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An Empirical Assessment of Housing Conditions Among Daily Low- Income Earners in Enugu State

Ndubuisi M Odoanyanwu, Boniface N Obiadi and Ikenna S Ezennia

Abstract

This study empirically assesses the housing conditions of daily low-income earners in Enugu State, Nigeria. The methodology for the study is a triangulated (mixed-method) approach grounded in the Basic Needs Theory that defines housing as a basic human need. A multi-stage stratified random and purposive sampling technique was used to achieve 349 valid participants. Findings show that 57.9% earn daily incomes and 65.9% are renters, of which 41.0% live in units in extreme need of repair and 26.1% in poor structure. Most reside in one-room units (37.0%), and only 4.9% live in three-bedroom or larger units. The most pressing concerns ranked were unaffordable rent (RII = 0.92), over-crowding (RII = 0.90), low quality of life (RII = 0.87), inaccessibility of basic amenities (RII = 0.86), and insecure tenancy (RII = 0.84). Such results highlight the necessity of affordable rentals, pro-poor infrastructure growth, security of tenure, and microfinance products for informal, irregular wage earners.

Keywords

Empirical AssessmentHousing ConditionsDaily Low-Income EarnersEnugu State

References

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