Poverty in African households: the limits of survey and census representations

Randall, Sara and Coast, Ernestina ORCID: 0000-0002-8703-307X (2015) Poverty in African households: the limits of survey and census representations. The Journal of Development Studies, 51 (2). 162 - 177. ISSN 0022-0388

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Abstract

African poverty statistics depend on household-level measurements from survey data, making the definition of household of critical importance. Detailed case studies from Tanzania and Burkina Faso explore (1) understandings of household membership and ambiguities, and (2) how well survey definitions capture households as economic units, and the implications for household size and responses to and mitigation of poverty. We develop an analytic framework of ‘open’ and ‘closed’ households. ‘Open’ households cope with poverty using flexibility, movement and extra-household networks, but are poorly represented by survey data. Closed households are likely to be better described by survey data.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/fjds20
Additional Information:	© 2014 The Authors
Divisions:	Social Policy LSE Health
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions
Date Deposited:	19 Sep 2014 09:26
Last Modified:	12 Dec 2024 00:49
Projects:	RES-175-25-0012 Survey Design and Measurement Initiative, ESRC-ANR research programme (RES 062-33-0007)
Funders:	Economic and Social Research Council, ESCR
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/59504

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