10
• Housing Characteristics and Household Population
There are large provincial variations in wealth. In Kabul, 67 of the population is concentrated in the
highest wealth quintile, while a large majority of the population in Ghor 76, Bamyan 69, and
Daykundi 65 is concentrated in the lowest wealth
quintile Table 2.5.
Household Durable Goods
The survey also collected information on household effects, means of transportation, agricultural land,
farm animals, and bank accounts. Urban households are more likely than rural households to own a
television 84 versus 39, a mobile telephone 94 versus 85, a refrigerator 51 versus 8,
and a computer 28 versus 5. In contrast, 78 of rural households own farm animals. For complete
information on household possessions, see Table 2.4.
2.5 H
AND
W
ASHING
To obtain hand washing information, interviewers asked to see the place where members of the household most often washed their hands. Soap and water—the ideal hand washing agents—were observed in 36 of
households; another 28 had water only Table 2.6. Some 28 of households did not have water, soap,
or any other cleaning agent. These results probably overstate the availability of cleaning agents because they exclude 15 of urban and 28 of rural households where interviewers were unable to observe the
place where household members usually wash their hands. The most common reason for this was that there was no designated place for hand washing. Urban households were almost three times as likely as rural
households to have soap and water at the usual place for hand washing. The availability of soap and water increased with increasing wealth. Households in the highest wealth quintile were almost seven times as
likely as those in the lowest quintile to have soap and water.
2.6 H
OUSEHOLD
P
OPULATION AND
C
OMPOSITION Household
A person or group of related or unrelated persons who live together in the same dwelling units, who acknowledge one adult male or female as the head
of the household, who share the same housekeeping arrangements, and who are considered a single unit.
De facto population All persons who stayed in the selected households the night before the
interview whether usual residents or visitors.
De jure population All persons who are usual residents of the selected households, whether or
not they stayed in the household the night before the interview.
Figure 2.4 Household wealth by residence
3 26
2 26
4 25
18 21
73 3
Urban Rural
Percent distribution of de jure population by wealth quintiles
Wealthiest Fourth
Middle Second
Poorest
Housing Characteristics and Household Population •
