Gambia
Results are from an analysis of the 2018 Labor Force Survey (LFS). Information on methodology is in the report and in the method briefs.
Prevalence of Functional Difficulties
In Gambia, the share of adults aged 15 and older with any functional difficulty stands at 7.9%. Separating by level of difficulty, the prevalence rates of some difficulty and at least a lot of difficulty are 6.4% and 1.5% respectively. The prevalence of functional difficulties is higher for women (8.1%) than for men (7.6%). Functional difficulties are more prevalent among older age groups, at 4.9% for ages 15 to 29, 8.4% for ages 30 to 44, and 16.8% for ages 45 to 64. Across the six functional domains considered, difficulties with seeing (3.9%) and mobility (3.2%) are most common.
At the household level, the prevalence of any functional difficulty is at 29%, including 21.9% with some difficulty and 7.1% with at least a lot of difficulty. The prevalence of functional difficulties is lower in rural areas compared to urban areas: 6% vs. 9.3% among adults and 25.7% vs. 31% among households, for rural and urban areas, respectively.
Table 1: Gambia: Prevalence of functional difficulties (%)
| Group | Any difficulty | Some difficulty | At least a lot of difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| All adults | 7.90 | 6.42 | 1.48 |
| Females | 8.13 | 6.91 | 1.22 |
| Males | 7.64 | 5.88 | 1.76 |
| Rural residents | 5.97 | 4.52 | 1.45 |
| Urban residents | 9.34 | 7.84 | 1.50 |
| Ages 15 to 29 | 4.89 | 3.97 | 0.92 |
| Ages 30 to 44 | 8.35 | 6.80 | 1.56 |
| Ages 45 to 64 | 16.83 | 13.69 | 3.14 |
| Ages 65 and over | – | – | – |
| Seeing | 3.89 | 3.56 | 0.31 |
| Hearing | 2.19 | 1.85 | 0.34 |
| Mobility | 3.20 | 2.61 | 0.59 |
| Cognitive | 1.57 | 1.35 | 0.22 |
| Self-care | 1.29 | 1.10 | 0.18 |
| Communication | 1.93 | 1.55 | 0.38 |
| All households | 29.02 | 21.94 | 7.08 |
| Rural households | 25.70 | 18.13 | 7.56 |
| Urban households | 30.96 | 24.15 | 6.81 |
Source: Gambia 2018 LFS, 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. There is no multidimensional poverty headcount estimate for Gambia due to the absence of data on health and standard of living.
Table 2: Gambia: 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 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Less than primary school | 53 | 61 | -8*** | 64 | -11*** |
| Employment population ratio | 51 | 51 | 0 | 43 | 8** |
| Safely managed drinking water | – | – | – | – | – |
| Safely managed sanitation | – | – | – | – | – |
| Clean fuel | – | – | – | – | – |
| Electricity | – | – | – | – | – |
| Adequate housing | – | – | – | – | – |
| Owns assets | – | – | – | – | – |
Source: Gambia 2018 LFS, 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 at least a lot of functional difficulty (64%) and persons with some difficulty (61%) compared to persons with no difficulty (53%). This boils down to gaps of 5 percentage points (p.p.) between persons with some functional difficulty and persons with no difficulty and 9 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 lower employment population ratio (or share of the population working) than persons with no difficulty, at 43% and 51%, respectively. The employment population ratio for persons with some difficulty is also 51%.
More results for Gambia are available in results tables on the ddi website.