Dominican Republic
Results are from an analysis of the 2010 Population and Housing Census. Information on methodology is in the report and in the method briefs.
Prevalence of Functional Difficulties
In the Dominican Republic, the share of adults aged 15 and older with any functional difficulty stands at 14.5%. The prevalence of functional difficulties is higher for women (16.8%) than for men (12.1%). Functional difficulties are more prevalent among older age groups, at 5% for ages 15 to 29, 9% for ages 30 to 44, 25.6% for ages 45 to 64, and 46.6% for ages 65 and over. Across the five functional domains considered, difficulties with seeing (11.4%), and cognition (3.6%) are most common.
At the household level, the prevalence of any functional difficulty is at 27.1%. The prevalence of functional difficulties is higher in rural areas compared to urban areas: 14.9% vs. 14.3% among adults and 28% vs. 26.8% among households in rural and urban areas, respectively.
Table 1: Dominican Republic: Prevalence of functional difficulties (%)
| Group | Any difficulty |
|---|---|
| All adults | 14.45 |
| Females | 16.84 |
| Males | 12.05 |
| Rural residents | 14.90 |
| Urban residents | 14.29 |
| Ages 15 to 29 | 5.00 |
| Ages 30 to 44 | 9.04 |
| Ages 45 to 64 | 25.61 |
| Ages 65 and over | 46.58 |
| Seeing | 11.36 |
| Hearing | 2.19 |
| Mobility | 2.34 |
| Cognitive | 3.55 |
| Self-care | – |
| Communication | 1.02 |
| All households | 27.13 |
| Rural households | 27.99 |
| Urban households | 26.84 |
Source: Dominican Republic 2010 Population and Housing Census, 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 any functional difficulty have a multidimensional poverty rate of 53% compared to 36% for persons with no difficulty.
Table 2: Dominican Republic: Key indicators for adults age 15+ by functional difficulty status (% and percentage points)
| Indicator | No Difficulty | Any difficulty | Difference | Stat. Significance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multidimensional poverty headcount | 36 | 53 | -17 | *** |
| Less than primary school | 28 | 51 | -24 | *** |
| Employment population ratio | 48 | 34 | 14 | *** |
| Safely managed drinking water | 84 | 84 | 0 | NS |
| Safely managed sanitation | 83 | 86 | -3 | *** |
| Clean fuel | 86 | 84 | 2 | *** |
| Electricity | 96 | 96 | 0 | NS |
| Adequate housing | 77 | 78 | -1 | *** |
| Owns assets | 51 | 51 | 0 | NS |
Source: Dominican Republic 2010 Population and Housing Census, own calculations
Education
The share of adults who have less than primary school as their highest level of schooling attained is higher among persons with any functional difficulty (51%) compared to persons with no difficulty (28%), which boils down to a gap of 24 percentage points (p.p.).
Work
Persons with no functional difficulty have a higher employment population ratio (or share of the population working) than persons with any functional difficulty, at 48% and 34%, respectively.
Health
Rates of access to safely managed drinking water are the same for the different functional difficulty groups. Regarding the rates of access to safely managed sanitation, persons with any functional difficulty are significantly better off than persons with no difficulty, at 86% and 83%, respectively.
Standard of Living
There are significant differences in terms of the share of individuals with clean fuel, with lower rates for persons with any functional difficulty. There is a small but significant difference between the rates of access to adequate housing, with persons with any difficulty being better off than persons with no difficulty, at 78% and 77%, respectively. Rates of access to electricity and asset ownership are similar for the different functional difficulty groups.
More results for the Dominican Republic are available in results tables on the ddi website.