380,000 persons in the Ghanaian labour force simultaneously food insecure, multidimensionally poor, and unemployed - Report

Among persons in the Ghanaian labour force (aged 15 years and older) about 380,000 are triple burdened i.e. simultaneously food insecure, multidimensionally poor, and unemployed”. This finding was revealed by the Government Statistician, Professor Samuel Kobina Annim in a presentation at the release of the quarterly Annual Household Income and Expenditure Survey (AHIES) report on Thursday, September 1, 2022, in Accra.

Prof. Annim further revealed that the “Savannah Region has the highest percent of triple burdened persons” (8.2%) which is more than twice the national average of 3.2%.

The event released highlights on multidimensional poverty, food insecurity, and labour statistics from the first and second quarters.

The statistics revealed that between the first and second quarters of 2022, food insecurity dropped by 7.0 percentage points while multidimensional poverty dropped by 2.6%. The unemployment rate increased by 0.5 percentage points.

The release was chaired by Professor Kwaku Appiah-Adu, Senior Advisor to the Vice President.

In his remarks, he commended the Ghana Statistical Service for conducting the AHIES which is generating timely and relevant data for policy and planning.

He concluded by stating that “Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, as a country, we have great challenges and great opportunities; I am in no doubt that the comprehensive quarterly labour force, food insecurity and multi-dimensional poverty report obtained will support Government in evidence-based decision-making and policy design of its programmes and projects for development and a more robust outlook of the Ghanaian economy.”

The Annual Household Income and Expenditure Survey (AHIES) is the first nationally representative high-frequency household panel survey in Ghana.

The AHIES is being conducted to obtain quarterly and annual data on household final consumption expenditure and a wide scope of demographic, economic and welfare variables including statistics on labour, food security, multidimensional poverty and health status for research, policy, and planning. Thus, it is possible for the Statistical Service to present statistics on labour transitions for the first time.

Other findings

The findings indicated that about 390,000 persons 15 years and older unemployed in quarter 1 remained unemployed in quarter 2 of 2022 while between the first and second quarters of 2022, about 445,000 persons 15 years and older outside the labour force joined the number of unemployed persons.

The labour statistics also indicated that about two-thirds of the employed population are engaged in vulnerable employment with significant variation across urban areas (56.4%) and rural (80%).

The report also highlighted gender inequalities in the labour force indicating that the unadjusted gender pay gap in Q1 is 37.3 percent, with males earning a mean hourly pay of GH¢11.00 and females GH¢6.90.

Other highlights from the release indicated 49.1% of persons in Ghana are moderately food insecure, 12.3% are severely food insecure and 44.1% are multidimensionally poor. Health insurance coverage is the leading contributor to multidimensional poverty with about 14 million persons in Ghana not currently having active health insurance coverage.