A MULTIDIMENSIONAL ASSESSMENT OF SUBJECTIVE WELLBEING BASED ON SEN'S APPROACH: EVIDENCE FROM NIGERIA

摘要

Rural households bear the brunt of low quality of life and are characterized as having low opportunities (capabilities) and low realized welfare or poor attainment of set goals (functionings). Wellbeing of rural households in Nigeria was therefore investigated in this study. A multi-stage probabilistic sampling was used to select 203 households in the state and data were analysed using descriptive statistics fuzzy set and ordered probit model. Functioning was higher than capability among the youthful, middle-aged and elderly heads. Rural households had high capability but low functioning in education. However, the presence of a health care delivery facility in a rural area did not guarantee access to it nor did it ensure its functionality. Female-headed households had lower capability and lower functioning than their nude counterparts. Farming enhanced the wellbeing of the poor while non-farm activities enhanced the well-being of the non-poor.