THE IMPACT OF DECENT HOUSING ON HOUSEHOLD FINANCE IN URBAN

CITIES OF UGANDA
Key words: financial literacy, household wealth, financial portfolio allocation, gender and race
issues, housing choices and mortgages, retirement savings, intra-household financial decision-
making

ERIMA DICKSON
PhD Applicant (Burham University)
derimah@gmail.com and erimadicson@yahoo.com
+256 771 266 427 and +256 782 927 030

PhD Research proposal

April 2024

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 INTRODUCTION

A landlocked country in the middle of East Africa, Uganda has witnessed an increase in rural-
urban migration with the current urban population growth rate standing at 5.3% a year. The
economy shows promising signs of recovery in the aftermath of COVID-19, with GDP growth of
4.6% in 2021/22 financial year. However inflation has risen rapidly, to 7.9% in July 2022,
triggering an increase in interest rates: commercial banks announced interest rate changes to an
average of 21% for August 2022. The developments in the credit market will certainly affect access
to credit for the real estate sector to both supply-side actors such as property developers, and
demand-side actors, particularly prospective home owners.

At the same time, Uganda is experiencing changing weather patterns, decreased water levels,
floods and landslides and droughts. Rapid population growth has damaged the environment,
particularly as people clear forest cover for settlement without any replacements around the few
households.

Furthermore, Uganda’s economy is still largely reliant on agriculture, making the country highly
vulnerable to the effects of climate change and households vulnerable to food insecurity and yet
most of these movements in and out of urban towns need housing hence household finances. While
Uganda’s unemployment rate is one of the lowest in the region at 2.9%, affordability remains a
key challenge. Poverty levels remain high at 30% thus constructing a new two-bedroom house is
priced at Ugandan Shillings 20.5 Million (US$5472) which is out of reach of most low income
Ugandans.

Finally, Uganda has many renewable energy resources that could be used for energy production,
including hydropower, biomass, solar energy, geothermal energy, peat, and wind. Many of these
have not yet been fully explored.

The Ugandan government is developing projects with international development organizations to

make better use of these renewable energy sources and such projects could present many
opportunities but the proceeds from decent housing to grow household finances are never thought
of and this could give a long term remedy of adequate financing, rural – urban migration, savings
and investments opportunities thus the research; the impact of decent housing on household

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finances. This chapter therefore gives the core information on the study highlighting on the
background of the study, statement of the problem, study objectives, research questions,
significance of the study, and the scope of the study.

Background of the study

Around the world, people face a range of challenges when managing their money and making
decisions in the complex and highly digitalized financial landscape that has evolved in recent years
(OECD, 2020b). At the same time, individuals and households need to be more engaged with their
own financial planning than ever before. For example, in almost every country in the globe, longer
life expectancy means individuals need to ensure that they accumulate savings to cover their
income, care and health needs in older age (Hopkins and Pearce, 2019; Kumar, Shukla, and
Sharma, 2019). Throughout their life, they may also need to be resilient to changing circumstances
such as job loss and ill health, or economy-wide issues such as fluctuating economic conditions.
Failing to meet these challenges can have negative implications for individuals and households
and could potentially lead to large-scale financial instability.

An overview of the statistics on housing affordability released by the European Union in 2017
shows that across the 28 European Member States, 15.7% of the population lives in overcrowded
dwellings due to limited financial capacity and 4% suffers from severe housing deprivation. The
estimates also show that the percentage of tenants spending a minimum of 40% of their overall
income on housing costs is approximately 30% in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Italy,
Luxemburg, Hungary, the Netherlands, and Portugal and between 38% and 84% in Bulgaria,
Croatia, Greece, Lithuania, Romania, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

The growing financial burden affecting European households is also surfacing in the UK’s housing
sector, where it has grown in parallel with years of under-supply. To face this low production
capacity and keep up with population growth, a radical country-wide reform of the housing market
has been proposed which aims to bring between 240,000 and 340,000 new homes per year].
However, in this reform, affordability has remained a rather neglected issue. As a result, the
majority of local authorities are still not able to cope with the expectations of an increasing demand
for affordable housing, because the new additions to dwelling stocks are not genuinely affordable
to low-to-middle-income residents.

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The provision of affordable housing in England remains limited, and in quantifying the demand
for affordable housing over a 20-year period, research by the housing and homelessness charity
Shelter (a UK-based charity which provides citizens and public authorities in England and
Scotland with expert information, support services, and legal advice in order to help them deal
with bad housing or homelessness and also conducts independent research aiming to improve the
current understanding of the UK housing crisis) has recommended that an additional 3.1 million
dwellings will be required within this timeframe.

Statistics on affordable housing provision demonstrate that Scotland is affected by the same
negative trend. The report titled Affordable Housing Need in Scotland, which Shelter, the
Chartered Institute of Housing Scotland, and the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations
jointly commissioned in 2015, showed that housing in Scotland has become increasingly
unaffordable for a large share of the population and the national housing programs are lagging
behind, delivering only half of the estimated requirement. The research suggested that Scotland
should deliver up to 60,000 dwellings over a 5 year period in order to meet the demand of its
population for affordable homes. The current Scottish government responded to this
recommendation by setting a target to build at least 50,000 new affordable homes by 2021.

With respect to housing supply, Uganda’s high population growth rate at 3% coupled with a high
urbanization rate translates into a widening gap between the demand and supply of decent housing
units. The current housing deficit is estimated at 2.4 million housing units with the bulk of these
falling in the affordable housing segment. On the supply side are private developers delivering
housing units of approximately 1 000 units a year. These complement individual households
developing their own residential units for owner occupation. Given the housing gap, nearly half
(48.3%) of the country’s urban population live in informal settlements.

Yet Uganda’s growing population also presents a unique opportunity for investment in the
residential housing marketplace. The current influx of housing units is largely in the middle to
high-end space, targeting largely the corporate salaried income earner with access to mortgage
facilities from the banking industry. However, the bulk of the 2.4 million housing units needed are
in the affordable housing segment with most prospective homeowners being in the low income
segment of the population. Additionally, the newly implemented regulations on using retirement

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benefits to secure a residential mortgage offers an excellent opportunity for both lenders and
housing developers to increase the scope of their product offering to this emerging niche.

This point was made during the Global Financial Crisis, where various observers argued that low
levels of financial literacy among financial consumers of household products contributed to poor
financial decisions with negative spillover effects (Gerardi, 2010; OECD, 2009). That followed a
broader recognition among policymakers that financial literacy could be a crucial element for
ensuring financial stability and fostering economic development. This was underscored by the G20
leaders' endorsement of the OECD/INFE High-level Principles on National Strategies for
Financial Education in 2012.

In the eyes of Professor Kevin Dowd, if someone takes a risk, someone has to bear it (Dowd, K.
1996). If I take a risk, then we want to ensure that I be made to bear it. But if I take a risk at your
expense, then that’s moral hazard and that’s bad. As the late, great, Milton Friedman might have
put it: there isn’t no such thing as a free risk (Dowd, K. 1995). It is upon this that people in the
urban cities must take risk of putting up decent housing to better household finances.

Statement of the problem

Despite Uganda’s strong economic performance over the past 10 years, young people have been
disproportionately affected by economic exclusion, with 51% of all 15-29 year olds being out of
school and out of work (World Bank 2012a). This lack of economic opportunities also has serious
social implications, as the inability to gain financial autonomy affects young people’s dignity and
ability to start a family and own decent housing to live in consequently leading to low household
finances.

While unemployment rates are high among the more educated youth, the very vast majority of
young people suffering from a lack of economic opportunities are the low-skilled (69% of all youth
have less than a middle-school degree, and 20% are illiterate). In fact, low-skilled youth represent
63% of all unemployed youth, and 78% of the discouraged. Girls are particularly vulnerable, with
a staggering 82% of those not in school being out of the labor force either for family reasons (63%)
or discouragement (19%) Mpanga P. (2004).

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Among those young people who are in employment, over 80% work in the informal sector under
precarious conditions where there is no savings done, no retirement plans among others.
Notwithstanding this scenario, most policy interventions in Uganda have up to date focused on a
minority of high-skilled unemployed youth leaving adult group in the hands of the few employed,
this makes them not to access decent housing for their living consequently household finances
becomes also a hindrance to them.

In order to improve economic opportunities, inclusion, and social sustainability, there is an

increasing interest among the government, civil society, and development partners to promote
vocation and technical skills development, housing and household finances to entrench self-
employment, mainly among venerable youth and elders. While Uganda has maintained the highest
rates of micro-credit in East African region (70%), starting and expanding a small business remains
a serious challenge, among the youth and elders (Wright, G.A.N., et al, 1999). Hindrances
affecting them include the lack of access to information, lack of technical and vocational skills,
lack of finance capital, land and property rights, limited housing for leasing, lack of pre-/post-start
up orientation and business development support as well as administrative hurdles which when
addressed could lead to decent housing and household finances.

Even when the government and non – governmental organizations (NGO) provide support services
for employment, these are usually targeted at youths with minimum qualifications of school or
University level education. School drop-outs and youth working in the informal sector, on the
other hand, currently have almost no opportunities to increase their skills to expand their existing
income generating activities. Therefore, in order to enhance economic and social inclusion,
supporting vulnerable youth and elders in the informal sector and tailoring the design and delivery
of training and enterprise support towards the particular needs of young informal workers has
emerged as a key priority that is currently unmet (World Bank 2011). This again if decent housing
allocations cannot be addressed then household finances will not be met leading to constant and
stagnant economic development in urban cities.

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The situation of unemployment in youths is more manifested in circumstances such as civil conflict
areas, disasters, refugee areas, and host communities. The consequences of youth unemployment
in such circumstances include child labours in petty mobile trades, smuggling of goods from
neighboring countries, small scale sugarcane production and rice farming in protected wetlands,
fishing activities using unwanted gears and living in areas affected by Floods / Landslides is worse.
Other category of youths most affected by unemployment include orphans, street children,
disabled youths, child mothers, HIV / AIDS infected youths. As a result, higher percentage of this
category who dropped out of school are being used for child labour, motorcycle (known as Boda-
Boda) riding, housekeeping, market vending, casual labour in agriculture, attendants of bars,
restaurants and lodges at the early age of 16 – 17. This category of people often lack decent housing
to live in this again affects their finances, Therefore, using housing to get financial growth in the
urban wards or cells would make the urban communities to develop economically which is reason
for the research.

This category have lost hope of pursuing their long awaited dream of enrolling into their desired/
targeted profession. This age bracket are considered as youth and the Constitution of the Republic
of Uganda, (1995) recognizes the rights of the child and specifically provides for children's right
to health, right to education, and right to protection from exploitation. Similarly, the Children's
Act 2014 advocates for measures that ensure children are better protected from abuse and neglect
both in their homes and in the community.

It is therefore from this perspective that if such a trend continues to grow amidst land becoming
more expensive in most urban centers there shall be a continued housing challenge and problem
of financial independence, in urban households. Therefore, the urge for an immediate practical
research on the impact of decent housing on household finances in urban cities of Uganda. The
government of Uganda which is aimed at an inclusive skills development, psycho-social and
entrepreneurship programs for youth; such as parish development model project (PDM) among
others for elders undergoing challenging circumstances, and are vulnerable, can adequate good
housing be a solution to household finances for long term financial independence

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 Objectives of the study

General objective

Overall, the study intends to investigate the impact of decent Housing on Household finances in
Ugandan Urban cities

Specific Objectives
The study aims at achieving the following objectives:

1) To determine the level of urbanization in cities in Uganda

2) To assess the level of Household Finances (HHF) in Urban cities in Uganda
3) To establish the relationship between Decent Housing Distributions (DHD) and Household
Finances (HHF) in urban cities in Uganda.
4) To examine the influence of Governance on the relationship Decent Housing Distributions
(DHD) and Household Finances (HHF) in urban cities in Uganda.

Research Questions

To achieve the above desired objectives the following research questions will be used:
1) What is the level of Decent Housing Distributions (DHD) in urban cities in Uganda?
2) How does urbanization level influence Decent Housing Distributions (DHD) and Household
Finances (HHF) in urban cities in Uganda?
3) How is the relationship between Decent Housing Distributions (DHD) and Household
Finances (HHF) in urban cities in Uganda?
4) How can government laws and policies influence the relationship between Decent Housing
Distributions (DHD) and Household Finances (HHF) in urban cities in Uganda?

Scope of the Study

The scope of the study will be in terms of content, time and geographical area.

Content scope: Under the content scope, the researcher will focus on Housing with the indicator
areas of gender and race issues, housing choices and mortgages so as to assess their effect on
Household finances in the financial literacy, household wealth, financial portfolio allocation,
retirement savings and intra-household financial decision-making

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Time scope: In terms of time, this study will capture data within the last five years (September
2024 to September 2029) so that representative and reliable data can be got throughout the period
of the PhD study.

Geographical scope: Finally, this research will be carried out in urban cities of Uganda. The
Government of Uganda has created fifteen cities in the country, in addition to the capital city of
Kampala. The research will be concentrated in the ten (10) cities (Arua, Mbarara, Gulu, Jinja,
Fortportal, Mbale, Masaka, Lira, Soroti and Hoima) that became effective and operational on 1st
July 2020 and they will be considered due to their widespread population disaggregation by gender
and race and their varying housing levels. The Uganda Vision 2040 and third National
Development Plan for Uganda have recognized the importance of urbanization as a force for socio-
economic transformation across the country, and in particular the need for regional and strategic
cities beyond the capital to drive the urbanization agenda hence need for decent housing.

These cites operate under the Local Government Act and under the guidance of the National Urban
Policy. However, creating these cities was the first step – making them engines for growth and
“hubs of happiness” requires forward planning and proactive policies to enable job creation and
improving living standards. Decent housing and household finances will be key in this
urbanization.

The coordinates of Uganda has a latitude of 1.3733º N, and a longitude of 32.2903º E. The GPS
coordinates indicate that the Uganda is in the northern and eastern hemispheres. Uganda’s
neighbors include South Sudan to the north, Kenya to the east, Tanzania and Rwanda to the south
and Democratic Republic of Congo to the west and it’s on this background that the country has
been selected for the research study.

Significance of the Study

The study will be significant in the following ways:

Academia: It will benefit in terms of the enhanced understanding of the subject matter of Housing.
It will also add to the existing body of knowledge on Housing and Household finances.

Government: It will gain by knowing the gaps within the Housing systems in the areas of gender
and race issues, housing choices and mortgages so as to assess their effect on Household finances

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in the financial literacy, household wealth, financial portfolio allocation, retirement savings and
intra-household financial decision-making which in turn will aid informed decision making for the
betterment of the household finances for economic development.

When the Government improves its policies and the procedures of housing, this will lead to better
revenues. The information generated will be used by policy-makers, local government staffs and
other stakeholders in understanding the magnitude of the effect caused by housing hence finding
alternatives to overcome the problem which may lead to enhanced household finances thus
economic development.

Researchers: Will use this information for further understanding of the subject matter as well as
an entry point for further studies while carrying out research in the similar area, The study will be
of use to other stakeholders for example donors, lenders, NGO’s and others to analyze linkages
between decent housing and household finances.

Anticipated Constraints
The Researcher anticipates that policy makers and implementer’s will not give adequate
information due to suspicion that their information would fall in the hands of their detractors. The
researcher will have to emphasize and explain the confidentiality of the data which will be purely
for academic purposes and knowledge gap fulfillment. In case the respondents fail to give all the
information, focus group discussions, seminars, conferences may be considered desirable.

Conceptual Framework
Below is the diagrammatic presentation of the conceptual framework showing the independent
variable (Housing) and the dependent variable (Household finances)

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Independent Variable Dependable Variable

Decent Housing Household finances

 Gender & race issues
 Housing choices & mortgages
Moderating factors
Government policies and
laws
(Source: Developed by the Researcher)
 Financial literacy
 Household wealth
 Financial portfolio allocation
 Retirement savings
 Intra-Household financial decision
making

This study shall be guided by the conceptualization that if Housing is to be adequate; gender and
race issues, housing choices and mortgages will be key indicators of household finances being
guided by financial literacy, household wealth, financial portfolio allocation, retirement savings
and intra-household financial decision-making. However, Government policies and laws will be
considered as an important intervening variable in this study because of its cross cutting nature but
as well as its unavoidable nature.

All the study variables both independent variable (Decent Housing), dependent variable,
(Household finances) and the intervening variable; Government policies and laws will be
measured using descriptive statistics, presented as mean, standard deviation and percentages and
interpreted using the Mean Range of a 5-point Likert Scale, where 5 = Strongly Agree, 4 = Agree,
3 Not sure, 2 = Disagree through to 1 = Strongly Disagree. (Olle & Katarina, 2005). This data will
be interpreted using the Mean Range of Likert Scale as below;
Table showing the Mean Range of Likert scale
S/no Description Mean Range Scale Interpretation
1 Strongly Agree 4.20 – 5.00 5 Very High
2 Agree 3.40 – 4.20 4 High
3 Not Sure 2.60 – 3.40 3 Moderate
4 Disagree 1.80 – 2.60 2 Low
5 Strongly Disagree 1.00 – 1.80 1 Very Low
Source: The Researcher

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 Literature Review
Introduction
This chapter is designed to review literature on relevant concepts and theories relating to the
research. The chapter provides a theoretical structure of the research highlighting on the vital and
relevant definitions, explanations and concepts. Among these concepts and issues are definitions
and the historical background of the key terms; financial literacy, household wealth, financial
portfolio allocation, gender and race issues, housing choices and mortgages, retirement savings,
intra-household financial decision-making. The legal framework and the constitutional provision
that support the key terms.

It will present related scholarly work on l decent housing on household finances. Information
presented will be obtained from previous studies, articles, journals, published and unpublished
works, academic and conference presentations as well as written records or even government
reports. The review will follow the objectives of the study.

The Housing Situation (1960’s to 1980’s) Housing Situation (1960’s to 1980’s)

Dating back to the mid and late sixties, a time when Uganda had just attained her independence,
government set up three institutions to deal with the increasing demand for housing caused by
rapid urbanization8. These were: The National Housing and Construction Company (NHCC) that
was charged with building houses in response to the demand; The Housing Finance Company of
Uganda (HFCU) [now the Housing Finance Bank (HFB)] that was charged with providing related
mortgage finance; and The National Insurance Corporation (NIC) that was charged with providing
insurance services. To further boost the operations of these institutions, government established
the Social Security Fund [now the National Social Security Fund (NSSF)] in 1967 to provide
pensions and other security services. With the assistance from NIC, the Security Fund mobilized
long-term savings that were intermediated by HFCU and other financial institutions to provide
mortgage finance.

The primary function of these establishments was to create a credible housing industry in which
houses would be built and sold to the public in addition to housing citizens employed in the public
and civil service. For those that could not afford and those not employed in civil or public service,

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especially the poor, they took up dwelling in the underdeveloped parts of urban centers
consequently creating informal settlements that are visible to date.

Regrettably, decades of economic instability and political turmoil that befell the country, starting
in the early 1970s, interrupted the evolution of a strong housing industry. This was during the Idi
Amin regime when the Asian commercial class and major international real estate contractors,
including those from Israel, left the country. More informal settlements have since emerged due
to an increasing population, largely dominated by low income earners and also the poor
management the above institutions that had set a firm platform for the growth of the housing
industry. One prominent example of informal settlements are the tenements (mizigo) which consist
of either a one stand-alone room or as connected building extensions of many commercial premises
with an occupancy of up to seven adults9. Tenements meet the housing needs of low income
earners.

The Housing Situation Today

The country has since 1986 made considerable strides in rebuilding its housing industry. While it
is admitted that the formal housing industry is still small, it has gradually grown from one largely
controlled by the government to one that is now market and private sector driven. In the last five
years, the industry experienced an average record growth rate of 7%, with the exception of 2000/1
which recorded a 1.8% growth rate. A number of reforms like the review of the National Shelter
Strategy of 1992 and the formation of a land tenure legal framework have continued to inform and
guide the reconstruction of housing industry. These have encouraged home ownership in addition
to improving housing facilities especially in the central region (Kalema S.W. 2005).

In spite of this, the country still has very limited organized housing developments leading to the
prevalence of slum dwellings especially in urban settlements. The growth of slums (to cater for
poor and disadvantaged members of the community) combined with random and unplanned
construction by the higher and middle class in residential areas has created a stock of houses that
can neither be easily accessed nor marketed. It should also be noted that there has been a high
demand for rental housing as opposed to home ownership over the last five years. The number of
Ugandans renting houses in urban areas has increased from 28% in 2002 to about 70% in 2007.

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This and a number of other factors have provided a strong impetus for commercial banks to enter
the housing finance sector and develop it further. Twelve (12) commercial banks’ mortgage
lending has since 2002 grown at about 45% annually (Kasekende L., Atingu-Ego M., Sebudde
K.R. 2002).

At the micro level, the last ten years have seen an expansion of the micro-finance industry with
more links growing between Micro-Finance Institutions (MFIs) and major commercial banks.
With the exception of Uganda Microfinance Limited, which offers direct loans for home
improvement, other MFIs have been doing some form of consumption lending which has
unconsciously gone towards home improvements. This has enabled a considerable number of low
income earners to finance their housing needs.

Housing Policy
Since the 1960s, four major policies have been pursued by succeeding governments to enhance
the quality and quantity of housing facilities in the country. These policies have consecutively
informed and guided the country’s housing industry to one that now recognizes the role of the
private sector in developing this industry. They have however not remarkably improved on the
standards of industry as most of them were endorsed to specifically respond to the deteriorating
situations in the housing sector than to credibly transform the whole industry as is shown below.

The land tenure system and the constitutional legal framework of the 1960s were among the first
regulations made to address the increasing housing demand in the country. Boosted by policies
like the “move to the left” outlined in the Common Man’s Charter under the Obote I regime, they
reaffirmed government’s role in the provision of housing and as a result, a greater role for provision
of urban housing was assigned to public entities including the NHCC (Kasekende L., Atingu-Ego
M., Sebudde K.R. 2002).

The National Human Settlement Policy was the second policy pursued by government to further
improve on the social economic status of its citizens. It was drafted in 1979 to improve on access
to infrastructure and services and to provide adequate residential land and plots in urban areas. The
policy was implemented through two projects; the upgrading of Namuwongo low-cost housing in

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Kampala and the Masese Women’s Self-Help housing projects in Jinja. Unfortunately, efforts of
this policy were not long-lived as the land tenure system and the subsequent fall of the economy
in the 1970s and 1980s marked a decline in government’s central role in the provision of decent
housing and promoting housing investment till the 1990s (William Kalema; 2005).

In 1992, government adopted the National Shelter Strategy (NSS) which comprised of the National
Housing Policy and a program for the improvement of housing conditions to ensure adequate
shelter for all by 2000. The NSS was based on an “enabling approach” where government only
played the role of facilitator as well as regulator. Through the NSS, government attempted to
identify and removed stumbling blocks that hindered housing development through encouraging
private sector participation in the development of the housing industry (Ricks Kayizzi, 2007).

Bank of Uganda Supervision Function Annual Report, 2004, made comparison to the two previous
policies, the NSS was more specific to the housing needs of the country. Under this policy,
Government was able to put in place a legal and regulatory framework addressing the land tenure
(and security of the tenure); encourage the acquisition of private home ownership and improve
access to housing on a self-financing recovery basis. Efforts of this policy were further boosted by
the enactment of the 1998 Land Act, the condominium Act and in the promotion of house financing
environment and facilities. Notwithstanding the above, the NSS did not address the housing needs
of the urban poor sufficiently. As a facilitator and sector regulator, government did not adequately
address the housing needs of its citizens across all income categories. Only two income groups
were strongly advantaged; the affluent and the middle income earners who have gradually put
pressure on urban shelter through privatization. Through the Condominium Act, these two groups
were able to buy a pool of houses in areas of Kololo, Naguru, Bugolobi, and Nakasero at exorbitant
costs that the urban poor could not afford.

Buying a home is among the most significant and expensive transactions in the lifetime of a family.
When viewed as a purely investment asset, home ownership appears quite risky. The highly
leveraged position that a household typically takes in the form of mortgage debt amplifies the
effect of house price volatility on its balance sheet. Housing, however, also constitutes a major
expense for households that are renting. Englund et al. (2002) report that in Western Europe and

15
North America the average household spends 25 to 35 percent of its income on housing services,
a share that is even larger for young families.

When viewed as durable consumption goods, homes guarantee a continuous stream of housing
services to prospective buyers in exchange for a known up-front price. Sinai and Souleles (2005)
argue that all households are born “short” on housing services since they have to live somewhere,
and homes can be viewed as long-lived assets that provide stochastic dividends equal to future
rents. Home ownership, thus, serves as a hedge against rent risk because an increase or decrease
in rent would be offset by the commensurate appreciation or depreciation of home values and home
ownership is directly related to the level of financial literacy of the homeowner.

Financial literacy
Financial literacy is the knowledge of how to make smart decisions with money. This includes
preparing a budget, knowing how much to save, deciding favorable loan terms, understanding the
impacts on credit, and distinguishing different vehicles used for retirement.

From about 2000 to 2022, financial products and services have become increasingly widespread
throughout society. Whereas earlier generations of U.S. residents may have purchased goods
primarily in cash, various credit products are popular today, such as credit and debit cards and
electronic transfers, Zeller et al. (1997),. A 2021 survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of San
Francisco revealed that 28% of all payments were via credit card, with only 20% being made in
cash.

Being financially illiterate can lead to many pitfalls, such as being more likely to accumulate
unsustainable debt burdens, either through poor spending decisions or a lack of long-term
preparation. This, in turn, can lead to poor credit, bankruptcy, housing foreclosure, and other
negative consequences. Financial literacy can cover short-term financial strategy as well as long-
term financial strategy, and which strategy you take will depend on several factors, such as your
age, time horizon, and risk tolerance. Financial literacy encompasses knowing how investment
decisions made today will impact your tax liabilities in the future.

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In its "Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2022" report, the U.S. Federal Reserve
System Board of Governors found that many Americans are unprepared for retirement. Twenty-
eight percent indicated that they have no retirement savings, and about 31% of those not yet retired
felt that their retirement savings are on track. Among those who have self-directed retirement
savings, about 63% admitted to feeling low levels of confidence in making retirement decisions?
In Uganda most players in the formal and informal sectors grapple with the pervasive challenge of
financial illiteracy. Countless businesses fail to mark their fifth (5th) anniversaries due to cancerous
effects of financial management driven by unchecked expenses that stem from impulsive decision
making this makes Uganda to become mid income country (Beck. T 2013)

Holistically, the benefit of financial literacy is to empower individuals to make smarter decisions.
More specifically, financial literacy is important for a number of reasons; financial literacy can
prevent devastating mistakes; financial literacy prepares people for emergencies; financial
literacy can help individuals reach their goals and financial literacy invokes confidence.

Household wealth
Household wealth or net worth is the value of assets owned by every member of the household
minus their debt. The terms are used interchangeably in this report. Assets include owned homes,
vehicles, financial accounts, retirement accounts, stocks, bonds and mutual funds, and more.

Asset allocation
Asset allocation is how investors split up their portfolios among different kinds of assets. The three
main asset classes are equities, fixed income, and cash and cash equivalents. Each asset class has
different risks and return potential, so each will behave differently over time.

Housing is one of the most urgent public policy issues in the UK and the causes and impacts of
this crisis are gendered. Women’s lower incomes relative to men’s and their lower levels of wealth
mean they are less able to afford housing. Their care responsibilities mean women have specific
needs when securing a suitable home for themselves and their children ((Agbola et al., 2017;
Banerjee et al., 2015).

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Housing is a core aspect of people’s lives and it determines many other aspects: who they interact
with, their social networks, their community involvement and their job and education
opportunities. It also has an impact on people’s health from its different dimensions: poor housing
conditions contribute many preventable diseases such as respiratory and nervous damage, but
instability and insecurity of tenure and the financial toll of high housing costs can also have a
significant negative impact on people’s mental and consequently physical health. Currently we are
facing problems on all three fronts.

On housing conditions, even though improvements have been made in recent years, still a fifth of
homes in the UK are considered non-decent (that is, the home is not in a reasonable state of repair,
doesn’t have reasonably modern facilities and services, or has ineffective insulation or heating).
Private-rented homes are more likely to be in a poor condition (25%) than owner-occupied (19%)
or social-rented homes (13%). On insecurity of tenure, an increasing proportion of people are
renting through the market and for longer periods in life – each cohort of adults since the 1990s
has been less likely and slower than their predecessor to enter home ownership. 20% of people are
living in privately rented homes, double the proportion from 20 years ago. The private-rented
sector is characterized by short-term contracts, arbitrary rent increases and short-notice evictions.
This is in addition to higher likelihood of non-decent homes. This results in housing insecurity, as
private renters may face a move out at any point in the near future, with the consequent change in
job opportunities and social networks that follows.

Affordability is also a pressing issue for both private renters and owners buying with mortgages.
Housing prices have increased much faster than wages, with housing affordability ratios doubling
in parts of the country in the last two decades. Two main issues have contributed to worsening
housing affordability: the dwindling number of social housing units and the financialisation of the
housing market

The Value Chain for Affordable Housing Supply

“Value chain” is a term used to describe the network of closely interrelated actors whose
collaborative action and relationships make it possible to develop products for a specific consumer
in the framework of this study, such products are housing assets for low-income populations. When

18
looking at value chains in the construction sector, a marked tendency for waste and inefficiency is
exposed, which clearly demonstrates the potential for logistical optimization. Many studies have
been conducted which attempt to identify the challenges hindering the supply side of construction
value chains and to propose innovative means for changing the practice. For example, challenges
have been discussed in relation to fostering collaborative working, improving workflow
sequencing and project management, introducing modern construction methods, embracing the
full potential of IT-based technologies, implementing health and safety reforms, implementing
corporate social responsibility practices, and embedding environmental sustainability principles in
building design and construction, such as reusing recycled building materials, minimizing
construction waste, and adopting green building technologies (Cheng, X., & Degryse, H. (2010).

According to Zeller et al. (1997), household savings reduce disposable income and consumption
in the current period but increase it for future periods. For food-insecure households, savings in
the form of cash, food, and other assets are an important means of self-insurance against both
anticipated and unexpected times of food insecurity. Household borrowing increases current
disposable income at the expense of available income in future periods. Household borrowing
enables investment in education

Access to finance has been shown to get the poor out of poverty by raising household incomes and
consumption (Agbola et al., 2017; Banerjee et al., 2015; Chen & Snodgrass, 2001; Dunn &
Arbuckle Jr, 2001; Dupas & Robinson, 2013; Hossain, 1988; Karlan & Zinman, 2011; Khandker,
2001; Pitt & Khandker, 1996; Stewart et al., 2010; Wright, 2011). Access to finance has been
shown to improve educational attainment and improved health status (Pitt et al., 1999; Pitt &
Khandker, 1996). In general, access to microfinance reduces poverty by increasing incomes, health
care, nutrition and education attainment, and women empowerment (Bhatt & Tang, 2001; Cheng
& Degryse, 2010; Collins et al., 2010; Dunford, 2001; Hartarska & Nadolnyak, 2008; Hermes &
Lensink, 2011; Khandker, 2005; Morduch, 1998, 2000) and hence better housing and household
income.

Unequivocal evidence has been offered which demonstrates that the affordable housing gap is
enormous and represents a global issue affecting urbanized areas in both advanced and developing
economies. In addition, with affordable housing needs remaining unmet, the body of evidence

19
currently available also tends to suggest that the global value chain for affordable homes is affected
by inefficiencies which are in turn damaging the performance of the provision system. In the light
of these developments, the ambition of the UN to ensure access for all too adequate, safe, and
affordable housing by 2030 seems at risk, and mapping the existing inefficiencies is key to
informing stakeholders within the value chain about the means available to manage this risk and
tailor mitigation strategies.

In Uganda it is evident that commercial banks and traditional microfinance institutions cannot
reach very many poor households due to the costs involved with borrowing. Poor households
instead turn to semiformal financial institutions for services. According to the Uganda 2018
FinScope Survey (FSD Uganda, 2018), there are still many challenges to increasing the breadth
and depth of formal financial inclusion in Uganda due to supply and demand factors. Supply side
factors include the high transaction costs incurred by commercial banks and traditional
microfinance institutions in serving rural areas. These transaction costs, most often than not,
prevent these formal financial institutions from increasing their penetration of the rural areas in
terms of depth and outreach.

The demand factors include that fact that most adult Ugandans rely on relatively unstable sources
of income in terms of cash flow. These type of individuals do save and borrow small amounts and
prefer highly liquid assets (FSD Uganda, 2018). Therefore there has evolved a system of
semiformal organizations to fulfill the needs of poor households with less costly transaction costs.
These include Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs), Rotating and Savings Credit
Associations (ROSCAs) and Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs). For instance, VSLAs
have been making efforts in Uganda to improve poor households’ access to credit by creating
groups of people who can pool their savings in order to have a source of lending funds. ROSCAs
too provide opportunities to save and borrow. However, they do not allow savers to earn interest
on their deposits. ROSCAs do not provide a means for borrowing at will because though each
member makes a regular deposit to the common fund, only one lottery-selected member is able to
keep the proceeds from each meeting.

Wealth inequality has been widening and becoming an increasingly greater concern around the
world (Piketty, 2014). Particularly, when it comes to income inequality, CEO pay is a popular

20
target for politicians, media, and activists that advocate equality. Despite a significant interest in
capturing the inefficiencies of construction supply chains, no wide-ranging investigations have
been conducted yet which offer a holistic understanding of the main sector-specific barriers which
affect affordable housing design and construction. Only a few scientific studies can be identified
which share an interest in understanding the barriers to affordable housing provision, but they are
somewhat narrow, especially in terms of the knowledge which they offer.

This paper aims to widen the scope of the investigation and to offer a broader picture by building
on research on housing affordability conducted by the World Economic Forum, which
recommends adopting a value chain approach. This approach requires mapping the challenges to
affordable housing onto the supply side of the affordable housing value chain, which can be broken
down into six value-adding activities. The process of delivering affordable housing starts with the
development of national housing policy settings, in which central governments define the required
levels of affordable housing provision, as well as the supporting schemes and programs which are
expected to help the country deliver on the expected targets.

The national policy guides the network of stakeholders operating in the affordable housing value
chain, and its directions inform the urban planning systems which local public authorities shape to
coordinate affordable housing practice in cities and regions. In accordance with national and local
land use regulations, local public authorities are also required to collaborate with private sector
actors in order to assemble and allocate suitable land for affordable housing developments.

After completing the land assembly process, utility companies and public service providers create
the public infrastructure assets for community development which are essential in increasing
affordable housing provision. Examples of public infrastructure assets include utility services,
transport infrastructure, schools, and open spaces, as well as community, health, and leisure
services. Housing developers, together with their subcontractors, are then called to organize and
execute the design and construction phase of affordable dwellings, which are allocated, managed,
and maintained by independent, not-for-profit organizations which provide homes for people in
housing need. These organizations generally belong to the housing association sector.

In addition to the attention paid to financial literacy, policy makers with responsibility for financial
consumers are also becoming increasingly aware of the importance of assessing financial

21
resilience and its opposite, financial fragility, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and
the increased cost-of-living faced by consumers in many countries. The 2020 OECD/INFE
International Survey of Adult Financial Literacy, for example, includes a whole chapter on
resilience (OECD, 2020b), while the G20 Global Partnership on Financial Inclusion (GPFI) has
updated its financial inclusion action plan and monitored the resilience of migrants, micro, small
and medium enterprises and other potentially vulnerable group during the worst of the pandemic.

Several studies have identified indicators that can be used to quantify current levels of resilience
or fragility considering the potential impact of financial shocks (Bialowolski, Weziak-
Bialowolska, and McNeely 2021; CFPB 2022; OECD 2020a; UK Office for National Statistics
2020) or the ability to cope financially when faced with a sudden fall in income or unavoidable
rise in expenditure (Financial Capability, 2019). Such information is beneficial both for policy
makers seeking to implement evidence-based policies that support vulnerable consumers and for
academics developing deeper understanding of the underlying concepts. Financial knowledge is
important because it influences financial behaviors and practices. For example, high levels of
financial knowledge are associated with better financial behaviors and practices, whereas low
levels of financial knowledge place individuals at risk of financial insecurity and poverty (Collins,
2013; Grinstein-Weiss, Guo, Reinertson, & Russell, 2015; Hui, Nguyen, Palameta, & Gyarmati,
2016; Xiao, Chen, & Chen, 2014). Important for deontological social workers, evidence suggests
that older adults have lower levels of financial knowledge than other age groups (Finke, Howe, &
Huston, 2011; Lusardi & Mitchell, 2011a, 2011b; Lusardi, Mitchell, & Curto, 2012) making them
particularly vulnerable to financial insecurity and exploitation (Lusardi, 2012).

As a consequence, concerted efforts have been made to increase financial knowledge in older age
through educational seminars (e.g. retirement planning) and workshops. While these efforts are
important, they presume that individuals accurately assess their need for more financial knowledge
and see guidance and assistance as required. However, to date, no research has examined the
relationship between perception of financial knowledge and actual knowledge across the life
course. Research indicates that more financially resilient households are more likely to report
financial satisfaction and general wellbeing, as well as better mental and physical health
(Bialowolski et al., 2021; Taft, Hosein, Mehrizi, and Roshan, 2013; Wilson, Lee, Fitzgerald,

22
Oosterhoff, Sevi, and Shook, 2020). European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions
(EU-SILC) confirm this pattern in Cyprus, showing a general improvement in households’ ability
to make ends meet between 2013 and 2018 and the largest increase in both general life satisfaction
and financial satisfaction and across the EU-27.

Even so, it seems that many people in Cyprus have been living day by day. Whilst about 30%
across the EU reported that they would not be able to cover an unexpected mid-size expense euros
in 2019, in Cyprus this situation was a reality for almost half of all households (47.6%). Evidently,
few households had created a rainy-day fund, and financial fragility was a problem even before
the COVID-19 pandemic.

The sudden negative shock on people’s wealth and the scale of the change brought about by the
COVID-19 pandemic left consumers in a precarious situation. In Cyprus, sectors such as tourism
and hospitality were particularly badly hit by the travel restrictions intended to reduce the spread
of the virus, leading to a significant drop in income. By 2021, almost one in five people in Cyprus
had resorted to borrowing to make ends meet, and a further 23% reported that they were extremely
concerned about being able to pay their bills the following month, according to EU-SILC data.
These results echo a Euro found survey, which reported that in the first quarter of 2021, one in five
households in Cyprus were having difficulty meeting their financial obligations; significantly
higher than the EU-27 average of 12%.

More so, financial development involves the meticulous interaction of financial instruments,
institutions, and markets to mitigate the costs of information, transactions, and contract
enforcement in the financial system. It invigorates the efficiency of the financial sector to reinforce
economic growth through resource allocation and technological advancement. Rajan and Zingales
(1998) illustrate that sustainable financial development aids in (i) abating poverty and inequality
by allowing the access of financial services to the poor and underprivileged; (ii) advancing risk
management by mitigating the susceptibility to shocks; (iii) augmenting investment and
productivity; and (iv) invigorating robust financial policies and regulatory infrastructure to contain
shock to the economic system.

23
The predominantly Muslim majority countries are in dire need of financial development (Ray and
Kamal, 2019). Apart from Albania and Turkey, which are part of the global North, the rest of the
Muslim world accounts for 28.86 per cent of the global South population. In light of this backdrop,
'Islamic' finance (IF) is extolled as a way forward to bring those economies about parity with the
global North (Abedifar et al., 2015; Lai, 2015). This movement towards Islamization of financial
services advocated by cadres of political Islam and religious scholars under the pretext of a more
equitable economic order is marching ahead quite resolutely with an average annual growth rate
of 8.3 per cent. It is estimated to have surpassed $2 trillion in 2017.

However, one of the largest political arenas with among the highest stakes, is the international
state-to-state political sphere. Further, how national governments deal with each other often trickle
down and spill over to businesses. Take for instance how US-China relations have recently soured
leading to substantial trade tariffs in 2018 followed by numerous cases of sanctions and restrictions
on the activities of various related businesses, also in asset markets

If a defined contribution (DC) pension plan is well designed, it will be a single, integrated financial
product that delivers, at reasonable cost to the plan member, a pension that provides a high degree
of retirement income security. This pension should provide an adequate replacement income for
the remaining life of the plan member (and possibly also a spouse or partner) and should remove
the risk that the member outlives his or her resources.

A well-designed plan will therefore be designed from back to front, that is, from desired outputs
to required inputs (see Blake 2008). Corporate reputation is widely viewed by organizational
theorists, sociologists, and information economists as an intangible asset that helps firms to attract
investors, employees, and consumers (Fombrun, 2012), and creates accountability (Carroll and
Olegario, 2020).

If the researched components are not put in practice, several of these communities are at high risk
of being lured into drug abuse, sexual exploitation, labor exploitation and risk of committing
suicide or joining criminal and rebel groups. This on ground practical research on housing and
household finances could be the long term of eradicating the knowledge gaps as mentioned in the

24
problem statement. Entrepreneurship training package that will empower the beneficiaries with
technical and financial literacy skills, emotional/psycho-social health supports, mentoring
opportunity and tailored start up packages to prepare, hence the research study.

Providing empirical insights into how households make major financial decisions is an important
task for further research. The issue is particularly salient given lessons about poor financial
decision-making gained in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), and the consequent
focus of policy-makers on improving household decision-making (Agarwal and Mazumder, 2013).
Central to this understanding is being able to further open the household ‘black-box’ by directly
observing how decision-making responsibility is allocated within couples, and investigating how
this allocation may shift in response to household shocks and changes in the economic position of
each partner.

Household behavior has traditionally been analyzed under the assumption that house-holds
maximize a single utility function subject to a budget constraint. Neoclassical utility theory
developed to describe individual behavior, however, does not acknowledge the possibility that
households may consist of individuals with heterogeneous preferences. These so-called ‘unitary’
utility household models assume that households act like a single decision maker, in which the
decision-maker for example is a “benevolent patriarch” as in Becker (1974) or acts based on a
household welfare function as in Samuelson (1956) (Chiappori and Meghir, 2014). Because it is
assumed that resources are pooled, decision making does not depend on the distribution of
household resources between household members.

Many studies have found evidence that household outcomes and behavior depend on who has
control over the decisions. Women often have a higher preference for investments in health,
education of their children and housing (Thomas, 1990; Ashraf, 2009) and are more risk averse
with investments (Dohmen et al., 2011; Sunden and Surette, 1998; Barber and Odean, 2001; Halko
et al., 2012). Hence the common view is that be-cause who receives the income matters, pooling
and therewith the unitary model can be rejected (Browning et al., 1994)

25
 METHODOLOGY
Introduction
This chapter explains the material procedures and methods that will be followed in collecting data
for the research. It also explains the research design that will be used, area the study will cover,
the study population, sample size and sampling techniques, instruments that will be used to collect
data and how data collected will be coded and analyzed and limitation of the study.

Research Design and Methodology

To achieve the research objectives, a survey will be conducted. The developed questionnaire will
be administered among respondents. The survey sample will consist of residents aged between 18
and 65 years old who live in this cities, who comprise the largest part of the working age
population. The age group is chosen because most of the youths fall in that categories who can
read and write for the better part of the research. The coverage number of households will be
sufficiently large for the population characteristics.

To ensure a nationally representative sample, the survey data will be collected from a stratified
random sample of units that have been selected with known probabilities of selection from the
population. No data weighting will be applied in the reported analyses because the survey’s sample
is relatively well balanced in terms of gender and age composition. However, calibrated weights
using predefined population marginal (strata, gender, age, education) are also calculated for
robustness checks (not reported for brevity). Admittedly, the weighted estimation of the Housing
and household finances differs only marginally from the unweighted one.

The study will be conducted using the descriptive research design and it will employ both
quantitative and qualitative research approaches. According to Amin (2005), this design will help
in generalization of findings. A correlation research design will also be used to establish the
relationship between decent housing and household finances as well as the effect of governance
on the relationship between decent housing and household finances (Oso & Onen, 2008). The
quantitative research approaches will allow for generation of statistical information while the
qualitative research approaches will help provide a full description and explanation of the

26
respondents feeling and perceptions about the decent housing and its effect on and household
finances.

Locale of the Study

This study will be carried out in ten (10) new cities in Uganda selecting one cell (village) each in
of these cities. Uganda, popularly known as the 'The Pearl of Africa' is located in East Africa and
lies astride the equator. It is a land-locked country bordered by Kenya in the east, Tanzania in the
south, Rwanda in the south west, Democratic Republic of Congo in the west, and Sudan and South
Sudan in the North.

Population of the Study

The study population will comprise of the selected cells by use of random sampling technique
from all the 10 new cites, each household within the cell will have a respondent to be interviewed
with the questionnaire that will be designed as an instrument to get the result and thereafter coded.,
policy makers, households, staff from mayors and town clerk office and some political leaders will
make the population of the respondents from which the above samples shall be drawn.
Table 1: Showing the Population and Sample Size by Category
S/no. Categories Population (N) Sample (s) Technique

1 Household in cells Purposive

2 Policy Makers Purposive
3 Mayor/Town clerk staff Purposive
4 City Political leaders Purposive
Total
N = Population of respondents, S = Sample size, Source: Morgan, Daryle

Sample size
The sample size will be determined using the Cochran’s sample size formula for categorical data.
Cochran’s (1977) formula uses two key factors: (1) the risk the researcher is willing to accept in
the study, commonly called the margin of error, or the error the researcher is willing to accept, and
(2) the alpha level, the level of acceptable risk the researcher is willing to accept that the true

27
margin of error exceeds the acceptable margin of error that is the probability that differences
revealed by statistical analyses really do not exist;

S= Z2pq

e2

Source: Cochran’s formula (1977)

This is how the researcher will get the respondents for sampling from the population
Where:
S=sample size
e=design effect term (margin of error at 5% will be considered)
Z=normal distributed statistics (critical value at 95%)
p=probability of selecting a person who has been affected by household Finances in urban cities.
q= (1-p), probability of selecting a person who has not been affected by Finances in urban cities,
level of significance
According to Cochran’s (1977), the critical value of z, with a population (N), with 95% confidence
interval and margin of error of 5% will be calculated. The minimum of sample size will thus be
calculated from the table above (table 1). The statistical technique will then be used to obtain the
actual sample from each category of respondents.

Sampling techniques
The study will use the stratified sampling technique to categorize the study respondents. The
respondents will be stratified into homogenous strata. Thereafter, the simple systematic sampling
technique will be used to select respondents. The random techniques will be used so as to help
avoid biasness among the selected respondents hence giving each member an equal chance to
participate in the study. The purposive technique will also be used to select the political leaders,
household members and policy makers. Simple Random technique will be also important were
necessary.

28
Methods and tools of data collection
The study will obtain data from both primary and secondary sources. Primary data will be collected
from respondents while secondary data will be collected from documentations like journals,
newspapers etc and written materials. The data collection methods and tools that will be used are;
key informant interview guide and semi-structured questionnaire. While primary data will be
collected using questionnaires with both open and closed ended questions administered by research
assistants, person to person interviews will be used to gather data from key informants by the
researcher. However the researcher will also read Journal Articles, Books, News Articles, and
Annual Reports among others to extract relevant information to enhance the study.

Validity and reliability of research tools

Validity
Validity will be established by designing the data collection tools which will then be administered
to experts, lecturers and academicians to comment on the appropriateness of the items. They will
be asked to indicate which items on the tools are relevant and which ones are irrelevant. Validity
is the extent to which research results can be accurately interpreted and generalized to other
populations. It is the extent to which research instruments measure what they are intended to
measure. The expert will evaluate the relevance of each instrument to the objectives and rate each
on the scale of very relevant (4), quite relevant (3), somewhat relevant (2) and not relevant (1).
The items to be rated are 3 or 4 by the experts divided by total number of items in the
questionnaires. The irrelevant ones will be amended before the actual tools are used. The validity
of the test instruments will be ascertained by discussing the test instruments with the supervisors
and the Content Validity Index – CVI (α) calculated until α ≥ 0.7 is attained hence according to
Amin (2005) is the lowest acceptable index value for a valid test instrument.

CVI (α) = (Number of items considered valid on the test instrument) / (Total number of items on
the Test instrument)

Validity refers to the review of the tools being used for data collection on effect of local revenue
mobilization on service delivery. The degree to which a researcher concludes about the
relationships in the data is reasonable.

29
Reliability

On the part of reliability, the tools will be administered to respondents of the same characteristics
to answer the questions. The data will then be pretested to ensure the reliability of the tools in
capturing the required data. The reliability of instruments will be established by test and retest
method where 5 questionnaires will be administered to 15 respondents from each three cells in
Kampala capital city where the same respondents can be found since they have the same pattern
of housing, and after 5 days, a new set of the same questionnaires will be administered to the same
respondents and the results compared for consistency. This will be supported by calculating the
Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient using SPSS version 16 and the whole process repeated until
Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient (α) ≥ 0.7, the acceptable minimum value for a reliable test
instrument (George & Mallery, 2003)

Data management, Data Processing, Data Analysis and Data Interpretation

The data will be collected, processed, analyzed and interpreted according to the research questions.
The data from the interviews will be interpreted and discussed alongside with that from the
questionnaires. The quantitative data will be analyzed using descriptive method and the results
will be presented in form of tables, in line with the research objectives and questions and the
category of the respondents in the study. The responses from the various categories will be
computed into frequencies and percentages for data interpretation in relation to the study to
establish how decent Housing affects Household finances in urban cities of Uganda.

The researcher will use Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS Version 16) to analyze the
data where objectives 1, 2 and 3 will be analyzed using the descriptive statistics, presented as
means, standard deviation, percentages and interpreted using the Mean Range of Likert scale
whereas objective 4 will be analyzed using Pearson Correlation Analysis so as to establish the
relationship between Decent Housing and Household finances and the extent of the relationship
between the two variables will be established using Linear Regression Analysis. Pearson
Correlation Analysis will also be used to establish the effect of Government policies and laws on
the relationship between Decent Housing and Household finances whereas Linear Regression
Analysis will be used to establish the extent of this effect.

30
Research data shall be in digital or non-digital formats. This could include: Audio, video, and
images or photographs, Text documents and spreadsheets, Code, scripts, models, and software,
Protocols and methodologies, Specimens and samples, Collections of digital objects, Lab
notebooks, field notes, and diaries, Questionnaires and codebooks, Interview schedules and
transcripts, Test responses, Slides, artefacts, specimens, samples and Databases.

Data Analysis

Data after being collected will be put together by the researcher. The researcher will then check it
for completeness and consistence while identifying answers which are similar. The responses will
be coded into a code frame. Analysis will then be done using the Statistical Packages for Social
Scientists software (SPSS). Multivariate analysis will be done to determine any relationship and
patterns among the responses. Data will then be presented in tabular forms or figures showing
percentages and frequencies.

Data management plan

This will include staff time, software, technology, and resources to make the data more open for
the research. The data management costing tool will be as below (table 2)

File types and format

The data will be collected in quantitative, text, video, and code, in file formats and software, lab
notebooks

Documentation and metadata

Documentation and quality assurance strategies for each type of data during collection and analysis
will be done and will consider using a file naming a community agreed upon specification for
structuring data and documentation.

Storage, security and IP

Research data should will be kept on University storage. No local hard drives, portable storage
devices, laptops, and tablets for storage to reduce the risk of accidental loss shall not be maintained.
No third party storage like Dropbox, Google drive, etc. will not be used as less protection will not
be secure than University storage.

31
The data management will be summarized as below
Activity Comments and suggestions Tick Cost
Data description
Data cleaning
Documentation
Metadata
Formatting and organizing
Transcription
Digitization
File format
Data storage
Data transfer and access
Data backup
Data security
Consent for data sharing
Anonymization
Copyright
Data sharing
Roles and responsibilities
Operationalizing data management

Research ethics and Procedures

Research ethics provides guidelines for the responsible conduct of research. Since this is an
academic research, key ethical issues must be handled which will educate and monitor the
researcher to ensure a high ethical standard. The following principles will be at the fore of the
researchers guide; Honesty. Objectivity. Integrity. Carefulness, Openness, Respect for Intellectual
Property, Confidentiality, Responsible Publication, Responsible Mentoring, Respect for
Colleagues, Social Responsibility, Non-Discrimination, Competence,
Legality, Animal Care and Human Subjects Protection

The researcher will first obtain a letter of introduction from the university which will be presented
to different authorities to seek permission to collect data. The respondents will also be required to
participate voluntarily in the study without any coercion whatsoever. The responses given will be

32
treated with utmost confidentiality. All participants in the research have the right to remain
anonymous, that their identities are salient features in the study. The ethical problems in this study
are privacy and confidentiality, access to specific documents among others which are below. With
the introduction letter attached to the questionnaires the researcher will assure the respondents of
confidentiality so that they will be in position to give the necessary and required information for
the research.

Gannt charts

Year of study Tasks/activities Start and end dates

Module 1 August 2024
Module 2 November 2024
Module 3 February 2025
Year 1
Module 4 May 2025
Concept note January 2026
Comprehensive exam May 2026
Proposal defense September 2026
Business management case study October – December 2026
Journal article 1 submitted to a journal February 2027
Year 2 Data collection and cleaning for dissertation March – June 2027
Data analysis July -September 2027
First conference paper presented October 2027
First draft submitted November 2027
Second conference paper presented February 2028
Two journal articles submitted to journals March 2028
Year 3
Revision and finalization of manuscript April 2024 - January 2029
PhD viva March 2029

33
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