Constructing indices of rural living standards in Northwestern Bangladesh

Snaebjorn Gunnsteinsson, Alain B Labrique, Keith P West Jr, Parul Christian, Sucheta Mehra, Abu Ahmed Shamim, Mahbubur Rashid, Joanne Katz, Rolf D W Klemm, Snaebjorn Gunnsteinsson, Alain B Labrique, Keith P West Jr, Parul Christian, Sucheta Mehra, Abu Ahmed Shamim, Mahbubur Rashid, Joanne Katz, Rolf D W Klemm

Abstract

This study aimed to construct indices of living standards in rural Bangladesh that could be useful to study health outcomes or identify target populations for poverty-alleviation programmes. The indices were constructed using principal component analysis of data on household assets and house construction materials. Their robustness and use was tested and found to be internally consistent and correlated with maternal and infant health, nutritional and demographic indicators, and infant mortality. Indices derived from 9 or 10 household asset variables performed well; little was gained by adding more variables but problems emerged if fewer variables were used. A ranking of the most informative assets from this rural, South Asian context is provided. Living standards consistently and significantly improved over the six-year study period. It is concluded that simple household socioeconomic data, collected under field conditions, can be used for constructing reliable and useful indices of living standards in rural South Asian communities that can assist in the assessment of health, quality of life, and capabilities of households and their members.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
The variable groups that were used for constructing each of the indices
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Histograms of indices
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Relationships between Living Standards Index and demographic and health measures

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Source: PubMed

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