Interhousehold transfers in urban Papua New Guinea: a study from the 1980s

Urban household surveys were conducted in 1982 and 1983 in PNG with the aim of describing interhousehold transfers in poorer urban households and the effect of transfers on the wellbeing of those households. Four census units were selected with high proportions of households without wage earners, two in Port Moresby and two in Madang. Although initial findings from the study were issued at the time, the full data and analysis were not published.

The surveys record higher levels of transfers than other urban studies in the period 1975 to 1996. Transfers had the effect of reducing differences in consumption between households, particularly differences in food consumption, and were most important for the welfare of the poorest households.

Despite the system of transfers, many households in the four study areas received less than 100 per cent of their nutritional requirements in relation to both calories and protein.

Speaker:
Dr Louise Morauta was a senior research fellow at the PNG Institute of Applied Social and Economic Research at the time of this research. She taught anthropology and sociology at the University of Papua New Guinea, and worked in the Australian Public Service from 1987 to 2009.

The ANU-UPNG seminar series is part of the partnership between the ANU Crawford School of Public Policy and the UPNG School of Business and Public Policy, supported by the PNG-Aus Partnership.

This seminar is free and open to the public. Registration is required to attend the seminar. You can attend at the Brindabella Theatre (Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU), at the MBA Suite (SBPP building, UPNG), or online via Zoom.

Mar 31, 2023 01:30 PM in Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney