Survey of Living Conditions Completed and to be Tabled Next Month
October 14, 2010The Full Story
The Survey of Living Conditions for the years 2008 and 2009 are completed and will be tabled in the Houses of Parliament next month.
Prime Minister, the Hon. Bruce Golding, responding to questions posed by Opposition Spokesperson on Finance, Dr. Omar Davies, during Tuesday’s (Oct. 12) sitting of the House of Representatives, said that Cabinet has already examined the 2008 publication and “the 2009 one is on its way to Cabinet.”
“I hope to have that in front of Cabinet on October 24, 2010 and therefore, I should be able to have it in Parliament by the first week of November,” he said.
The Prime Minister said due to the global economic recession, the reports “not unexpectedly” indicate that the level of poverty has risen both in 2008 and in 2009. In 2008, the poverty level rose to 12.3 per cent and in 2009 it rose to 16.5 per cent.
He added that the increase in poverty levels in 2009 is the highest since 2004, and this was of concern to the Government. “It is not unique to Jamaica and I am not offering that as an excuse. The United States, for example, just recorded 14. 3 per cent, I believe the highest level of poverty since 1994.
“So, it is part of the effect of the global downturn that we have had, but it is something we have had to be watching and it is one of the things, which have given me greater urgency to the efforts that we have made and will have to continue to make to strengthen the social safety net coverage,” Mr. Golding said.In relation to the Survey of Living Conditions for 2010, the Prime Minister stated that the actual field work has been completed and the documentation and data is being verified.
“I would expect that they should be able to go through all of the stress testing of the data and I would think that information will be available early in the new year,” Mr. Golding said.
The Survey of Living Conditions is a publication of the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN). It monitors the social conditions of the Jamaican populace.