Date of Conferral

2020

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Human Services

Advisor

Garth den Heyer

Abstract

The problems of high levels of poverty, financial exclusion and social exclusion are well documented in literature; a large population of poor people lack adequate access to financial services and social services including healthcare, electricity, education and water. Globally there are over 700 million people living in extreme poverty and in Ghana, over 6 million face this challenge. Progress is being recorded but there is no research that has examined the relationship between financial inclusion, social inclusion and poverty reduction in a country where multidimensional poverty is high. The purpose of this within-subject quasi-experimental correlational study is to determine the influence of financial inclusion and social inclusion on multidimensional poverty reduction using secondary data collected from Ghana Household Living Standards survey (GHLSS). Luhmann’s social systems theory underpinned the study with its focus on the society as a social system wherein no one should be excluded to ensure social stability. The research question was - what is the relationship between independent variables (IVs) namely financial inclusion, and social inclusion categories (healthcare, electricity, education, and water), and the dependent variable (DV), multidimensional poverty status among Ghanaians? Factorial ANOVA was adopted for the analysis of the data covering 18,000 households. The study revealed that all the IVs, except health inclusion, have significant influence on the DV with education inclusion having the biggest influence. The study outcome can enable reforms required for accelerating multidimensional poverty reduction through a focused multidimensional policy and programmatic action for advancing increased access to education, electricity, financial, and water services for the poor.

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