Colombia
Results are from an analysis of the 2015 National Demographic and Health Survey. Information on methodology is in the report and in the method briefs.
Prevalence Of Functional Difficulties
In Colombia, the share of adults aged 15 and older with any functional difficulty stands at 41.8%. Separating by level of difficulty, the prevalence rates of some difficulty and at least a lot of difficulty are 29.7% and 12.2% respectively. The prevalence of functional difficulties is higher for women (45.5%) than for men (37.6%). Functional difficulties are more prevalent among older age groups, at 18.7% for ages 15 to 29, 27.8% for ages 30 to 44, 66.4% for ages 45 to 64, and 79.4% for ages 65 and over. Across the six functional domains considered, difficulties with seeing (36.8%) and mobility (9.5%) are most common.
About seven in ten households have an adult with any functional difficulty: at the household level, the prevalence of any functional difficulty is at 68.3%, including 42.2% with some difficulty and 26.1% with at least a lot of difficulty.
Table 1: Colombia: Prevalence Of Functional Difficulties (%)
| Group | Any difficulty | Some difficulty | At least a lot of difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| All adults | 41.84 | 29.68 | 12.17 |
| Females | 45.53 | 31.95 | 13.59 |
| Males | 37.57 | 27.05 | 10.52 |
| Rural residents | – | – | – |
| Urban residents | – | – | – |
| Ages 15 to 29 | 18.68 | 13.79 | 4.89 |
| Ages 30 to 44 | 27.78 | 21.05 | 6.73 |
| Ages 45 to 64 | 66.42 | 49.72 | 16.70 |
| Ages 65 and over | 79.39 | 45.60 | 33.79 |
| Seeing | 36.78 | 28.20 | 8.58 |
| Hearing | 6.07 | 4.43 | 1.64 |
| Mobility | 9.50 | 6.32 | 3.18 |
| Cognitive | 3.27 | 2.00 | 1.27 |
| Self-care | 1.47 | 0.66 | 0.81 |
| Communication | 1.62 | 0.82 | 0.79 |
| All households | 68.32 | 42.24 | 26.07 |
| Rural households | – | – | – |
| Urban households | – | – | – |
Source: Colombia 2015 National Demographic and Health Survey, own calculations
Key indicators on the deprivations and wellbeing experienced by persons with and without functional difficulties are presented in Table 2. Table 2 begins with information on the multidimensional poverty headcount—the rate of persons deprived in more than one dimension in the areas of education, work, health, and standard of living. Persons with at least a lot of functional difficulty have a multidimensional poverty headcount of 39% compared to 25% for persons with some functional difficulty and 18% for persons with no difficulty.
Table 2: Colombia: Key Indicators For Adults Age 15+ By Functional Difficulty Status (% And Percentage Points)
| Indicator | No Difficulty | Some Difficulty | Difference between no difficulty and some difficulty | At least a lot of difficulty | Difference between no difficulty and at least a lot of difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multidimensional poverty headcount | 18 | 25 | -7*** | 39 | -21*** |
| Less than primary school | 13 | 24 | -11*** | 38 | -26*** |
| Employment population ratio | 71 | 76 | -5*** | 73 | -2* |
| Safely managed drinking water | 91 | 93 | -1*** | 92 | -1 |
| Safely managed sanitation | 88 | 91 | -3*** | 89 | -1** |
| Clean fuel | 88 | 89 | -1*** | 86 | 1** |
| Electricity | 98 | 98 | -1*** | 98 | -1*** |
| Adequate housing | 84 | 87 | -3*** | 85 | -1*** |
| Owns assets | 61 | 62 | -1*** | 57 | 4*** |
Source: Colombia 2015 National Demographic and Health Survey, own calculations
Education
The share of adults who have less than primary school as their highest level of schooling attained is significantly higher among persons with at least a lot of functional difficulty (38%) and persons with some difficulty (24%) compared to persons with no difficulty (13%). This boils down to gaps of 11 percentage points (p.p.) between persons with some functional difficulty and persons with no difficulty and 26 p.p. between persons with at least a lot of functional difficulty and persons with no difficulty.
Work
Persons with at least a lot of functional difficulty have a higher employment population ratio (or share of the population working) than persons with no difficulty, at 73% and 71%, respectively. At 76%, persons with some difficulty also have a significantly higher employment population ratio than persons with no difficulty.
Health
There are significant differences in terms of the rates of access to safely managed drinking water and sanitation, with higher rates for persons with some difficulty and at least a lot of difficulty compared to persons with no difficulty, indicating that persons with any functional difficulty are better off than persons with no difficulty. In the case of access to safely managed drinking water, the difference is statistically significant only between persons with some difficulty and persons with no difficulty. For both water and sanitation, these differences are small (under 5 p.p.).
Standard of Living
There are significant differences in terms of the share of individuals with electricity and adequate housing, with higher rates for persons with some difficulty and at least a lot of difficulty compared to persons with no difficulty. Compared to the rates for persons with no difficulty, rates of access to clean fuel and asset ownership are higher for persons with some difficulty but lower for persons with at least a lot of difficulty. For all indicators, these differences are small (under 5 p.p.).
More results for Colombia are available in results tables on the ddi website.