Gambia

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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 71% compared to 60% for women with some functional difficulty and 61% for women with no difficulty.

Table 1_Gambia: Key indicators for women age 18 to 49 by functional difficulty status (% and percentage points)

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: Gambia 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 (62%) compared to women with no difficulty (50%). At 49%, women with some difficulty are less likely to have less than primary school as their highest level of schooling attained compared to women with no difficulty, although this difference is not significant. This boils down to gaps of 11 percentage points (p.p.) between women with at least a lot of difficulty and no difficulty and one 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 69% and 79%, respectively. At 82%, women with some functional difficulty are more likely to own a mobile phone than women with no difficulty, indicating that women with some difficulty are better off.

Health

Rates of access to safely managed drinking water are overall similar for the different functional difficulty groups. Rates of access to safely managed sanitation are lower among women with some or at least a lot of difficulty compared to women with no difficulty, but the difference is statistically significant only between women with at least a lot of difficulty and women with no difficulty.

Standard of Living

For rates of access to clean fuel, differences across functional difficulty status are small (three p.p. or lower). There are significant differences in terms of the shares of individuals with electricity, adequate housing, and asset ownership, with higher rates for women with some difficulty but lower rates for women with at least a lot of difficulty. For all three indicators, the differences between women with some difficulty and no difficulty are small, ranging from one to five p.p.

Subjective Wellbeing

Women with at least a lot of functional difficulty are significantly less likely to report feeling very or somewhat happy than women with no difficulty, at 60% and 76%, respectively. At 68%, women with some difficulty also have lower rates of happiness compared to women with no difficulty.

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