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Living Standards

Financial exclusion goes hand-in-hand with poor living standards. By offering microfinance services to low-income individuals around the world, FINCA is giving people the tools they need to raise their standard of living, under their own hard work and ingenuity.

FINCA's borrowers in Africa particularly struggle to have a decent quality of life. More than half live in homes without water. Nearly two out of five lack electricity.

These problems are not isolated to Africa, however. Access to water is a problem that affects clients in every region. Also, more than a third of our clients live in a household whose main earner has only a primary education or less. This problem is most severe in Latin America where it affects two-thirds of our clients, respectively.

Living Standards Data

Global
Global Africa Eurasia Latin America MESA
Africa
All Africa DRC Malawi Nigeria Tanzania Uganda Zambia
Eurasia
All Eurasia Armenia Azerbaijan Georgia Kosovo Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan
Latin America
All Latin America Ecuador Guatemala Haiti Honduras Nicaragua
MESA
All MESA Afghanistan Jordan Pakistan
14,419 55% Client homes without water Clean water sources have been damaged or destroyed by years of conflict. Despite government action in this area, many communities rely on wells, rivers, streams, and water tanks when available. % #
2,622 10% Client homes without electricity % #
23,595 90% Client homes without access to Internet % #
3,933 15% Clients who don’t own their home % #
18,563 71% Head of household with primary education or less Less than a third (29 percent) have attained at least a secondary school education. This partly reflects the devastation of the educational system by three decades of conflict in the country. % #
88,439 51% Client homes without water % #
67,624 39% Client homes without electricity % #
116,308 67% Client homes without access to Internet % #
68,627 39% Clients who don’t own their home The rate of clients who don't own their own home is more than twice the global average (17%). % #
80,512 46% Head of household with primary education or less % #
5,711 16% Client homes without water % #
0 0% Client homes without electricity % #
10,351 29% Client homes without access to Internet Internet access in Armenia has been improving over the past few years, and is actually higher in Armenia than in the region overall. % #
1,071 3% Clients who don’t own their home % #
0 0% Head of household with primary education or less % #
1,049 28% Client homes without water % #
0 0% Client homes without electricity % #
2,173 58% Client homes without access to Internet % #
37 1% Clients who don’t own their home % #
111 3% Head of household with primary education or less % #
25,450 46% Client homes without water The DRC, Africa’s most “water-rich” country, is facing an acute water supply crisis with considerable social and public health consequences. Nearly half (46%) of FINCA’s borrowers lack access to safe drinking water. % #
8,852 16% Client homes without electricity % #
26,557 48% Client homes without access to Internet % #
28,770 52% Clients who don’t own their home % #
6,000 11% Head of household with primary education or less Among FINCA borrowers, 89% live in a household headed by someone with greater than primary education. % #
1,253 8% Client homes without water % #
0 0% Client homes without electricity % #
3,133 20% Client homes without access to Internet % #
1,880 12% Clients who don’t own their home % #
5,890 38% Head of household with primary education or less % #
27,369 14% Client homes without water % #
1,308 1% Client homes without electricity % #
108,916 54% Client homes without access to Internet % #
7,157 4% Clients who don’t own their home % #
8,667 4% Head of household with primary education or less % #
235,462 29% Client homes without water Every FINCA region has clients who lack this basic service, including places like Tajikistan, Honduras and Afghanistan. % #
105,015 13% Client homes without electricity Outside of Africa, Honduras has the highest percentage of borrowers who lack electricity in their homes. % #
482,901 59% Client homes without access to Internet % #
141,858 17% Clients who don’t own their home % #
292,941 36% Head of household with primary education or less The lack of education is particularly notable in Latin America, but other regions are not far behind, especially MESA and Africa. % #
6,469 18% Client homes without water Rural people struggle to obtain safe drinking water, relying mainly on local wells or springs. % #
0 0% Client homes without electricity % #
14,376 40% Client homes without access to Internet % #
1,078 3% Clients who don’t own their home Many Georgians need to improve or expand their dwellings, especially those that are accommodating multiple generations under one roof, which is common in rural areas. % #
994 3% Head of household with primary education or less % #
5,077 15% Client homes without water % #
3,385 10% Client homes without electricity % #
14,216 42% Client homes without access to Internet % #
5,077 15% Clients who don’t own their home % #
26,028 77% Head of household with primary education or less This is the second-highest percentage in the world, just after Afghanistan. % #
6,619 13% Client homes without water % #
19,858 39% Client homes without electricity % #
27,801 55% Client homes without access to Internet % #
16,803 33% Clients who don’t own their home % #
27,954 55% Head of household with primary education or less % #
7,836 30% Client homes without water % #
7,052 27% Client homes without electricity % #
13,321 51% Client homes without access to Internet % #
3,657 14% Clients who don’t own their home % #
17,856 68% Head of household with primary education or less % #
1,964 6% Client homes without water % #
327 1% Client homes without electricity % #
1,964 6% Client homes without access to Internet % #
13,092 40% Clients who don’t own their home % #
3,928 12% Head of household with primary education or less % #
2,631 13% Client homes without water Water quality is a common problem for rural households, which often rely on domestic wells with inadequate sanitation systems. % #
4,048 20% Client homes without access to Internet % #
405 2% Clients who don’t own their home % #
5,525 27% Head of household with primary education or less This is 10x the regional average. Lower levels of education are especially common among women. % #
1,629 2% Client homes without water Although the population’s access to safe drinking water improved significantly during last decade, there are huge disparities among regions in the country. % #
814 1% Client homes without electricity % #
59,443 73% Client homes without access to Internet This is about 20 percentage points higher than in the overall region (55%). % #
4,071 5% Clients who don’t own their home % #
753 1% Head of household with primary education or less % #
23,392 16% Client homes without water % #
30,784 22% Client homes without electricity % #
65,313 46% Client homes without access to Internet % #
27,905 20% Clients who don’t own their home % #
86,816 61% Head of household with primary education or less % #
19,392 53% Client homes without water % #
19,392 53% Client homes without electricity More clients lack electricity in Malawi than anywhere else in the region. % #
24,515 67% Client homes without access to Internet High taxes and poor infrastructure, among other obstacles, make access to the Internet prohibitively costly, % #
11,343 31% Clients who don’t own their home % #
19,209 53% Head of household with primary education or less % #
96,262 33% Client homes without water % #
5,298 2% Client homes without electricity % #
192,364 65% Client homes without access to Internet % #
38,169 13% Clients who don’t own their home % #
116,945 40% Head of household with primary education or less The educational level of our clients' households is likely to drop even further as we expand deeper into rural areas. % #
2,606 16% Client homes without water Similar to the regional average. % #
489 3% Client homes without electricity Two times less than the regional average, reflecting FINCA Nicaragua's concentration in more urban areas. % #
6,842 42% Client homes without access to Internet % #
489 3% Clients who don’t own their home The rate of home ownership in Nicaragua is the highest outside of Eurasia. % #
9,087 56% Head of household with primary education or less While somewhat better than the regional average, this indicator is very high by global standards. % #

No data has been collected yet for this indicator in Nigeria.

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79,879 34% Client homes without water Urbanization is putting even more strain on the water resources, especially in the rapidly-growing cities. % #
2,349 1% Client homes without electricity % #
166,805 71% Client homes without access to Internet At the time of the FCAT survey, most internet connections were fixed. Mobile broadband is growing in Pakistan and eventually replacing fixed connections. % #
21,144 9% Clients who don’t own their home While most FINCA clients own their homes, the urban housing situation in Pakistan is under pressure from rural-urban migration and rapid population growth. % #
94,454 40% Head of household with primary education or less % #
9,880 40% Client homes without water Outside of Africa, only Afghanistan has a higher share of customers without this basic service. % #
494 2% Client homes without electricity % #
18,525 75% Client homes without access to Internet This is 20 percentage points higher the regional average. Internet penetration is constrained by a limited reach of the telcom sector, the high cost of access, and widespread poverty. % #
494 2% Clients who don’t own their home % #
1,284 5% Head of household with primary education or less % #
26,001 55% Client homes without water % #
23,638 50% Client homes without electricity % #
37,820 80% Client homes without access to Internet % #
17,303 37% Clients who don’t own their home % #
36,611 77% Head of household with primary education or less The educational levels in Tanzania are much lower than in the other African countries. % #
13,337 50% Client homes without water In addition to the health risks from contaminated sources, the lack of running water imposes a physical burden on family members -- often children -- who are required to collect and transport it back to the house. % #
13,657 51% Client homes without electricity The electrical grid in Uganda is extremely limited and poorly maintained. % #
21,072 79% Client homes without access to Internet % #
7,735 29% Clients who don’t own their home This indicator is high throughout Africa. % #
14,937 56% Head of household with primary education or less Only Tanzania has a higher incidence of household heads who have a primary education or less. % #
4,259 49% Client homes without water % #
2,086 24% Client homes without electricity This is somewhat better than the rural conditions in neighboring countries, but not as good as DRC, whose clientele is primarily urban, like Zambia's. % #
6,344 73% Client homes without access to Internet % #
3,476 40% Clients who don’t own their home % #
3,755 43% Head of household with primary education or less % #

© 2016 FINCA International

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© 2017 FINCA International

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