STATIN Makes Provisions to Access Gated Communities Ahead of National Living Conditions Survey

The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) has made provisions to access gated communities as it conducts the latest Jamaica Survey of Living Conditions (JSLC), scheduled to commence on August 4.

Speaking during a Jamaica Information Service (JIS) ‘Think Tank’ on July 31, Director of STATIN’s Field Services Division, Philone Mantock, indicated that proactive measures have been implemented to ensure seamless access for interviewers conducting fieldwork in gated communities islandwide.

Acknowledging that restricted access to certain residential areas could complicate national data collection, she explained the agency’s plan to address potential obstacles in advance.

“There is a solution to gaining access to gated communities. STATIN will be dispatching formal household letters in advance of the survey period. In addition, our team will coordinate with STRATA Corporations, realtor’s associations, and property managers to facilitate smooth entry for our interviewers,” Ms. Mantock outlined.

STATIN will be targeting 12,000 dwellings across all parishes. Interviewers are assigned specific dwellings and are expected to conduct one household interview per location.

The pre-emptive submission of official letters is intended to foster trust and transparency with residents and property administrators, while facilitating timely access and completion of the survey.

Ms. Mantock also clarified that not every household within a gated community will be selected for interviews, pointing out that “in most cases, interviewers will only need access to about three or four.”

The Jamaica Survey of Living Conditions, conducted annually since 1988, is Jamaica’s most comprehensive source of social data, informing the development and monitoring of national policies and programmes.

Over the years, household-level data collected has provided critical insights into key dimensions of national well-being—including income, employment, and consumption—alongside social indicators such as education, health, housing conditions, and access to social protection programmes.