The world bank

3.Detailed Findings of the Social Assessment

Household Characteristics

43. Families in rural Azerbaijan are generally crowded; the SA survey found average family size in project rayons to be slightly higher than the official figures (figure --: household characteristics). A significantly high 14 percent of the households have more than 7 members. The average age of male household heads is 46.4 while that of female household heads is slightly higher at 52.6.

44. As is the case in most FSU countries, the education levels of the household heads in rural Azerbaijan is high. Majority of them have at least a high school education and illiteracy is almost non-existent. However, household heads who are older than 60 usually have lower education levels compared to younger household heads. Unemployment is at high levels in all rayons; more than half of the household heads (with the exception of Barda) do not have official employment. Unemployment is most visible in the 26-35 and 51-60 age groups; more than half of household heads in this group are currently outside of the official employment. In Lenkeran, however, a number of household heads are reported to be working in Russia and sending remittances to their households. A significant number of those who are employed also report being in the job market, looking for secondary jobs. The following table indicates the number of household heads who are currently formally unemployed.

45. The household survey looked into the household property owned by respondents. The property index¹³ combines land, equipment and livestock ownership variables from the household survey. According to this, agricultural property ownership is directly correlated with the wealth of each rayon’s residents. The SA also found that multi-generational households with older heads have had a chance to accumulate more assets (figure --: same heading). The accumulation of assets in households with older heads, coupled with traditionally strong family ties in rural areas, have resulted in most of the elderly living together with their extended families. Only a small portion of the elderly lives alone or share their households with other old people (figure --: family ties are strong in rural Azerbaijan). As the age of the household head increases, the ownership of productive assets such as cars, sheep and cattle also increases. The 1995 Poverty Assessment survey results also point at the same direction. It would, therefore, not be wrong to argue that the elderly in rural Azerbaijan control an important portion of the available productive assets compared to the youth and are better positioned to use them.