision. Yet potential trade-offs or complementarities between individual and collective strategies have rarely been considered. Using data from a survey of 752 households in the core urban area of Hyderabad, India, this study uses both the exit, voice and loyalty and collective action frameworks to jointly consider household participation in standalone and groups efforts to improve basic service security. Findings show that, contrary to most past conceptualizations, households employ several strategies simultaneously. While there is some evidence of substitution in strategies employed by households, there appears to be little strategic complementarity. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Harnessing urbanisation for human wellbeing and planetary health

Harnessing urbanisation for human wellbeing and planetary health

Some Dimensions of Vulnerability: A Study of the Urban Poor in Kolkata

More than one billion people worldwide are mired in extreme and inescapable poverty, while millions of others are on the brink of poverty. They face risks which are further exacerbated by natural hazards and ill-health. However, those who are poor today may not necessarily be poor tomorrow. Again, many of those who are non-poor today face a high chance of becoming poor after experiencing an adverse shock. Thus, a better understanding of the vulnerability concept is pressing, particularly in the context of the Third World cities like Kolkata. This article attempts an analysis of the vulnerability, and its impact on the livelihoods of the people living in slums in Kolkata. A simple bifurcation of the sampled households in terms of poor and non-poor is examined in terms of a constructed vulnerability index. As many of our surveyed slum households are found to be “vulnerable” (although they may not necessarily be “poor”), the government should assess the levels of vulnerability of households and use that as a yardstick (instead of income alone) at the time of distribution of various benefits so as to avoid “targeting error.”

Modelling the impact of household life cycle on slums in Bangalore

According to the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UNHSP), the number of slum households in developing countries continues to grow by a higher proportion as compared to its encompassing city. Traditionally, policy makers have concentrated on population control strategies by focussing on birth rates and rural–urban migration to stem the growth and emergence of slums. However, these strategies have often failed to achieve the desired results. In the present paper we find the key underlying processes that explains the observed differences in household life cycle between slum and non-slum households. We find that the slum households when compared to nonslum urban households, exhibit a large variation in the household size over the course of their life cycle, which in turn leads to inefficiency while building slum resettlement colonies. We have developed an agent based model, namely DynaSlum, to identify the key social determinants that impact the behaviour of a slum household. We use a novel and unique dataset based on the field work from 37 slums in Bangalore combined with the NFHS data to calibrate DynaSlum and validate our findings. This paper presents two major insights to address the challenges. First, we find that high rate of home leaving among young adults is the key determinants for the large variation in the life cycle of slum households. Second, we show that reducing home leaving among young adults will reduce the formation number of new slum households and contribute to a higher but stable household size. This will lead to efficiency and higher per capita resource consumption when building capacity for slum development (resettlement colonies) as policy makers would be able to plan for a stable household size.

Assessment of personal hygiene and sanitation using a composite index among adolescent girls and their households in urban slums of Pune, Maharashtra

The assessment of hygiene and sanitation in urban slums is essential to identify adolescent health needs. A tool that comprised of three domains and 13 variables including drinking water index (DWI), personal hygiene index (PHI) and household hygiene index (HHI) was developed and tested among 60 households. Observations were repeated after 6 weeks. Cronbach's alpha was used to test the reliability and Inter Class Correlation Coefficient was used to assess repeatability of the questionnaire. The tool was used to assess the personal hygiene of adolescent girls (n = 565) and their household sanitation in nine slums of Pune city. Excellent reliability (α = 0.9) was obtained for four variables, two observations obtained good (α = 0.8), two scored acceptable (α = 0.7) and one scored questionable (α < 0.6) reliability. No variance was observed among four variables. DWI and PHI scores were average (between 2 and 3). About 40% of the households scored the least (between zero to one) in HHI. History of malaria was reported among 3%, one year prior to the study period and 30% minor infections were reported. The composite index developed was valid to assess hygiene and sanitation of this population. Measures to improve household hygiene would contribute to integrated approaches in improving adolescent health.

Changes in Use of Family Planning among the Urban Poor: Evidence from Nairobi Slums

As urbanization continues unabated in Kenya, the wellbeing of the urban poor ‐ whose majority live in slum settlements ‐ will increasingly drive national development indicators including Vision 2030, SDGs and FP2020 goals. It is therefore central to understand and identify ways to address the poor reproductive health outcomes among poor urban slum populations in the country. Taking advantage of APHRC's NCSS surveys conducted in 2000 and 2012 among a representative sample of slum households across Nairobi, we show that there has been a considerable increase in use of modern contraception among women in Nairobi slums, from 34% in 2000 to 53% in 2012, and a reduction in inequity in access through much higher increases among previously disadvantaged groups. Using decomposition analysis techniques, we show that much of the observed increase is due to behavioral changes in the effect of fertility preferences on contraceptive use; and to compositional changes in woman's education, child survival and exposure to FP information. This may be the result of efforts by the government of Kenya and its development partners to reduce the disparities in uptake and use of FP services through various programs and policies targeting the poor segments of the Kenyan population.

Assessment of under-five immunization coverage among the population of slum areas in Mangalore taluk, India

Background: Immunization coverage is better in urban than rural areas. However, we anticipate and argue that within the urban areas disparities and inequities persist in immunization coverage and that the socioeconomically disadvantaged, particularly those who reside in slum areas are more vulnerable and may contribute to the lower uptake of immunization. The objectives of the study were to assess the under-five immunization coverage amongst the households in slums of Mangalore taluk and to identify determinants of full immunization uptake among under 5 in the slums population and to know the reasons for non-immunization or partial immunization of children.Methods: Community Based Cross sectional study was conducted in the notified slum areas of Mangalore during August-November 2015. Information was collected from the parents regarding vaccination of their children and sociodemographic variables using a semi-structured interview schedule.Results: 88 (57.7%) of under 5 children were fully immunized, 62 (41.3%) were partially immunized in the slum areas of Mangalore, Karnataka, India. Mean age of the children in our study was found to be 35.15 months. Immunization coverage was found to be associated with the presence of immunization card, occupation of mother, knowledge about universal immunization programme (UIP), knowledge about protection offered by vaccines.Conclusions: Unfortunately, the immunization coverage was found to be very bad in the slum areas of Mangalore city, Karnataka, India. There is an urgent need to ensure that regular health education sessions are conducted. Secondly, slum areas should be the target of RCH programme with special focus on immunization related activities e.g. ensuring that all households with children should have immunization cards, as the slum areas remain the neglected section of the society due to various reasons.

Utilization of safe drinking water and sanitary facilities in slum households of Siliguri, West Bengal.

With the rapid expansion of urban population, provision of safe water and basic sanitation is becoming a challenge; especially in slums. This is adversely affecting the health of the people living in such areas. The study was conducted to measure the proportion of households using improved drinking water and sanitation facilities and to determine the association between diarrhea in under-five children with water and sanitation facilities. A community-based, cross-sectional study was conducted among 796 slum households in Siliguri from January to March 2016 by interviewing one member from each household using a predesigned and pretested questionnaire based on the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program Core questions on drinking water and sanitation for household surveys. A majority 733 (92.1%) of slum households used an improved drinking water source; 565 (71%) used public tap. About two-thirds (65.7%) household used improved sanitation facilities. About 15.8% households had reported diarrheal events in children in the previous month. Unimproved drinking water sources (AOR = 4.13; 1.91, 8.96), houses without piped water supply (AOR = 4.43; 1.31, 15.00), and latrines located outside houses (AOR = 3.61; 1.44, 9.07) were significantly associated with the diarrheal events in children. The utilization of improved drinking water source was high but piped water connection and improved sanitary toilet used was low. Association between diarrheal events and type of drinking water sources and place of sanitation might suggest fecal contamination of water sources. Awareness generation through family-centered educational programs could improve the situation.

Do Caste, Religion and Education Matter in Slums: Evidence from Selected Slums in Faridabad

This paper examines whether caste, religion and education explain household differences in income and expenditure in the slums. Based on data collected from the selected slum households in the Faridabad the study exhibited the difference in household income and expenditure are not explained by caste, religion and education. The study investigates whether income and expenditure undergo changes with passage of time in the selected slums of different ages and find that slums differed significantly in income and expenditure by their age but these differences are explained by intensity of work efforts and not by caste, religion, and education. With passage of time housing, sanitation, hygiene, education, and citizen services improve in slums but it does not guarantee better income and consumption standards.

Effect of socio-demographic characteristics on the morbidity prevalence among the urban poor in a metropolitan city of South India

Background: The health needs of the urban poor is a major herculean task to the health system personnel. Hence, it is attempted to understand the role of age, education and income on the morbidity prevalence among the poor migrants dwelling in the Bangalore slumsMethods: A cross-sectional two-stage cluster random sampling design was used for selecting the slum households from various clusters in Bangalore city.Results: Data were collected from 4005 households in the slums of Bangalore city which consists of 16737 individuals’ information with the average family size of 4.18. Illness were reported as 18.5% (n=1626) and 20.1% (n=1594) for males and females respectively and the difference between these proportions are statistically significant (P=0.008). Income and educational levels are significantly (P=0.000) associated on the morbidity prevalence. The infants’ morbidity rate is 17.1 and 38.1 for males and females respectively.Conclusions: The morbidity distribution follows a quadratic pattern. Income and education have effective role on morbidity prevalence; both the variables are inversely associated on morbidity prevalence. Morbidity prevalence on age is similar to mortality curve.

Socioeconomic inequalities in catastrophic health expenditure and impoverishment associated with non-communicable diseases in urban Hanoi, Vietnam

BackgroundThe catastrophic health expenditure and impoverishment indices offer guidance for developing appropriate health policies and intervention programs to decrease financial inequity. This study assesses socioeconomic inequalities in catastrophic health expenditure and impoverishment in relation to self-reported non-communicable diseases (NCD) in urban Hanoi, Vietnam.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted from February to March 2013 in Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam. We estimated catastrophic health expenditure and impoverishment using information from 492 slum household and 528 non-slum households. We calculated concentration indexes to assess socioeconomic inequalities in catastrophic health expenditure and impoverishment. Factors associated with catastrophic health expenditure and impoverishment were modelled using logistic regression analysis.ResultsThe poor households in both slum and non-slum areas were at higher risk of experiencing catastrophic health expenditure, while only the poor households in slum areas were at higher risk of impoverishment because of healthcare spending. Households with at least one member reporting an NCD were significantly more likely to face catastrophic health expenditure (odds ratio [OR] = 2.4; 95 % confidence interval [CI], 1.8–4.0) and impoverishment (OR = 2.3; 95 % CI, 1.1–6.3) compared to households without NCDs. In addition, households in slum areas, with people age 60 years and above, and belonging to the poorest socioeconomic group were significantly associated with increased catastrophic health expenditure, while only households that lived in slum areas, and belonging to the poor or poorest socioeconomic groups were significantly associated with increased impoverishment because of healthcare spending.ConclusionFinancial interventions to prevent catastrophic health expenditure and impoverishment should target poor households, especially those with family members suffering from NCDs, with older members and those located in slum areas in Hanoi Vietnam. Potential interventions derived from this study include targeting and monitoring of health insurance enrolment, and developing a specialized NCD service package for Vietnam’s social health insurance program.

Effect of Socio-Demographic Characteristics on the Morbidity Prevalence among the Urban Poor dwelling in uninhabitable environments of a South Indian city.

Introduction. Slums have generally been dirty and unclean with shortage of water supply, inadequate lighting, sanitation facilities, overcrowded, coexistence of weak buildings, insufficient communication with lack of civic amenities. In such an environment, they are exposed to all type of communicable diseases. Catering the health needs of the urban poor is a major herculean task to the health system personnel. Hence, it is attempted to understand the role of age, education and income on the morbidity prevalence among the poor migrants dwelling in the Bangalore slums. Methods. A cross-sectional two-stage cluster random sampling design was used for selecting the slum households from various clusters in Bangalore city. Sample size for the quantitative survey was calculated according the relative precision method. By considering prevalence of utilization of government healthcare service, P of 15% allowing 10% error on P, 95% confidence interval, design effect 1.7and 5% of non-response rate, finally the sample size 3896 is calculated. Results. Illness were reported as 18.5% (n=1626) and 20.1% (n=1594) for males and females respectively and the difference between these proportions are statistically significant (P=0.008). Income and educational levels are significantly (P=0.000) associated on the morbidity prevalence. The infants’ morbidity rate is 17.1 and 38.1 for males and females respectively. Income and education have effective role on morbidity prevalence; both the variables are inversely associated on morbidity prevalence. Conclusion. Habitations in unhygienic and unplanned environment are the root cause for the suffering of migrants. The suffering could be due to illness, social and psychological issues. Generating employment opportunities and other infrastructures and facilities in the rural or near by the rural areas will inhibit the large scale migration which will reduce the sufferings of the vulnerable poor urban migrations.

The effect of education on household food security in two informal urban settlements in Kenya: a longitudinal analysis

Poverty and food insecurity continue to feature prominently in the global agenda, with particularly close attention being paid to the determinants of food insecurity. However, the effect of education is mixed and remains understudied in low income countries. Using longitudinal data collected between 2007 and 2012 in Kenya, we investigated the effect of household education attainment on food security among poor urban households. Household food security was constructed from a set of four key items while education was the average years of schooling for individuals aged 18 years and above in a household. To determine the association between education attainment and food security, we fitted a random effects generalised ordered probit model. The prevalence of severe food insecurity ranged from 49 % in 2008 to 35 % in 2012. The ordered probit results showed a significant effect of education on food security. The probability of being food insecure decreased by 0.019 for a unit increase in the average years of schooling for a given household. The effect of education, remained significant even after controlling for household wealth index, a more proximate determinant of food security in a cash-based economy such as the urban slums. The findings highlight the need to focus on the food security status of the urban poor. Specifically, results suggest the need for programs aimed at reducing food insecurity among the urban poor and enhancing household livelihoods. In addition, investment in the education of the slum households may, in the long term, contribute to reduction in the prevalence of food insecurity.

Domestic Water Consumption Pattern and its Linkage with Socio-economic Variables: A Case Study of Ludhiana City

The consumption of water depends on the life style of the population, work and working conditions, climate, culture and food habits etc. The per household and per capita water consumption in the selected households of the Ludhiana city showed that high income groups consume more water than the low income and slum households. The relationship between demographic and socio-economic variables like education, occupation and household income and water consumption was positive. The paper reviews the domestic water consumption pattern and its linkage with socio-economic variables in Ludhiana city.

Perceptions on Public Health Facilities by Slum Dwellers in the Metropolitan Cities of India

Rapid urbanisation and quest for better livelihood, push-pull factor of occupations education, policy changes attract large scale rural population to urban areas. It is well documented that in spite of better public health facilities including tertiary care hospitals which are available in the urban areas but the services are underutilised by the urban poor. Aim: Hence, in this paper, it is attempted to comprehend the reasons for underutilisation of available public health facilities and to compare the difference with non-slum areas of the major metropolitan cities of India. Methods: A secondary data from National Family Health Survey-III for five major metropolitan cities namely, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai is used for the analysis. Slum data which are classified by both the agencies, that is census of India and NFHS-III as slum households only considered for analysis. Results: In Mumbai slums about 90% of the households are having water sources from public tap or piped to yard followed by Hyderabad having better water supply and Chennai slum dwellers having minimum access to good water sources. About 11.4% of the households do not know where their toilet drainage is connected. There is a significant (P 0.05) 75% to 79%, Kolkata and Chennai have parallel high proportion, that is more than 95% (P > 0.05) and Mumbai stands as median percent age as 89.6. Apart from Delhi, about 40% to 45% of the slum population is in the opinion of “long waiting time” in the government hospitals, and the same trend of proportions is observed for “poor quality of service”.

Exploring the Gender Aspect in Selected Qualitative Indicators of Wellbeing in Urban Slum Women with Special Reference to Pune City Year 2014–15

As reflected in the census of 2011, women as a stratum of the society have less education, earn less income and are less nourished as compared to the male population. In effect women are poor as compared to men in different walks of life and face inequalities on almost all levels be it inequality of resources or of opportunities to develop. The macroeconomic indicators like literacy rate, work force participation, income earning capacity, political participation etc. reflect the gender based inequalities in various dimensions on an aggregate level. Apart from the obvious importance of education, health and employment, issues like freedom of choice, participation in decision making, dignity and personal security have a big hand in determining the quality of life, in other words ‘wellbeing’. This paper tries to explore the extent of wellbeing in the lives of women in urban slum households based in Pune city. An attempt has been made through focussed interviews of forty women in informal surroundings in a group as well as individually. Analysis has been attempted on the degree of Independence enjoyed, Autonomy of Small decisions, Financial Security and Dignity and Personal security. The women were questioned according to the parameter analysed as mentioned in detail in each indicator. All the answers were quantified as ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. If the answer suggested discrimination it was given the weightage of zero while if the answer was positive ethically i.e. no discrimination then the answer was given the weightage of one. Thus all the responses were analysed and the degree of independence, dignity and personal security, financial security and financial awareness was estimated. The ultimate purpose of this paper is to explore the inter-generational change in attitude, the constraints experienced in case of girls, the scope of their expectations from life and especially the societal perception of what is ‘acceptable’ in other words ‘Freedom of Choice’

The need for multisectoral food chain approaches to reduce trans fat consumption in India.

BackgroundThe World Health Organization (WHO) recommends virtually eliminating trans fat from the global food supply. Although several high-income countries have successfully reduced trans fat levels in foods, low- and middle-income countries such as India face additional challenges to its removal from the food supply. This study provides a systems analysis of the Indian food chain to assess intervention options for reducing trans fat intake in low-income consumers.MethodsData were collected at the manufacturer, retailer and consumer levels. Qualitative interviews were conducted with vanaspati manufacturers (n = 13) and local food vendors (n = 44). Laboratory analyses (n = 39) of street foods/snacks sold by the vendors were also conducted. Trans fat and snack intakes were also examined in low-income consumers in two rural villages (n = 260) and an urban slum (n = 261).ResultsManufacturers of vanaspati described reducing trans fat levels as feasible but identified challenges in using healthier oils. The fat content of sampled oils from street vendors contained high levels of saturated fat (24.7-69.3 % of total fat) and trans fat (0.1-29.9 % of total fat). Households were consuming snacks high in trans fat as part of daily diets (31 % village and 84.3 % of slum households) and 4 % of rural and 13 % of urban households exceeded WHO recommendations for trans fat intakes.ConclusionsA multisectoral food chain approach to reducing trans fat is needed in India and likely in other low- and middle-income countries worldwide. This will require investment in development of competitively priced bakery shortenings and economic incentives for manufacturing foods using healthier oils. Increased production of healthier oils will also be required alongside these investments, which will become increasingly important as more and more countries begin investing in palm oil production.