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Socioeconomic gradient in functional difficulties by domain among youth: evidence from Egypt

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2024

Soha Metwally Open the ORCID record for Soha Metwally [Opens in a new window]
Soha Metwally*
Affiliation:
Department of Biostatistics and Demography, Faculty of Graduate Studies for Statistical Research (FGSSR), Cairo University, Giza, Egypt
*
Email: shassan@cu.edu.eg
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Abstract

This study aims to measure inequalities in the distribution of functional difficulties and their different domains among youth aged 15–29 years in Egypt, according to selected socioeconomic characteristics (e.g. wealth quantiles and education level of the head of the household). The data come from the nationally representative survey, ‘Household Observatory Survey’, with 10,405 persons aged 15–29 years representing the study sample population. The survey identifies individuals with disabilities using the Washington Group Short questions. Inequalities in disability distribution have been measured by the concentration index (CI). The results indicate that functional difficulties have been concentrated among the poorest youth and households headed by illiterate persons. Rural areas have the highest concentration of disabilities among youth, with the lowest wealth and the lowest educational level of the head of the household. The CI suggests the existence of socioeconomic inequalities in all functional difficulties except for seeing difficulties. Understanding which factors more substantially contribute to inequalities is critical for advancing policies devoted to enhancing the quality of life for individuals with disabilities.

Keywords

concentration indexinequalityfunctional difficultiesdisabilitiesWashington Group Short SetEgypt
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 56 , Issue 4 , July 2024 , pp. 715 - 730
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press

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