Understanding urban poverty in two high-density suburbs of Harare, Zimbabwe

Figures & data

Table 1. Poverty incidence and indices for the sample by suburb, individual and child.

Residence	Overall poverty (%) (includes the poor and very poor)	Poverty (%) (poor)	Extreme poverty (%) (very poor)	Poverty gap index	Poverty severity index
Households	64.4	54.9	9.5	0.27	0.14
Epworth	78.1	62.2	15.9	0.37	0.21
Highfield	50.8	47.6	3.2	0.17	0.08
All individuals	68.4	56.8	11.6	0.29	0.16
Epworth	81.8	62.1	19.7	0.4	0.24
Highfield	56.1	51.9	4.2	0.2	0.09
All children	72.0	59.2	12.8	0.31	0.17
Epworth	85.2	63.5	21.7	0.43	0.26
Highfield	59.0	55.0	4.0	0.16	0.09
Gender of household head
Male	60.4	51.6	8.8	0.27	0.14
Female	62.5	50.8	11.7	0.27	0.15

Source: Specialised Urban Poverty Study data.

Table 2. Determinants of household monthly consumption expenditures.

Determinant factor	Both suburbs coefficient	Epworth coefficient	Highfield coefficient
Log household size	−0.62**	−0.61**	−0.64**
Tenant	0.22**	0.16	0.22**
Head residency (five-plus years)	0.14**	0.11*	0.17**
Head no formal education	−0.32**	−0.34**	−0.30**
Head Grade7	−0.12**	−0.09	−0.14**
Head diploma	0.46**	−0.03	0.50**
Head graduate	0.35**	0.55	0.26*
Relative cash transfer	0.15**	0.07	0.17**
Permanent employment	0.21**	0.21**	0.22**
Rent income	0.26**	0.27**	0.26**
Constant	5.26	5.13	5.61

Source: Specialised Urban Poverty Study data.

Notes: *Significant at 10%; **Significant at 5%.

Table 3. Economic activities and household poverty category.

	Poverty category (%)
Household characteristic	Non poor	Poor	Very poor	Total households	p value
Income from permanent employment	46.3	33.3	20.8	36.8	<0.001
Income from temporary employment	26.4	28.3	33.3	28.0	0.402
Income from business enterprise (petty trade)	42.8	40.4	31.3	40.4	0.123
Access to cultivatable land	33.9	32.5	21.9	32.0	0.075
Owns a motor vehicle	19.2	5.5	3.3	10.2	<0.001

Source: Specialised Urban Poverty Study data.

Table 4. Receipt of cash transfers by poverty categories.

	Poverty category
Origin of cash transfer	Non poor	Poor	Very poor	Total households	p value
Government	3.1	2.4	0	2.4	0.217
Non-governmental organisation	1.1	1.4	1.0	1.3	0.887
Relatives	11.1	6.0	8.3	8.0	0.007

Source: Specialised Urban Poverty Study data.