5. Indicators
Go Back This method brief describes each of the indicators used in this study to capture human rights or development. They come under four main themes: education, work, health, and standard of living.
5.1 Education
Adults Who Have Ever Attended School
This indicator reports the share of adults who have ever been to school.
The highest level of educational attainment achieved is reflected in the following three indicators:
Adults Who Have Less Than Primary School Completion
This is the share of adults who have not completed primary school. Some may have attended preschool. Some may have attended primary school but did not complete it. Adults who never attended school also belong in this category.
Adults Who Have Completed Primary School
This is the share of adults who have completed primary school. Adults who completed primary school, attended secondary school but did not complete secondary school belong in this category.
Adults Who Have Completed Secondary School or Higher
This is the share of adults who have completed secondary school. Adults who completed secondary school belong in this category, whether or not they also attended tertiary school.
Adults Who Can Read and Write in Any Language
This indicator is the literacy rate defined as the share of individuals who can read and write in any language.
Household Heads Who Have Ever Attended School
This is an indicator at the household level. It reports the share of households with heads who have ever been to school.
Children Ages 6 To 14 Who Are Not Enrolled in School
This is an indicator at the household level. This is the share of children age 6 to 14 in households who are not in school.
Household Education Expenditures Out of Total Consumption Expenditures
This is the share of household expenditures dedicated to education (e.g. tuition, books).
5.2 Work
Employment Population Ratio (Or Employment Rate)
The employment population ratio, also called the employment rate, measures the share of the adult population who work for pay or profit (self-employed).
Youth Idle Rate
The youth idle rate captures the share of youths aged 15-24 who are not enrolled in school or not employed. As information on training was not consistently available, it does not reflect whether youths might be in training.
Working Individuals in Manufacturing
Working individuals in manufacturing is the share of workers in the manufacturing sector.
Women In Managerial Positions
Women in managerial positions is the share of working women who hold managerial positions.
Adults In Informal Work
Adults in informal work measures the share of the adult population who do informal work, i.e. who are self-employed, those who work for a microenterprise of five or fewer employees or in a firm that is unregistered, and those who have no written contract with their employers. Family workers without pay are included as informal workers.
5.3 Health
Adults In Households Using Safely Managed Drinking Water
This indicator is based on the UN Statistics’ (2017a) definition of and background to SDG indicator 6.1.1. It refers to the proportion of the population using safely managed drinking water services. Water sources considered as safely managed include: piped water into dwelling, yard or plot; public taps or standpipes; boreholes or tubewells; protected dug wells; protected springs; packaged water; delivered water and rainwater. Water sources that are not considered as safely managed include: unprotected well, unprotected spring, tanker truck, surface water (river/lake, etc), cart with small tank” UN Statistics (2017a).
Adults In Households Using Safely Managed Sanitation Services
This indicator is based on the UN Statistics’ (2017b) definition of and background to SDG indicator 6.2.1. Members of the household are considered to have safely managed sanitation service if the household’s sanitation facility is improved and is not shared with other households. ‘Improved’ sanitation facilities include: flush or pour flush toilets to sewer systems, septic tanks or pit latrines, ventilated improved pit latrines, pit latrines with a slab, and composting toilets” UN Statistics (2017b).
Women With Family Planning Needs Met
This is the share of women who self-report that they have their family planning needs met, i.e. who want and have access to modern contraceptive methods.
Women Subjected to Violence in The Previous 12 Months
This is the share of women who report being subject to domestic violence by their intimate partner in the past 12 months. Domestic violence may be physical, psychological or sexual.
5.4 Standard of Living
Adults In Households with Electricity
This indicator is based on the UN Statistics’ (2017c) definition of and background to SDG indicator 7.1.1. Specifically, Indicator 7.1.1 refers to the proportion of population with access to electricity. Access is “only considered if the primary source of lighting is the local electricity provider, solar systems, mini-grids and stand-alone systems. Sources such as generators, candles, batteries, etc., are not considered due to their limited working capacities and since they are usually kept as backup sources for lighting (UN Statistics, 2017c).”
Adults In Households with Clean Cooking Fuel
This indicator is based on the UN Statistics’ (2017d) definition of and background to SDG indicator 7.1.2. It refers to the share of the population with primary reliance on clean fuels and technology for cooking. Clean fuel includes electricity, gaseous fuels (e.g. natural gas, biogas). Unclean fuels include kerosene and solid fuels (biomass (wood, crop waste, dung), charcoal, coal).
Adults In Households with Adequate Housing
Adequate housing refers to a household living in a place with quality floor, roof and wall materials. Quality floor conditions include laminates, cement, tiles, bricks, parquet. Poor floor conditions include earth, dung, stone, wood planks. Quality roof conditions include burnt bricks concrete, cement. Poor roof conditions refer to no roof or roofs made of natural or rudimentary materials (e.g. asbestos, thatch, palm leaf, mud, earth, sod, grass, plastic, polythene sheeting, rustic mat, cardboard, canvas, tent, wood planks, reused wood, unburnt bricks). Quality wall conditions include burnt bricks, concrete, cement. Poor wall conditions refer to no walls or walls made of natural or rudimentary materials (e.g. cane, palms, trunk, mud, dirt, grass, reeds, thatch, stone with mud, plywood, cardboard, carton/plastic, canvas, tent, unburnt bricks, reused wood.
Adults In Households Owning Assets
Adult who own assets is the share of adults who live in households owning at least a radio, TV, telephone, bike, motorbike, refrigerator, car (or truck) and computer.
Adults In Households with A Mobile Phone
Adult who own assets is the share of adults who live in households with a mobile phone.
Adults In Food Insecure Households
In several countries under study, and especially those with LSMS data, food insecurity reflects whether recently (in the past week, month or 12 months) the household respondent worried about the household not having enough food or was faced with a situation when they did not have enough food to feed the household. For other datasets, questions related to food insecurity might vary and capture whether the household ran out of money to buy food and/or if any adult or child in the household went hungry.
Adults In Households That Experienced a Shock Recently
This indicator reflects to what extent adults live in households that recently was exposed to at least one negative shock. The time frame is usually the past 12 months. The list of shocks varies from country to country, but typically includes shocks related to the weather (drought, flood, heavy rains), negative events affecting household members (death of a household member, illness of a household member), economic hardships (loss of a job, crop damage) and disasters (e.g. fire, landslide).
Household Health Expenditures Out of Total Consumption Expenditures
For datasets with information on household expenditures overall and on health, this indicator is the share of the household total consumption expenditures that are dedicated to health (inpatient care and outpatient care out of pocket expenditures, medicines).
Adults Living in Households Receiving Social Protection
The share of adults living in households receiving social protection is the share of adults in households who have received social protection benefits in the past year or currently receive them (e.g. cash benefits, in kind transfers).
References
UN Statistics (2017a). Metadata 06-01-01. Accessed April 10th 2021 at: 
UN Statistics (2017b). Metadata 06-02-01. Accessed April 10th 2021 at:
UN Statistics (2017c). Metadata 07-01-01. Accessed April 10th 2021 at:
UN Statistics (2017d). Metadata 07-01-02. Accessed April 10th 2021 at: