Self-reliance is not one condition that can be captured by a single number. The Refugee Self-Reliance Initiative’s Self-Reliance Index (SRI) measures progress over time across 12 domains covering basic needs, resources, and sustainability. The index was first launched in 2020 and has since been deployed by 70 agencies in 34 countries, according to the RSRI Self-Reliance Index page.
Contents
- What the Self-Reliance Index measures
- Housing, food, education, and health
- Safety, employment, and financial resources
- Assistance, debt, and savings
- Social capital and community support
- How to read the scores
What the Self-Reliance Index measures
The SRI is described by the RSRI as the first global tool for measuring refugee households’ progress toward self-reliance. It is designed to show change over time rather than provide only a one-time status snapshot. Its development took three years and involved more than 25 contributing partners, as reported in the RSRI SRI 3.0 user guide.
The index contains 12 domains. Together, they cover immediate living conditions, access to opportunities, household finances, and relationships that can provide support. The categories include housing adequacy, rent, food intake, education, health care, health status, safety, employment, financial resources, assistance, debt, savings, and two forms of social capital.
The RSRI Self-Reliance Index page reports that the tool has been used in 34 countries by 70 agencies since launch. The SRI 3.0 user guide separately reports that, since SRI 2.0 in May 2020, the tool has been administered by more than 65 partners in more than 30 countries. These are different reporting periods and source descriptions, so they should not be added together.
| Measurement area | Scale or response structure | What it captures |
|---|---|---|
| Housing adequacy | 1–5 | Shelter and whether the home is adequate |
| Rent | 1–4 | Recent missed rent payments or non-applicability |
| Food intake | 1–4 | Meals eaten on the previous day |
| Education | 1–4 | School attendance among school-aged children |
| Employment | 1–5 | Work intensity and legal documentation |
| Savings | 1–4 | Cushion for basic needs and defined emergencies |
| Financial social capital | 1–2 | Access to someone who could lend money |
Source: RSRI SRI 3.0 user guide. The scales are domain-specific and are not interchangeable.
Housing, food, education, and health
Housing adequacy is measured on a 1-to-5 scale. A score of 1 means no shelter. A score of 2 means a makeshift shelter, such as a shack, kiosk, or vehicle, or a shelter that is not fit for safe habitation. A score of 3 means the household is temporarily hosted by friends, family, a community or faith group, or an emergency shelter. A score of 4 means an apartment or house that is not adequate, while a score of 5 means an adequate apartment or house.
The rent domain uses a 1-to-4 scale based on the previous three months. A score of 1 means the household could not pay rent two or three times. A score of 2 means it missed one rent payment. A score of 3 means there were no missed rent payments. A score of 4 means rent was not applicable.
Food intake also uses a 1-to-4 scale and looks at the previous day. A score of 1 means the household did not eat. A score of 2 means it ate, but not even a full meal. A score of 3 means it ate one full meal, and a score of 4 means it ate two to three full meals. In the SRI, a full meal contains at least two food groups.
Education is scored from 1 to 4. A score of 1 means there are no school-aged children in the household. A score of 2 means none of the school-aged children are in school. A score of 3 means some are in school, and a score of 4 means all are in school. For this measure, “in school” means attending more than 50% of the time that school is in session.
Health care uses a 1-to-4 scale over the last three months. A score of 1 means the household did not need health care. A score of 2 means it did not receive needed care. A score of 3 means it received some of the needed care, and a score of 4 means it received all needed care.
Health status is a separate domain with a 1-to-3 scale. A score of 1 means an adult health condition interferes with adult employment. A score of 2 means a dependent’s health condition interferes with adult employment. A score of 3 means neither of those conditions applies. This distinction matters because needing care and having a health condition that affects employment are measured separately.
Safety, employment, and financial resources
The SRI separates the presence of safety concerns from their effect on access to opportunities or basic needs. The first safety measure is a checklist coded from 1 to 9. The checklist includes 9 as the code for “none.” The second safety measure uses a 0-to-2 scale. A score of 0 means the question is not applicable because the respondent selected “none” in the prior question. A score of 1 means the concerns interfered with access to opportunities or basic needs. A score of 2 means they did not interfere with that access.
Employment uses a 1-to-5 scale based on work during the previous three months. A score of 1 means no employment. A score of 2 means temporary, irregular, or seasonal work. A score of 3 means regular part-time work, including self-employment. A score of 4 means full-time work without necessary legal documentation. A score of 5 means full-time work with legal documentation when documentation is necessary.
The work thresholds are explicit: part-time means fewer than 35 hours per week, while full-time means 35 or more hours per week. The employment scale therefore combines hours, regularity, self-employment, and documentation rather than treating every paid activity as equivalent.
Financial resources are recorded through seven response categories. They include assistance; borrowing money; selling assets; previous savings; remittances, money, or in-kind contributions from friends or relatives; work such as formal or informal employment, petty trade, handicrafts, and services; and government support such as social security or disability support available to citizens.
These categories describe possible sources of household resources, not a single ranking from least to most self-reliant. For example, work, savings, borrowing, and assistance represent different mechanisms and can have different implications for future stability.
Assistance, debt, and savings
Assistance is measured on a 1-to-6 scale. The six options are no assistance; food assistance; utilities or housing assistance; health-care assistance; education assistance for primary or secondary school; and other assistance, for which a description is required.
The SRI defines assistance as formal aid from an organization, religious institution, government, or another formal entity. Food or cash from family members or close friends is not counted as assistance in this domain. That rule keeps formal aid distinct from household or community support.
Debt is recorded using a checklist with seven debt types. The options are no debt; debt for food; debt for utilities or housing; debt for health care; debt for primary or secondary education; debt for transport; and debt for investment, such as a business or education investment. Because this is a checklist of types, the categories identify the purpose of debt rather than supplying one universal debt score.
Savings uses a 1-to-4 scale. A score of 1 means no savings or sellable assets. A score of 2 means savings that cover less than one month of basic needs. A score of 3 means savings that cover one month of basic needs. A score of 4 means savings that cover one month of basic needs plus an asset purchase, business reinvestment, or a moderate health crisis.
| Savings score | SRI definition |
|---|---|
| 1 | No savings or sellable assets |
| 2 | Less than one month of basic needs |
| 3 | One month of basic needs |
| 4 | One month of basic needs plus a defined purchase, reinvestment, or moderate health crisis |
The savings definitions show why a savings figure needs context. The index does not simply ask whether money exists; it relates savings and sellable assets to the household’s basic needs and to specified uses of a financial cushion.
Social capital and community support
The final domains measure two kinds of social capital. Financial social capital uses a 1-to-2 scale. A score of 1 means the household knows no one who could lend money. A score of 2 means it knows someone, or has community support, that could lend money.
Relational social capital uses a 1-to-4 scale and focuses on advice or information. A score of 1 means household members neither ask others for advice nor are asked for advice. A score of 2 means household members ask others for advice or information only. A score of 3 means other people ask household members for advice or information only. A score of 4 means both asking for and being asked for advice or information.
These measures distinguish financial access from reciprocal information relationships. Knowing someone who could lend money is not the same indicator as exchanging advice, and the SRI keeps them in separate domains.
How to read the scores
The SRI’s scales should be read within their domains. A housing score of 5, a food score of 4, and a financial social-capital score of 2 do not share the same range or meaning. Some domains are ordered scales, while others are checklists or categories. The safety checklist, financial-resource options, assistance options, and debt types should not be treated as if their option numbers were a common numerical measure.
Time windows also matter. Rent, health care, and employment refer to specified recent periods; food intake refers to the previous day; education is tied to the share of school time attended; and savings is defined against a period of basic needs. A household’s result is therefore a structured description of conditions and access, not a timeless label.
For readers interested in everyday preparedness, the framework offers a practical way to think about self-reliance as a set of capabilities: safe and adequate shelter, reliable food, access to care and education, work, resources, savings, and relationships. The RSRI Self-Reliance Index page and the RSRI SRI 3.0 user guide provide the source definitions and the measurement structure.