ENRICH Family Analysis

At first, a comprehensive household survey is conducted in each selected union, covering all households of the union, regardless of their socio-economic status. It covers salient features of the households, including the number of earning non-earning members, school age and school going boys and girls, asset base, indebtedness, current sources of income of the family, level of education of the family members, and residential status, etc. The survey is conducted through a formatted questionnaire and the data generated have been preserved in a computerized database system for future reference. Further details about the survey and salient aspects of the survey results will be discussed later.

SELECTION CRITERIA OF HOUSEHOLDS

This is done in three stages. First, all households in a union are surveyed, as noted above, to collect basic data and information, based on which all households are, at the second stage, categorized into different groups; and, then other criteria are used to select households to be included in ENRICH, out of those households which meet the requirements based on their socio-economic status.

At stage 2, households are classified by household income, in accordance with Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES)1 but with some modifications to accommodate different groups of people and diversified programmes under ENRICH. Obviously, the income-based classification is used to develop working indicators of poverty status of the households.

1 Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) is a quinquennial publication of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

Ultra-Poor Households: Ultra-poor or extremely poor households are under the lower poverty line, as determined by HIES. The income equivalent of the lower poverty line is a maximum monthly household income of approximately BDT 5,000.2

Poor Households: Poor households are below the upper poverty line and above the lower poverty line as per HIES. The income equivalent of the upper poverty line Tk. 5,800, so that monthly income of a poor household is between BDT 5,000 and BDT 5,800.3

Non-Poor Households: Non-poor households, but often tenuously so, are those whose monthly income is above the upper line. A non-poor household is at or below the nationally declared minimum taxable income. The taxable income threshold is used as income-tax payers cannot be treated as poor, but this group represents those people who are currently not poor but their income status could be at risk of sharp decline, even of falling below the poverty line, as a consequence of, for example, crop failures or natural disasters. Households having monthly incomes between BDT 5,800 and BDT 19,000 are considered to be in this group, which are also sometimes referred as transitional poor households.4

Solvent Households: A solvent household is usually the household with a total monthly income of BDT 19,000 or above. These households, regardless of whether they pay taxes or not, are considered to be eligible for all ENRICH initiatives, except for the financial services.

The ENRICH focus is primarily on ultra-poor and poor households. Tenuously placed non-poor households are also considered for inclusion.

At stage 3, all participating households in different programmes of the selected PO in a selected union and those who are likely to be covered by any of its

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2 According to HIES Report 2010, per capita income of the people below the lower poverty line (Ultra-poor Households of ENRICH) in nominal terms at national level is BDT 1,103 and according to Labour Force Survey 2010, average household size is 4.50. So the monthly income per household works out to be BDT 4,963 (1,103 X 4.5) or approximately BDT 5,000.

3 According to HIES Report 2010, per capita incomes of the people who are below the upper and lower poverty lines in nominal terms at national level are respectively BDT 1,271 and BDT 1,103. So, the monthly income for an every household in this category would be between BDT 4,963 (1,103 X 4.5) and BDT 5,720 (1,271 X 4.50). In fact, per household monthly income between BDT 5,000 and BDT 5,800 has been treated in this study as the income range of poor households.

4 The tax exempted income threshold of FY 2013-14 has been taken in defining this category of households, which is taka 220,000. Considering this, the monthly tax-free income for every household becomes BDT 1,8333 (220,000/12) or approximately BDT 19,000.

Interventions in future are to be included in ENRICH. The non-poor and the participants in the programmes of other MFIs are not to be included. To be more specific, the participants would be:

  • Poor households already covered under one of the PKSF supported interventions being implemented by the selected PO or any other PO,
  • Eligible and willing poor households not covered by any MFI, and
  • Excluded poor households, considered ineligible under the traditional microcredit programme

Thus, the households to be covered by the ENRICH are identified on the basis of the household data generated through the household survey, following appropriate criteria as outlined above. The needs and opportunities of the selected families in relation to their socio-economic advancement are first worked out from the database. Follow-up discussions with the households are organized for jointly identifying the appropriate interventions for each family with pre-eminent importance given to the opinions of the households.

SELECTION CRITERIA OF PARTICIPANTING MEMBERS

All member participant households of the selected PO in the selected union under any ongoing intervention, or those which are likely to be covered by any programme in future, will be included in the proposed programme, as Programme Participants. Solvent households and the other NGO/MFI (non- PKSF PO) participant members are not eligible for financial services. However all households under ENRICH Unions have access to all other ENRICH social services. To be more specific, the programme participants are visualized as:

All households except solvent households are eligible for financial services if they are not members of other NGO/MFIs (non-PKSF PO);

  • All households may willingly join the health, education, bandhu chula, youth development, solar home system, and vegetable cultivation programmes;
  • Ultra-poor, disabled, beggar, elderly and women-headed households and given special emphasis under this programme
  • Poor households already covered under one or another PKSF intervention;
  • Eligible and willing poor households not covered by any MFI, and
  • Excluded  poor  households,  considered  ineligible  under  traditional microcredit programme

DEMOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF 43 UNIONS OF FIRST PHASE

As indicated above, households participating in ENRICH have been identified in the selected 43 unions, using the criteria mentioned above and based on data generated through a rigorous baseline survey of all households in each union. Table 1 shows that 85,523 households (73%) have been found eligible for ENRICH interventions in the 21 unions included in the 1st phase and 66,378 (78.48%) households in the 14 unions under the second phase. The survey of the unions (8) under the third phase has been completed and the data entry is ongoing. A preliminary estimate shows, the number of households eligible to be included in the third phase unions is 35,025. Table 1 shows numbers of households and the proportions of total households in the selected unions eligible for inclusion in the ENRICH.

The survey has been conducted to assess socio-economic status and the needs of the households, including such aspects as: demographics, economic conditions (land and asset ownership, employment, income, etc.), education and health status of family members, housing characteristics, migrants and their contribution to family income, membership with NGOs, and so on. Some findings of the First Phase Baseline Survey (21 unions) are presented below.

DEMOGRAPHIC  PROFILE

Bangladesh enjoys potentially high demographic dividends, given that the proportion of its population between the ages of 18 and 60 is large; or, in other words, the dependency ratio in the country is low, around 50%. It is seen from the baseline survey that around 52% of the household members belong to this broad working age group. They are engaged in various income earning activities. On average, infants (less than 5 years of age) account for 12% of the household members and those who are 60 years and above account for 7%. Those who currently belong to the 6-18 age group will all be in the work force within a decade, significantly raising the workforce. Different initiatives are being implemented, including education, technical and vocational training, health services, credit and other support for income generating activities, and job fairs to engage the new entrants into the job market in self or wage employment.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE HOUSEHOLD

Housing and socio-economic characteristics considered include: building materials, accessibility to utility services, land holdings, income, consumption patterns, etc. Due to the multi-dimensional characteristics and needs of every household, which vary a lot between households, a “one solution fits all” policy cannot be of much avail. Thorough understanding of these characteristics and the strengths and weaknesses of each household and its members is essential in the context of developing customized solutions for the specific problems of each household. In fact, ENRICH seeks to develop tailor-made solutions to meet the specific needs of each household.

 Access to Electricity and Drinking Water:  The levels accessibility to utility services such as pure drinking water and electricity are key elements in judging how socially vulnerable or secure a household is. Data collected show that, in the 21 ENRICH unions, around 35% of the households have access to electricity, with 4.5% having access to solar power; and 86% have access to tube-wells, but only 70% have arsenic free drinking wate

Access to Latrine Facilities: Sanitation facilities remain a high priority issue, as WHO/World Bank standards in this regard are yet to be met.

Figure 1 illustrates that only 15% of the households have access to pacca latrines, while 54% have slab latrines. But, 31% still have no latrines or use kacha latrines. Based on this information, the ENRICH has started filling the gap with respect to pacca latrines.

Ownership of Homestead and Land: Household and land ownership still remains a key factor in assessing the socio-economic status of rural households in Bangladesh, although there are other important sources (wage employment, trade, and remittance) of income for some rural households. It has been seen that only, in the case of 14%, homesteads have been acquired by the present generation on their own, while 17% dwell in rented or abandoned houses. In the case of some 69%, homesteads have been inherited. However, the size of the homestead owned by a family is declining due to division among successive generations. To help the households acquire land or other assets of their own, an Asset Creation Credit Programme has been initiated under ENRICH. Asset creation activities as well as the productive use of loans distributed in this context is strictly monitored as is the case regarding all other activities supported by PKSF, be these are under ENRICH or under any other programme.

Household Income and Expenditure: It has been found that the average monthly income of the households is BDT 8,202. Figure-3 shows that the monthly income of 37% of total households is between BDT 10,000 and BDT 15,000, while that of 16% is below BDT 3000 and that of 26% between BDT 10,000 and BDT 15,000. It is above BDT 15,000 in the case of only 21% of the households. To enable the households to enhance their income and improve their living conditions, the ENRICH is pursuing an integrated approach involving capability enhancement of the household members (through education, training, health services, financial expansion of facilities) for undertaking or enlarging income earning activities as well as for finding secure wage employment with good prospects for upward mobility.

Average monthly expenditure: Average monthly expenditure  on the other hand, is BDT 7,330. Approximately 43% of the households spend between BDT 5,000 and BDT 10,000 per month. Only 6% of the households spend more than BDT 15,000. However, almost 13% of the households cannot afford to spend even BDT 3,000 monthly and another 27% spend between BDT 3,000 and BDT 5,000, indicating that income vulnerability is deep-seated in respect of many households.

Occupations of Household Members: Information on the current occupations of the household members has also been generated through the survey, which relate to incomes and expenditures of the households. In the 21 surveyed unions, around 26% of the members are farmers, while about 30% are engaged in various other income generating activities.

Food-Intake: The survey has not generated detailed data on food- intake. This is being investigated, as household-focused programmes are being developed and implemented. In terms of frequency of food-intake, 91% of member households can afford three meals a day. Only 1% of the households still cannot afford two meals a day. It is noteworthy that around 60% of the member household are capable of fulfilling their own food-grain needs through cultivation.

Access to Health Facilities: Data collected show that about 21% of the households go to MBBS doctors, over 55% go to village doctors, and about 9% go to Kabiraj or unqualified doctors for medical treatment. Over 13% go to quacks of various types, and about 2% do nothing even in case of medical emergencies. It is noteworthy that 79% of the households do not have access to MBBS doctors for one reason or another. This statistic suggests an urgency of need for improved health services in these unions in terms of access to medical services as well as awareness raising among people to seek proper medical attention. To address these issues, various health services have been initiated by the ENRICH.

Access to Credit Services: It is seen from the survey results that only 45.26% of member households have access to various types of credit services, while 12.3% receive other types of financial assistance. The ENRICH has, since the survey results were available, been assessing the credit needs, including the purposes for which the money received is to be used by all concerned households included in the ENRICH. Those who are already receiving credit, the assessment seeks to find out the benefits that come from it, what utility are they deriving from it, do they need more and if so for what purpose, and so on? Similarly, credit needs assessment regarding those who do not receive credit is being made.

Training: Skill training is important for both self and wage employment. The ENRICH households have expressed their desire and need for specific types of training. Around 68% of the households responded positively in this regard. Training related to beef fattening is one of the most demanded training; around 35% of the households have asked for this. Other prominent areas of training asked for are sewing (23%) and poultry (19%). They have also asked for computer, health, boutique, driving, and other various types of training. Based on the assessment of these proposals and consideration of other relevant issues, diversified skill training activities have been initiated by the ENRICH undertaken for the household members.

Other Services: Sanitation, nutrition, cultural aspects of life, institutional services, access to social capital, infrastructure, awareness raising against social ills such as child marriage and marriage dowry etc. are also included, among various others, in the portfolio of actions and services under the integrated approach to poverty eradication  and sustainable development as conceived within the framework of the ENRICH.