Introduction

This chapter presents details on the socio-cultural characteristics of Pusiga District. There are numerous issues related to the social and cultural characteristics of human societies which include education, literacy, religious affiliation and marital issues. The 2010 Population and Housing Census collected data on household composition, headship and size of households, marital status, literacy and education, nationality, religion and economic activity status in the District.

 
Household Size, Household Composition and Structure
Household size

Table 3.1 shows household size by locality type. It shows that, the district has a household population of 57,080 also the average household size for the district is 7.6 as compared to the region which is 5.9. This shows that, there is much difference between the district and the region. The average household size is higher for rural areas than urban areas (7.6 and 7.5 respectively). The Table further reveals that, the average household per house for the district is 1.4 and this is higher for rural areas compared to urban areas.

Household composition

The total household population within the District is 57,080 as illustrated in Table 3.2. From the table children constitute about half (50.6%) of household composition, followed by heads (13.3%) then spouses (9.9%) and other relatives (9.9%) of equal proportions.

Out of the total male population, 23.1 percent are household heads compared to 4.4 percent of females who are household heads out of the entire female population.

This may be as a result of cultural orientation that makes men naturally household heads in the District. Within the households, there are more daughter-laws among the female household population (2.2%) than son in-laws (0.1%) among the male household population. The proportion of spouses (wife/husband) is 9.9 percent similar to the proportion of other relatives (9.9%) living with the household.

Household structure

Table 3.3 shows household population by structure and sex. It shows that the extended family system dominates in the District (62.7%) followed by the nuclear family system (17.6%) and then the single parent (12.0%) (Single parent nuclear and extended combined).

Table 3.3 further shows that of the total male household population (27,154), the majority (61.6%) is in the extended household structure whereas 19.5 percent is in the nuclear household. In the case of the female household population, a high proportion (63.8%) is in the extended household structure as against 15.9 percent who are in the nuclear households.

It can be noted that in the District, females are more likely to be single parents than males, whether in an extended family or nuclear family this accounts for high population of widows in the District. This is evident in Table 3.2 where the proportion of males who are in a Single Parent Nuclear (4.1%) and Single Parent Extended (6.9%) family households is less than females who are in single parent nuclear (4.8%) and single parent extended family (8.0%) households.

 
Marital Characteristics

Table 3.4 presents the distribution of persons 12 years and older by sex, age –group and marital status. The table shows that there are 36,055 persons 12 years and older in the District. The table further shows that the majority (53.3%) of persons 12 years and older are married, followed by never married (37.5%). The table also reveals that 7.4 percent of persons 12 years and older were once married, but are either divorced, separated, or widowed.

 
Marital status and age

As expected, higher proportions of the widowed are in the older age groups, 50-54 (10.0%), 55-59 (15.1%), 60-64 (20.6%), and 65 years and older (32.7%). The proportion of married people increases with increasing age till age 44 when it starts to fall. It is also not surprising that a relatively high proportion (92.0%) of persons aged 12-14 have never married. The proportion of the never married group decreases with increasing age until the 30-34 age group. The proportion of females who are married (57.5%) is higher than their male counterparts (48.4%).

 Marital status and education

Table 3.5 shows the distribution of persons 12 years and older by marital status and level of education in Pusiga District. The data reveals that 64.3 percent of persons 12 years and older had no education. About one-third (29.3%) of person 12 years and older have had basic education and 4.2 percent have secondary education.

The difference in level of education of male and female persons 12 years and older according to Table 3.5 is that many more females are without education (71.4%) than males (55.8%). About eighty two percent (81.9%) of the married category have no education; with many more being females (86.0%).

 Marital status and economic activity

In some cultures, ability to support a spouse financially is a key determinant of whether one could marry or not. Table 3.6 shows marital status and economic activity status by sex among the population aged 12 years and older.

The majority of the married population (87.4%) are employed. This pattern of high employed married females is observed for the married males as well. Thus, for married males, 90.0 percent are employed while 1.0 percent are unemployed.

 Nationality

Table 3.7 shows population by nationality and sex. The table shows that 17.2 percent of the population is other nationals. ECOWAS nationals constitute 6.3 percent while 0.5 percent is from other African countries other than ECOWAS. The influx of ECOWAS nationals to the District is probably due to the fact that the District shares boundaries with Togo and Burkina Faso

Religious Affiliation

The predominant religion in the District is Islam (78.1%) followed by Christianity (13.2%) and then Traditional African religion (7.4%). The main Christian denominations are Pentecostals/Charismatic (4.4%), Catholics (3.0%), Protestants (3.7%) and others (2.1%).

  ICT

Introduction

Communication provides an important tool in the socio-economic lives of people of every population. Economic activities in the 21st Century are transacted through Information Communication Technology. The availability of an effective, efficient and reliable communication channels can enhance economic activities in the District. Recent technological advancements in the communication sector include the use of mobile phones and desktop or laptop computers as well as the internet. This chapter discusses access to mobile phones, computers and internet services in the Pusiga District.

Ownership of Mobile Phones

Table 5.1 shows that about 20 percent (19.4%) of the population 12 years and older own Mobile phone, higher proportion of males (28.5%) than females (11.8%) own mobile phones in the district.

Use of Internet

Internet usage in Pusiga District still remains very low among the people. It is evident from Table 5.1 that only one percent of the population 12 years and older use internet facilities in the District. There are more males (1.5%) who use internet facilities than their female counterparts (0.5%).

Household Ownership of Desktop or Laptop Computer

Table 5.2 shows that 77 households constituting one percent own desktop or laptop computers. Also, of the male headed households one percent own desktop/laptop computers compared to 1.1 percent among households headed by females. It is worthy of note that generally, ownership of desktop or laptop computers is relatively very low.

  Housing

Introduction

The attainment of health objectives is linked, among others, to the provision of improved housing, safe water supply and sewerage, and well planned settlements. The provision of periodic information on housing and housing conditions is therefore important both to assess what has been achieved and to plan ahead.

The 2010 Ghana Population and Housing Census included a comprehensive housing census. Among the issues covered are the number of occupied and unoccupied dwelling units, the type of dwelling and the main construction materials, occupancy status, and methods of waste disposal, utilities and household facilities.

It is envisaged that the housing data from the 2010 PHC assists the District authorities and other stakeholders to formulate and implement programmes and projects to improve the housing conditions in the District. The information from housing censuses also serves as a basis for evaluation and monitoring of housing conditions and needs of the population within the context of the Millennium Development Goal Seven (MDG7).

 It can also be used to determine the adequacy of housing stock and assessment of the need for additional housing. It may also provide information on living conditions of those residing in temporary or substandard housing at the local levels.
In this chapter, data on stock of houses, facilities and amenities of houses in the 2010 Population and Housing Census are analysed both at the District and locality level.

Housing Stock

The distribution of housing stock and households in the District is presented in Table 8.1. The Table indicates that the total stock of houses in the District is 5,395 of which three-quarters (75.2%) is located in the rural areas compared to 24.8 percent in the urban areas. The Table further shows that out of a total number of 7,603 households 77.7 percent are in the rural areas as compared to 22.3 percent in the urban areas of the district

From Table 8.1, there is no marked variation in the average households per house for the District (1.4) and region (1.6). It can also be noted that there is a higher population per house in the rural localities (11.1) than urban (9.5) areas.
The 2010 PHC data further show that the average household size in the rural localities (7.6) is higher than urban (7.5) ones. However, the average household size in the rural (7.6) areas is the same as the District average (7.6).

Type of Dwelling and Ownership

Ownership and type of dwelling vary. This section describes the type and ownership of dwelling units in the District. The analysis is based on the total number of occupied dwellings.

Type of dwelling

Table 8.2 shows that there are 7,603 dwelling units in Pusiga District. From the table, it can be noted that compound houses are the commonest (74.4%) type of dwelling units followed by separate house units (13.2%). This situation is not different with regards to the regional level where compound house units (58.4%) are the main dwelling units followed by separate houses (16.8%). The least type of occupied dwelling units in the District are huts / buildings (0.4%), tents (0.2%) improvised homes (0.1%) uncompleted buildings (0.2%) and other occupied dwelling units (0.1%).

Table 8.2 further shows that compound houses are the most common type of occupied dwelling units in both urban (74.4%) and rural (74.5%) areas. Similarly, there are also a relatively high proportion of separate house dwelling units in both urban (21.5%) and rural (10.9%) areas.

Ownership of dwelling

Table 8.3 shows the ownership status of occupied dwellings and sex of household heads by locality at the District. Of the total (7,603) households in the District, a majority of the households (89.9%) live in dwellings owned by a household member compared to those owned by relatives who are not household members (5.3%) and other private individuals (3.8%).

Table 8.3 further shows a majority of the population in the urban areas live in dwellings owned by a household member (90.3%) compared to those living in dwellings owned by a relative who is not a member of the household (5.8%) and other private individuals (2.0%). Similarly, in the rural locality most households live in dwellings owned by a member of the household (89.8%) while a proportion of the households live in dwellings owned by a relative who is not a member of the household (4.8%) and other private individuals (4.4%).

Construction Materials
Main construction material for outer wall

Table 8.4 shows that in Ghana, outer walls of dwelling units are made of two main construction materials: cement block / concrete and mud brick / earth. In the Upper East Region 80.7 percent of the outer walls of dwellings are made with mud brick / earth and16.0 percent with cement blocks / concrete.

The pattern in the Region is not different from the District where the proportion of outer walls with mud brick / earth is 80.2 percent and 14.1 percent for cement blocks / concrete. This means that in the Upper East Region as well as within the District, there are more dwelling units with outer walls made of mud brick / earth than any other construction 52

materials. Most outer wall of dwelling units in the urban (80.0%) and rural (80.2%) localities are made of mud brick / earth. The most unpopular construction materials for the outer wall of dwelling units in the District are bamboo (0.1%) and palm leaf / thatch (grass)/raffia (0.2%) both in urban and rural localities.

Construction material for the floor

Table 8.5 shows that the main construction materials for the floors of dwelling units in the District are cement / concrete (83.2%) and earth / mud (15.2%). However, the use of cement / concrete (65.8%) and earth / mud (31.7%) is relatively lower at the regional level. It is worth noting that burnt bricks, wood, vinyl tiles and terrazzo / terrazzo tiles constitute the least construction material for floors of dwellings in the entire District less than 0.5 percent.

From table 8.5, many more floors are made of cement / concrete in the urban setting (87.3%) than in the rural ones (82.0%). On the other hand, earth / mud floor is more common in rural localities (16.2%) than in urban localities (11.7%).

Construction material for roofing

Table 8.6 shows that there are three main construction materials in the Region used for roofing dwelling units. The most common roofing material is metal sheets (67.2%). The other two main materials used for roofing are thatch / palm leaf or raffia (16.8%) and mud / mud brick / earth (12.2%). Similarly, in the District, the majority of dwelling units are roofed with metal sheets (87.7%), thatch / palm leaf or raffia (6.6%) and a marginal proportion of mud / mud brick / earth (2.8%). About one percent (1.0%) of roofs was made of wood in the District.
From table 8.6, it can be noted that metal sheet is the main construction material used for roofing in the urban localities (92.4%) and 86.3 percent in the rural areas. Thatch / palm leaf or raffia is more common in the rural (7.6%) than urban (3.2%) locality.

 Room Occupancy

The number of sleeping rooms a household has is an indication of the extent of crowding in household. More importantly, crowded living conditions may increase the risk of the spread of infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis, skin diseases. It could also influence the quality of one’s sleep.

Table 8.7 indicates that, out of the total households, 12.0 percent occupies one sleeping room, 18.3 percent occupies two sleeping rooms, 19.0 percent three sleeping rooms and the rest occupy four to over nine sleeping rooms. Of a single member household size, 93.5 percent occupy one sleeping room, 3.2 percent occupy two sleeping rooms and 1.2 percent occupies three sleeping rooms while the rest occupy four to over nine sleeping rooms. Of two member households size, 53.0 percent occupy one sleeping room, 32.9 percent occupy two sleeping room and 3.8 percent use three sleeping rooms. Concerning three member households, 31.4 percent occupy one sleeping room, 40.4 percent occupy two sleeping rooms and 16.4 percent occupy three sleeping rooms. The table further indicates that of four member households size, 18.3 percent occupy one sleeping room, 38.5 percent occupy two sleeping rooms and 21.9 percent occupy three sleeping rooms. Households with members ten and above, 0.6 percent occupy one sleeping room, 4.4 percent occupy two sleeping rooms, and 9.5 percent occupy three sleeping rooms while 19.3 percent occupy four sleeping rooms (Table 8.7).