Religion, social capital and poverty in Ghana

Correlations and explanations

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4388693
AutoresAbraham Gyamfi Ababio (0000-0003-2280-4985, Department of Economics Education University of Education Winneba Ghana, autor de correspondencia), Anthony K Osei‐fosu (Department of Economics Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Kumasi Ghana), Anthony Kofi Osei-Fosu (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology), John Bosco Dramani (0000-0002-3640-2664, Department of Economics Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Kumasi Ghana)
Año2023
Volumen73
Número248
Páginas559-581
Fecha de publicación2023-06-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaInternational Social Science Journal (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0020-8701 • E-ISSN: 1468-2451
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/issj.12408
OpenAlexW4362722355
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas31

Religion is a key source of social capital for poverty reduction. This study used nationally representative data from households (N = 16,772) in Ghana to determine the association between religious affiliation and the incidence of poverty. Descriptive statistics, multilevel mixed-effect logistic model and nearest neighbour matching estimator were used to analyse the data. We found that relative to the unaffiliated, except affiliation with Other Christian and Other religions, affiliation with Catholic, Protestant, Pentecostal/Charismatic, Islam and Ahmadiyya is negatively associated with the incidence of absolute poverty. In urban areas, relative to those who belong to no religion, except affiliation with Other religions, affiliation with all the major religious denomination is negatively associated with the incidence of absolute poverty. The study also found that, compared to all other denominations, affiliation with Ahmadiyya and Catholic is positively associated with the incidence of poverty in Ghana. We concluded that in Ghana, religious affiliation reduces the odds of falling into poverty for those who live in urban areas, although some religious norms and values could expose households to poverty. The study recommends that the introduction of faith tax on religious denominations and conditional transfer programmes could help maximize the effect of religious affiliation on poverty reduction in Ghana

Demographic economics · Economic growth · Economics · Faith · Geography · Islam · Political science · Poverty · Protestantism · Social capital · Social science · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Theology · Demography · Microfinance and Financial Inclusion · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare · Religion, Society, and Development