Living Standards Survey VII 2016-2017

The Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS7) primarily focused on consumption poverty and inequality in Ghana. It also examined some poverty-related issues such as asset ownership and access to services and human development. The GLSS7 survey analyzed macroeconomic developments in the country since 2005, focusing on growth in gross domestic product (GDP), trends in inflation, balance of payments, and public expenditures.

In the previous survey in 2012/13, a new consumption basket was derived, and this produced new poverty lines and a new set of items to be included in the welfare measurement. A review of this basket reveals that there is no drastic change in the consumption pattern, and therefore the basket was maintained for the current survey. GLSS7 examined the pattern of poverty in Ghana since 2005 based on the 2012/13 basket.

The data collection for the survey was carried out by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS). A nationally representative sample of about 15,000 households, in 1,000 Enumeration Areas (EAs), was interviewed over a period of 12 months. The specific objectives of the GLSS7 survey were:

• To provide information on patterns of household's consumption and expenditure at a lower level of disaggregation.
• To provide the basis for the construction of a new basket for the next re-basing of the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
• To provide information for updating national accounts.
• To provide information on household access and use of financial services.
• To provide information that will enable credible comparison between growth rates in the northern savannah ecological zone and those in the southern ecological zone of Ghana.
• To provide information on the systematic monitoring of the extent of poverty reduction in the northern savannah ecological zone.
• To estimate the number of persons in the labour force (Employed, Under-employed and Unemployed) and their disaggregation by sex, major age-groups, educational level, geographical and rural/ urban spread, as well as the ecological manifestations of these, in particular, the northern savannah ecological zone which is a known source of migrant and child labour.
• To estimate the number of child workers (or children engaged in economic activities) 5-17 years, and its disaggregation by sex, age-groups, educational status, geographical location, ecological and locality of residence.
• To identify the distribution of both adult workers and children in economic activity by status in employment, occupation and industry, hours worked in a week, location of place of work, earnings, occupational injury and hazards at the work place, contractual status, and sector of employment.
• To provide data needed for progress monitoring of labour policies, programs and law-making.
• To provide indicators and up-to-date information for assessing the Agriculture situation.
• To provide data needed for monitoring progress towards the elimination of Worst Forms of Child Labour (WFCL).
• To estimate the prevalence of child labour (as distinct from children in employment of which child labour is a subset).
• To identify the causes and consequences of child labour in terms of socio-economic factors.
• To establish a national database on decent work indicators, including Labour Force and Child Labour statistics.
• To help set targets and priorities in the fight against child labour.
• To assess the nature and extent of child labour in Ghana.