HOUSEHOLD SOCIAL SPENDING AND WELFARE: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM GHANA
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Date
2018-07-01
Authors
NKRUMAH, Richard Kwabena
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST
Abstract
This study sought to examine the effect of household social spending on
welfare in the light of both present and future poverty analyses. Ghana Statistical
Service’s Ghana Living Standard Survey (GLSS) fourth, fifth and sixth waves were
used in the study. Final sample sizes of 5,556, 7,759 and 15,568 for the fourth,
fifth and sixth rounds respectively were analysed. The study found in its first
objective that very poor households benefited more in terms of welfare than nonpoor
households and that the difference in the effect of social spending widens
between the poorest and other households, moving towards higher levels of welfare.
On the other hand, vulnerability to poverty estimates showed that, for all three
rounds of the GLSS, all households suffer poverty in the future and it is severe for
very poor households. Moreover, the study found that as households have higher
inclination towards unilateral social support, the more it reduced welfare and thus
resulted in rising vulnerability to expected poverty for all households. This was true
for all objects of social support.
At the end of the study, three policy recommendations were made.
First, informal sensitisation programmes by public agencies like the National
Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and NGOs should be organised to
campaign against rising social spending and its effect on future poverty, since
formal education was found to have rather increased social spending. Second, the
Government of Ghana could make cash transfers to poor households to relief them
of the burden of poverty arising out of social spending, just as it does through its
Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP), like the Scottish Government
does through its Social Fund Funeral Payment (SFFP). Lastly, the government and
local authorities may formulate policies to set guidelines for the indicative costs of
organising and running social events aimed at combating the rising social spending
as has been done in Tajikistan and India.
Description
Keywords
Household , Social events , Social spending , Social support , Vulnerability to expected poverty , Welfare