Profiles and Determinants of Poverty among Urban Households in South-West Nigeria

Poverty is gradually becoming more visible in urban areas in Nigeria. Therefore, this paper assessed the poverty situation and its determinants among urban households in the south-west region of the country. Data collected from a total of 320 households were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Foster Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) index and the ordinary least square multiple regression analysis. The results revealed that majority of the households relied on water from boreholes for drinking, disposed refuse in undesignated places and patronized nearby drug stores when they are ill in place of proper diagnosis and treatment in hospitals. The FGT decomposition showed that 34 percent of the households were poor with a poverty gap and severity indices of 0.11 and 0.06 respectively. The study further revealed that educational level of heads (α=0.01), household size (α=0.05), gender of heads (α=0.01), dependency ratio (α=0.05) and access to credit (α=0.05) exerted significant effect on household welfare. It is recommended among others that credit facilities (with minimal stringent conditions attached) should be provided and tailored more towards females and less educated people in the area. Policies which could lead to increased employment opportunities are also advocated in order to reduce dependency ratio among households thereby alleviating poverty.