Abstract:
The paper examines how assets owned by men- and women-headed
households could help in enhancing the choice of different basic social
services. It uses the data of a comprehensive field survey conducted by
the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research in 9,310
households across 23 MiDA intervention districts in Ghana in 2008. A
multinomial logistic regression was employed to assess how ownership
of a particular asset could enhance the choice of basic social services
such as education, health and sanitation. The results of the study indicate
that women-headed households control less productive assets and are
therefore more likely to depend on the cheaper but lower quality public
educational facilities than on the expensive but higher quality private
educational facilities. Recommendations were therefore made for policy
to ensure that opportunities are provided for women-headed households
to own more productive assets.