| Income-Related Indicators | |
| The
Population and Housing Survey questionnaire does not include direct
questions on household incomes and expenditures. Therefore, a number of
variables, believed to reflect indirectly the level of household income,
were used in defining three income-related indicators and in
constructing an index for this field. The selected variables express, in
an approximate manner, the level of income which is normally measured
with the help of household surveys. The study had to rely on this
indirect method of measurement so as not to exclude this important
dimension. The selected variables that were identified to enter into the construction of the index of income-related indicators are: (a) the number of private cars owned by the household - considered to be a direct indicator of the satisfaction of the need for transport, on the one hand, and an indirect indicator of the level of household income, on the other; (b) the number of actually working household members, which allows the computation of the economic dependency rate; and (c), the main occupation of the working members of the household, which in turn is considered an indicator of the level of income. A number of other variables, which could have served as indicators of income, were excluded for various reasons. The number of telephone lines possessed by the household was excluded, as it is not related to living conditions exclusively. The non-completion of the rehabilitation of the telephone network at the time of undertaking the study weakens the indicative ability of this variable with respect to living conditions. Similarly, income from ownership of real estate was excluded in view of lack of information, its relevance to only a limited segment of the population (17.8 percent), and its exclusion of an estimate of the imputed income of households arising from ownership of the dwelling inhabited by them. The school enrolment ratio at the kindergarten level, and at the secondary level and above - which would have constituted a satisfactory indicator for measuring income and living conditions were also left out for considerations that are related to the structure of the education sector in Lebanon, and the duality of public and private institutions. The Population and Housing Survey inquiry did not deal with this aspect. |
