Inclusive Statistics: Human Development and Disability Indicators in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

57 Pages Posted: 10 May 2021

See all articles by Sophie Mitra

Sophie Mitra

Fordham University

Jaclyn Yap

Fordham University - Graduate School of Arts & Sciences

Justine Herve

Fordham University

Wei Chen

Fordham University

Date Written: May 6, 2021

Abstract

This paper disaggregates human development indicators across disability status to assess the situation of persons and households with disabilities. The paper uses 24 censuses and general household surveys from 21 low- and middle-income countries. Disability status is measured through self-reports of functional difficulties (for example, seeing or hearing). There are several findings of interest. First, disability is not rare in low- and middle-income countries. The median prevalence stands at 10 percent among adults ages 15 and older, and at 23 percent among households. There are consistent inequalities associated with disability and, in particular, with respect to educational attainment, work outcomes, poverty, food security, exposure to shocks, living conditions, and assets. At the same time, not all persons with functional difficulties experience deprivations. There is a gradient in inequalities associated with the degree of functional difficulty: persons with at least a lot of difficulty tend to be worse off than persons with some difficulty, who themselves tend to be worse off than persons with no difficulty. The results in this paper on the prevalence of functional difficulties and their association with socioeconomic deprivations show that disability should be central to human development policy, data, and research. More work is needed to curb the inequalities associated with disability.

Keywords: Disability, Functional Difficulties, Human Development, Inequalities; SDGs

JEL Classification: I32, J14, R20

Suggested Citation

Mitra, Sophie and Yap, Jaclyn and Herve, Justine and Chen, Wei, Inclusive Statistics: Human Development and Disability Indicators in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (May 6, 2021). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3840952 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3840952

Sophie Mitra (Contact Author)

Fordham University ( email )

441 East Fordham road
Bronx, NY 10458
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.fordham.edu/economics/mitra

Jaclyn Yap

Fordham University - Graduate School of Arts & Sciences ( email )

113 West 60th Street
Bronx, NY 10458
United States

Justine Herve

Fordham University ( email )

113 West 60th Street
New York, NY 10023
United States

Wei Chen

Fordham University

113 West 60th Street
New York, NY 10023
United States

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