The effects of the structural adjustment programme on the social-economic status of households in urban areas: The case of Chilenje in Lusaka
Date
2015-06-15
Authors
Mvula, Chizya
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
When the movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) government came into power in 1991, it inherited problems of deterioration in all sectors of the economic including education and health. Zambia, like other developing countries in it's quest to resuscitate its poor economy embraced structural adjustment in its totality in 1991. This involved the liberalization of markets and control of prices by government, removal of subsidies, and the introduction of user fees in education and health sectors. This however, has had a number of effects on the population of Zambia.Most of the local industries have collapsed as a result of, removal of government protection of trade of these industries and this had results in massive job losses. The population of the urban unemployed face a number of economic hardships most people can hardly afford essential commodities including foodstuffs. Furthermore, people are unable to meet the cost of education and medical services provided by government.In terms of education and health, the study revealed that there was reduced access to these services due to financial difficulties in most cases. People were also unable to meet their daily needs since their incomes were low. In most cases, the incomes were far outweighed by the cost of food alone.
The people were also affected by their employment status. Most people had lost employment due to retrenchment or liquidation of companies,therefore having an impact on their income.
Description
Keywords
Chilenje-Zambia , Structural adjustment programme