Health shocks and consumption smoothing among rural households in Nigeria

Abstract

Aim/purpose – The prevalence of poverty among Nigerian households and limited social safety nets predispose the country to health shock. Health shocks are associated with adverse economic consequences: they raise medical expenditure and reduce household consumption. The household responds with informal coping mechanism to smoothen consumption. The coping strategies are limited to household asset endowment and access to credit facility. This study examines the effect of health shock on changes in household consumption and investigates the coping strategies employed in the face of health shock.

Keywords

• health shocks
• consumption smoothing
• coping strategies
• rural household
• i19
• i31