Assets and shocks: a gendered analysis of Ecuador, Ghana and Karnataka, India

Figures & data

Table 1. Types of shocks and percentage of surveyed households experiencing them, in Ecuador, Ghana and Karnataka.

Type of shock	Ecuador	Ghana	Karnataka
Illness	44.8	19.4	25.5
Death	38.2	11.9	11.2
Crime and accidents	20.4	6.0	1.1
Other asset loss	N/A	5.0	2.9
Income loss	16.5	4.4	2.7
Change in household composition structure	8.4	3.3	1.1
Social function	N/A	N/A	5.4
Natural disasters	5.7	1.9	9.5
Other	0.2	0.6	1.2
None	23.6	47.5	49.8
N = Households	2,892	2,084	4,048

Note: Results are calculated using survey weights.

Table 2. Incidence of shocks by wealth quintile reported by surveyed households.

	Households reporting a shock (%)			Households reporting a severe shock^a (%)
Wealth quintile	Ecuador	Ghana	Karnataka	Ecuador	Ghana	Karnataka
Q 1	75.4	36.0	48.0	56.3	28.7	42.8
Q 2	77.0	42.6	46.4	53.1	32.0	39.6
Q 3	80.5	48.0	50.1	62.4	36.8	41.4
Q 4	76.7	46.6	57.7	58.7	33.9	49.7
Q 5	72.2	48.2	49.1	49.7	35.7	41.8
All quintiles	76.3	44.2	50.3	56.1	33.4	43.1
N = Households	2,892	2,169	4,048	2,892	2,169	4,048
p	.134	.026**	.002***	.03***	.215	.009***

Notes: p-values based on Chi-squared test. ***p < .01; **p < .05; *p < .10. Results are calculated using survey weights.

^aEcuador survey distinguishes between severe and very severe shocks; Ghana survey distinguishes severe shocks vs. moderate, mild or shocks of no economic consequence; Karnataka survey distinguishes very severe shocks from shocks, but does not have a response category of severe shocks.

Table 3. Distribution of shocks by who reported them within the household in Ghana and Karnataka.

Type of shock	Ghana				Karnataka
	Husband only	Wife only	Both	Total no. shocks	Husband only	Wife only	Both	Total no. shocks
Illness	41.8	24.5	33.6	282	48.9	42.5	8.6	1,031
Death	40.0	33.8	26.3	134	46.0	38.3	15.7	301
Crime and accidents	45.6	31.0	23.4	109	46.2	41.5	12.3	35
Other loss of assets	52.1	30.2	17.6	88	51.4	37.7	10.9	102
Loss of income	46.3	35.8	17.9	45	70.2	28.0	1.8	89
Change in household structure	27.8	64.0	8.2	11	40.6	59.4	0.0	20
Social functions	0.0	0.0	0.0	0	35.1	54.3	10.7	188
Natural disasters	45.2	20.7	34.1	37	57.0	33.4	9.7	380
Other	45.9	34.2	19.9	20	62.8	34.9	2.3	41
All types	43.5	29.2	27.2	726	50.0	40.37	9.6	2,187
	p = .094*				p = .000***

Notes: p-values based on Chi-squared test. ***p < .01; **p < .05; *p < .10. Results are calculated using survey weights.

Table 4. Distribution of types of reported shocks resulting in asset loss (in %).

	Ecuador	Ghana	Karnataka
Crime and accidents	67.0	38.4	6.5
Loss of property due to other reasons	N/A	35.5	16.8
Income shocks	12.6	9.6	9.8
Abandonment/divorce/separation	7.9	2.7	0.0
Natural disasters	11.9	10.3	67.0
Other	0.6	3.6	0.0
All types	100%	100%	100%
N = Shocks resulting in asset loss	673	488	738

Note: Results are calculated using survey weights.

Table 5. Distribution of assets lost by type of asset.

	Ecuador		Ghana		Karnataka^a
	Frequency	%	Frequency	%	Frequency	%
Immovable property	23	2.9	27	5.2	183	21.3
Dwelling	13	1.7	24	4.6
Agricultural land	6	0.7	3	0.6
Other land	4	0.5	0	0
Livestock	41	5.2	189	42.5	78	11.7
Household business	33	4.2	7	1.3	73	12.3
Consumer durables	229	29.2	40	10.4	N/A
Vehicle	44	5.6	2	0.4	N/A
Money/financial asset	254	32.5	84	19.4	N/A
Harvest	58	7.4	79	17.9	404	54.8
Other	99	12.7	6	1.6	N/A
Does not know	3	0.4	9	1.3	N/A
N = Assets lost	783	100%	443	100%	738	100%

Notes: ^aIn the Karnataka survey, the forms of immovable property were not disaggregated.

Results are calculated using survey weights.

Table 6. Household coping strategies conditional on having experienced a shock (% of households reporting each strategy).

	Ecuador (%)	Ghana (%)	Karnataka (%)
Use of assets
Sell/pawn assets	3.6	10.5	4.1
Savings	49.7	32.6	0.4
Formal social protection
Assistance from government	3.1	N/A	4.6
Insurance	4.1	1.5	0.0
Informal social protection
Assistance from NGOs, charity	1	N/A	1.6
Assistance from church	0.5	4.3	0.0
Assistance from family, friends, community	44.8	32.6	24.5
Other coping strategies
Borrowing and salary advance	13.5	9.7	57.5
Reduce consumption	5	6.4	1.8
Change in employment	10.4	0.8	0.0
Migration, change in household structure	0.3	1.8	3.9
Other	0.8	1.6	3.2
Did nothing	15.1	46.6	23.9

Note: Results are calculated using survey weights.

Table 7. Agreement within couples on coping strategies for shocks reported by both in Ghana and Karnataka.

Mode of coping strategies by couples	Ghana		Karnataka
	N	%	N	%
Do not use same coping strategies	60	36.3	88	37.6
Use same strategy (one strategy)	99	54.5	119	59.3
Use same strategies (two strategies)	13	7.6	7	3.1
Use same strategies (three strategies)	2	1.5	0	0.0
Use same strategies (four strategies)	1	0.2	0	0.0
Total	175	100	214	100

Note: Results are calculated using survey weights.