SOCIOECONOMIC DETERMINANTS OF POVERTY INCIDENCE AND AVERAGE TIME TAKEN TO EXIT POVERTY AMONG HOUSEHOLDS IN OYO STATE, SOUTHWEST NIGERIA

Abstract

Achieving the United Nations goals of eliminating poverty in its various forms globally will continue to be a delusion without properly examining the role of household socioeconomic characteristics in poverty alleviation, as well as time it takes poor households to exit poverty. This study was however carried out to examine the role of socioeconomic characteristics on poverty incidence and time it takes to exit poverty among households in Oyo State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select 140 households comprising of 577 persons. The study was carried out in 2019 using primary data. Descriptive statistics, Foster-Greer-Thorbecke (FGT) index and logistic regression model were the analytical tools used for the study. The result showed that mean per-capita annual expenditure and poverty line were ₦143,288.52 and ₦95,525.68 respectively. About 32% of the households were found to be poor, the poverty incidence and severity were 11% and 5% respectively. Furthermore, it will take the poor households 4.21 years to exit poverty if their annual consumption expenditure grows at 10%. Household size increases probability of the poor households to exit poverty while level of education, other occupation, remittances, road networks and clean cooking fuel increases the chance of the poor households to exit poverty. The study recommends intensification of basic and adult education programmes, birth control measures, promotion of economic growth through employment generation, and provision of infrastructural facilities for poverty alleviation.