The urban poor live in a cash economy and purchase processed foods rather than growing their own. Livelihood opportunities are limited. Environmental conditions in cities can be a major constraint, particularly the level of crowding and poor sanitation. Informal safety nets to help the vulnerable such as kinship and community networks are different in urban areas. Increasingly people in Accra earn their living from informal wage labor or self-employment, rather than from formal jobs in the private, government, or parastatal sectors.
Education makes an important difference in income levels.
Households headed by persons with a high-school education or better are much more likely to have secure employment for wages. The study finds that men and women earn income very differently in Accra. By 1997 the ratio was seven to one. To make ends meet, both men and women seek to diversify their income-earning activities, but most had limited success in doing so in the 30 days before the survey. Livelihoods in Accra have been under pressure for years as the traditional ways of earning a living among the indigenous Ga people farming and fishing have declined, owing to competition for land use and depletion of fish.