Estimating housing quality for poverty and development policy analysis: CWIQ in Ghana

Inadequate data on housing characteristics and lack of consensus regarding appropriate measures of housing quality characteristics retard developments to meet housing needs of people in less developed countries. A constructed housing quality index is developed and Cronbach's alpha and factor analysis are employed eo evaluate its measurement properties. With data from the Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire (CWIQ) survey of 1997, the constructed housing quality index identifies key factors related to housing quality in Ghana. Access to quality of life amenities contributes significant information and policy value to traditional physical attributes in modeling a housing quality index.