Tunisia

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Results are from an analysis of the 2018 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 6 (MICS6). Information on methodology is in the main text of the report and in the methods briefs.

Key indicators on the deprivations and wellbeing experienced by women with and without functional difficulties are presented in Table 1. Table 1 begins with information on the multidimensional poverty headcount—the rate of women deprived in more than one dimension in the areas of education, health, and standard of living. Women with at least a lot of functional difficulty have a multidimensional poverty headcount of 33% compared to 20% for women with some functional difficulty and 15% for women with no difficulty.

Table 1_Tunisia: Key indicators for women age 18 to 49 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 15 20 -6*** 33 -19***
Less than primary school 14 20 -6*** 33 -19***
Owns a mobile phone 94 91 2*** 87 7***
Safely managed drinking water 83 86 -3*** 87 -4***
Safely managed sanitation 97 96 1** 95 3***
Clean fuel 100 100 0 100 0
Electricity 100 100 0 99 0
Adequate housing 99 99 0 99 0
Owns assets 57 56 1*** 54 4***
Having felt discriminated against or harassed 11 19 -8*** 29 -18***
Happiness: very or somewhat happy

Notes: *, **, and *** indicate that the difference is statistically significant at the 10%, 5% and 1% levels respectively. ‘-‘ indicates not available. Numbers in the difference columns are in percentage points while all other numbers in the table are percentages. The share of women having felt discriminated against or harassed is on the basis of any ground.

Source: Tunisia 2018 MICS6, own calculations

Education

The share of women ages 18 to 49 who have less than primary school as their highest level of schooling attained is significantly higher among women with at least a lot of functional difficulty (33%) and women with some difficulty (20%) compared to women with no difficulty (14%). This boils down to gaps of 19 percentage points (p.p.) between women with at least a lot of difficulty and no difficulty and six p.p. between women with some functional difficulty and no difficulty.

Personal Activities

Women with at least a lot of functional difficulty are less likely to own a mobile phone than women with no difficulty, at 87% and 94%, respectively. At 91%, women with some difficulty are also less likely to own a mobile phone than women with no difficulty.

Health

For safely managed water and sanitation, differences across functional difficulty status are small (four p.p. or lower).

Standard of Living

Rates of access to clean fuel, electricity, and adequate housing are overall similar for the different functional difficulty groups. There are significant differences in terms of the shares of individuals who own assets, with lower rates for women with some difficulty and even lower rates for women with at least a lot of difficulty. These differences are small, ranging from one to four p.p..

Insecurity

Women with some difficulty and at least a lot of difficulty are more likely to report feeling discriminated against or harassed based on any ground, at rates of 19% and 29% compared to 11% of women with no difficulty.

More results for Tunisia are available in Results Tables on the DDI website.