9 out of 16 regions in Ghana has alarming poverty levels-GSS report

The Ghana Statistical Service Multidimensional Poverty Report indicates alarming poverty levels in 9 out of the 16 regions in the country.

Over a quarter of these regions have populations facing multiple deprivations.

They include Savannah (49.5%), North East (48.1%), Upper East (43.0%), Oti (40.8%), Northern (38.4%), Upper West (37.4%), Volta (27.3%), Western North (27.0%), and Western (25.7%).

The report identified that a total of 7.3 million Ghanaians, representing 24.3% of the household population, are multi-dimensionally poor.

This type of poverty measures deprivation in several dimensions simultaneously, including education, health, and living standards. Of these, 43.8% are experiencing severe poverty.

The poverty levels across the country reveal that employment and living conditions are the largest contributors to multidimensional poverty.

Employment and living conditions contribute the highest to multidimensional poverty in most regions, ranging from 47.8 percent to 12.7 percent and 35.9 percent to 15.5 percent, respectively.

According to the Director of Social Statistics at the GSS, Omar Seidu, the root causes of the complex poverty are often linked to the educational attainment of household heads.

“Four out of ten households where the head of household has no education, then that household is multi-dimensionally poor,” he explained.

Rural vs. Urban

Multidimensional poverty affects a significant portion of the rural population, with 36.7% of rural residents falling below the poverty threshold. The severity of poverty is nearly identical in rural (44.0%) and urban (43.4%) areas.

Regional Disparities

The Savannah Region stands out with the highest proportion of multi-dimensionally poor households, at 49.5%, almost double the national average of 24.3%.

Despite this, the report says that the Ashanti Region has the largest number of multi-dimensionally poor individuals, totalling 959,031.

Mr. Seidu highlighted, “However, the actual number of multi-dimensionally poor persons, the Ashanti Region tops (18%) because it has a lot of population. This is more than most of the regions.”

Employment and Living Conditions

Employment contributes 32.6% and living conditions 27.9% to multidimensional poverty, making them the primary factors. Health insurance also plays a critical role, accounting for 21.5% of the poverty indicators.

Demographic Insights

The incidence of poverty is notably higher among female-headed households (27.0%) compared to male-headed households (23.0%). Younger household heads below 25 years and older heads above 60 years are also more susceptible to poverty.

Educational Disparities

Educational attainment significantly affects poverty levels. “Four in ten multi-dimensionally poor persons have never attended school,” the report indicates. Households whose heads have only basic education have a poverty incidence of 20.0%, which is 12.9 percentage points higher than those with tertiary education (7.1%).

The report is in sharp contrast to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) number 1, which stipulates an eradication of extreme poverty for all people everywhere by 2030.

Extreme poverty is defined as surviving on less than $2.15 per person per day at 2017 purchasing power parity.

Poverty has many dimensions, but its causes include unemployment, social exclusion, and the high vulnerability of certain populations to disasters, diseases and other phenomena which prevent them from being productive.