What Can Existing Household Surveys Tell Us

about Gender and Transportation in

Developing Countries?Julie Babinard, World BankKinnon Scott, World Bank

Access to affordable, reliable and safe transport is critical element for economic growth and poverty reduction

Transport planning typically not addressing differences in men and women travel needs

Social and economic roles of women:◦ Earnings opportunities (jobs, markets )◦ Household and domestic work (Child-rearing;

resources & food)◦ Access to social and health services

Transport, Development and Women

Access to fewer transport choices ◦ (Venter et al. 2007; Odufuwa 2007; Srinivasan 2002)

Spend more on transport ◦ (Kamuhanda and Schmidt 2009; Srinavasan 2002)

Complex travel patterns ◦ (Anand and Tiwari 2006; Odufuwa 2005; Abidemi 2002;

Rosenbloom 1995; Malmberg-Calvo 1994; Hanson and Hanson 1980;)

Quality and security concerns◦ (Okoko 2007)

Women’s travel patterns and mobility constraints

1. Access to transport by women2. Affordability3. Journey length and reasons for travel4. Quality of transport

How to fill in the gaps?

Knowledge and data gapsin gender and transport

“Stand alone” surveys of transport users or households◦ Costly to carry out ◦ Often one-off (not part of any system of data

collection in a country)◦ Urban

National household surveys ◦ Many countries carry out a range of surveys◦ Comparable across time, or across countries

Can existing household surveys in developing countries inform transportation policy?

Data sources

Variety of surveys are carried out Selection criteria:

Frequency of implementation (across countries and across time)

Data collected at the individual level Our assessment, a priori, of potential

usefulness

National Household Surveys

Living Standards Measurement Study Surveys (LSMS)

Income and Expenditure /Household Budget Surveys (IES/HBS)

Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS

National Household Surveys

Goal new, better quality data for public policy research on household behavior, household-policy interactions

Focus on welfare- (multi-topic) --causes Data on individuals and households Complementary data on community,

prices, facilities

Living Standards Measurement Study Surveys (LSMS)

Living Standards Measurement Study Surveys (LSMS)

Income and Expenditure /Household Budget Surveys (IES/HBS)

Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS

National Household Surveys

Goal household expenditures, weights for consumer price indices, inputs for national accounts

Some demographics, education and employment data

Data are always collected at the household level Some contain individual expenditure diaries. Frequent: annually in Eastern Europe, every five

years in other parts Latin America, for ex.

Income and Expenditure/ Household Budget Surveys (IES/HBS)

Living Standards Measurement Study Surveys (LSMS)

Income and Expenditure /Household Budget Surveys (IES/HBS)

Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS)

Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS

National Household Surveys

Goal data for policy on health, primarily maternal and infant health, fertility, family planning, nutrition, assets, education

Data at individual level and household level

Implemented systematically in many developing countries, multiple rounds

Comparable across countries and time

Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS)

Living Standards Measurement Study Surveys (LSMS)

Income and Expenditure /Household Budget Surveys (IES/HBS)

Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys

(MICS)

National Household Surveys

Goal monitor progress on the goals adopted at the 1990 World Summit for Children, look at children and their welfare, indicators

Includes topics such as nutrition, child health and mortality, literacy, child protection, etc.

Major international effort- over 100 countries, multiple rounds

Comparability across countries and some add-ons allowed

Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS)

LSMS: community level data to paved and unpaved roads; existence of bus service ◦ Caveat: not on individual preference or expenditure Overall use or demand for individual transport cannot be

determined

HBS/IES: individual expenditures on modes of transport; by rural and urban areas◦ Caveat: may have no disaggregation per trip type or number of

trips takenInability to assess mode shares and individual demand as (a)

costs related to mode use are aggregated ; (b) movements with no immediate expenditures not recorded (walking; bicycle) and (c) expenditures not equal to trips (private vehicles)

(1) Transport access and use

HSB/IES: Individual expenditure data by male and female on transport; type of mode used; number of trips◦ Caveat: Specific data on number of trips is not

always available unless collected in specific individual diaries/’open’ questionnaires

No conclusion can be drawn on whether one form of transport is more or less expensive for men or women

(2) Transport affordability

LSMS: Individual data on mode of transport, trip purposes and costs for access to education and health facilities, labor-related activities (but not necessarily across countries) individual data allows disaggregation of data according to gender and provides

reasons for not using health care (distance; lack of transport as options)

DHS: individual data on reasons for not using health care (distance; lack of transport as options)opportunities for geo-referencing with national surveys

MICS: Types of transport and mode owned and used for accessing social and economic activities (education; domestic and household chores – water & food)◦ Caveat: mainly household data availableOpportunity for custom-questionnaire and questions on reasons for not

attending school; not registering children’s birth (distance and travel time as options)

(3) Journey length and reasons for travel

The four survey types provide some information on transport access, affordability, trip purposes

No information on quality or safety Benefits of the four survey types

National level data sets Ability to link transport use with welfare

status, human capital Ability to track changes over time for

specific groups Not a substitute for transport specific

surveys

Conclusions

Incorporate additional questions to surveys with focus on gender and transport

Systematize questions as much as possible (International Household Survey Network)

Seek IES/HBS data that is disaggregated by expenditure

Investigate existing data sources before designing full transport survey

Recommendations

LSMShttp://www.worldbank.org/lsms/ IES/HBShttp://www.measuredhs.com MICShttp://www.unicef.org/statistics/index_24302.htmlhttp://www.childinfo.org/mics3_surveys.html

Additional resources

Brazil: Type of expenditure by women and men, Brazil

(% of men and women that made each type of expenditure per week)

Source: POF 2002/2003, calculations by authors

  Males Females All

Bus or taxi 34.4 39.9 37.2

School Bus 9.4 9.4 9.4

Private car 6.4 6.9 6.7

Bicycle 1.4 0.6 1.0

Boat 0.9 0.6 0.8

Horse 0.3 0.3 0.3

Walk 47.1 42.3 44.6

Other 0.1 0.1 0.1

Mode of Transport to School: Panama 2003

Source: Encuesta de Niveles de Vida,calculations by authors