Liberia
Results are from an analysis of the 2016 Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES). Information on methodology is in the report and in the method briefs.
Prevalence of Functional Difficulties
In Liberia, the share of adults aged 15 and older with any functional difficulty stands at 14.1%. Separating by level of difficulty, the prevalence rates of some difficulty and at least a lot of difficulty are 11.6% and 2.5% respectively. The prevalence of functional difficulties is higher for women (14.6%) than for men (13.5%). Functional difficulties are more prevalent among older age groups, at 6.8% for ages 15 to 29, 11% for ages 30 to 44, 26.5% for ages 45 to 64, and 56.6% for ages 65 and over. Across the six functional domains considered, difficulties with seeing (6.6%) and mobility (6.6%) are most common.
At the household level, the prevalence of any functional difficulty is at 26.1%, including 20.7% with some difficulty and 5.4% with at least a lot of difficulty. The prevalence of functional difficulties is higher in rural areas compared to urban areas: 16.4% vs. 12.2% among adults and 28.3% vs. 24.1% among households, for rural and urban areas, respectively.
Table 1: Liberia: Prevalence of functional difficulties (%)
| Group | Any difficulty | Some difficulty | At least a lot of difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| All adults | 14.10 | 11.58 | 2.52 |
| Females | 14.60 | 12.26 | 2.35 |
| Males | 13.53 | 10.82 | 2.71 |
| Rural residents | 16.41 | 13.54 | 2.87 |
| Urban residents | 12.16 | 9.94 | 2.23 |
| Ages 15 to 29 | 6.83 | 5.18 | 1.65 |
| Ages 30 to 44 | 10.98 | 9.63 | 1.34 |
| Ages 45 to 64 | 26.46 | 22.42 | 4.03 |
| Ages 65 and over | 56.58 | 44.04 | 12.54 |
| Seeing | 6.57 | 6.01 | 0.56 |
| Hearing | 1.79 | 1.56 | 0.23 |
| Mobility | 6.55 | 5.54 | 1.01 |
| Cognitive | 3.71 | 3.3 | 0.41 |
| Self-care | 1.58 | 1.26 | 0.31 |
| Communication | 1.79 | 1.12 | 0.68 |
| All households | 26.13 | 20.73 | 5.40 |
| Rural households | 28.32 | 22.46 | 5.87 |
| Urban households | 24.10 | 19.13 | 4.97 |
Source: Liberia 2016 HIES, 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 90% compared to 89% for persons with some functional difficulty and 82% for persons with no difficulty.
Table 2: Liberia: 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 | 82 | 89 | -7*** | 90 | -8*** |
| Less than primary school | 47 | 63 | -16*** | 61 | -14*** |
| Employment population ratio | 74 | 75 | -1 | 50 | 24*** |
| Safely managed drinking water | 43 | 36 | 7*** | 32 | 12*** |
| Safely managed sanitation | 51 | 45 | 6*** | 49 | 2 |
| Clean fuel | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Electricity | 10 | 8 | 2** | 8 | 2 |
| Adequate housing | 34 | 27 | 7*** | 27 | 7** |
| Owns assets | 19 | 16 | 3*** | 18 | 2* |
Source: Liberia 2016 HIES, 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 (61%) and persons with some difficulty (63%) compared to persons with no difficulty (47%). This boils down to gaps of 16 percentage points (p.p.) between persons with some functional difficulty and persons with no difficulty and 14 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 50% and 74%, respectively. At 75%, persons with some difficulty have a higher employment population ratio than persons with no difficulty, but this difference is not statistically significant.
Health
There are significant differences in terms of the rates of access to safely managed drinking water, with lower rates for persons with some difficulty and even lower rates for persons with at least a lot of difficulty. There is a statistically significant difference in the rates of access to safely managed sanitation only between persons with some functional difficulty and persons with no difficulty, at 45% and 51%, respectively.
Standard of Living
Rates of access to electricity, adequate housing, and asset ownership are lower among persons with some or at least a lot of difficulty compared to persons with no difficulty, but in the case of electricity, the difference is statistically significant only between persons with some difficulty and persons with no difficulty. Rates of access to clean fuel are similar across the different functional difficulty groups.
More results for Liberia are available in results tables on the ddi website.