Sociology Poverty and Development

MDG The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are the eight international development goals that were established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000, following the adoption of the United Nations Millennium Declaration.

Purpose of the MDG Global attempt to measure and actively attempt to improve the quality of life for the poorest.

MDG continued

Millennium development Goals

Poverty in the Caribbean OECS Human Development Report (2002) noted the following Rural poverty-high incidence of agricultural based households Prominent in St. Lucia, Grenada, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, and St.Kitts and Nevis. Urban poverty (16%), rural poverty (30%)

Caribbean sub region have shown marked improvements in their living conditions ranking very highly in HDI. There are significant pockets of poverty in Guyana, Haiti, Suriname and Jamaica. Poverty rates of countries ranging from % are Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines % Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Trinidad & Tobago and Turks & Caicos Islands.

Poverty in the Caribbean CountryPoverty rate % of population Poverty Gap (% of poverty line) Anguilla216.9 BVI224.1 Dominica Dominican Republic Haiti (2001)75- St. Lucia(2006) Barbados (1997) Trinidad and Tobago Table 1: Indicators of poverty in the Caribbean

Reasons for poverty in rural areas Living conditions in rural communities Low levels of educational attainment Larger household sizes Types of activities rural residents engage in for their livelihoods Poor roads Poor quality housing Inadequate access to basic services like portable water, electricity, sanitation, transportation, education & health care.

Reasons for poverty Jobs belong to primary sector & are low paying e.g. Fishing & agriculture. These do not generate sufficient money, but on which a signicant no of poeple depend on their livelihood Many of htese households experience poverty as they are unable to find the income to purchase groceries in the local shops.

Consequence Young people leave rural communities in search of employment and a hope for a better living This places a strain on urban areas & the availability of housing and social services leading to rising levels of urban poverty

Poor families Poor families are larger and have more dependents and as a result, the youth, i.e persons between are over represented among persons living in poverty. In St. Kitts, the proportion of the population living below the poverty line is 35.5%, yet 65% of the youth are poor.

Poor & education The poor is less likely to be less educated with most heads of households below the poverty line and not educated beyond primary level. Young men from poor households drop out of school early, hence they are unprepared for the world of work and find it difficult to function in that environment Hence excluded from mainstream employment

Seek employment in the informal sector or in low paying jobs in agriculture, construction or light manufacturing. They make up the working poor-a large number of workers are working in low paying occupations and are not earning enough to meet their basic food, plus non-food necessities. In St.Lucia men are formally employed in Agriculture and women in manufacturing among the poor.

Women and poverty The feminization of poverty is the phenomenon in which women experience poverty at rates that are disproportionately high in comparison to men.

Feminization of poverty Female poverty in the Caribbean region remains disguised and has an adverse effect on their ability to care for their children. Female headed households are more likely to be poorer than male headed households. This is critical to the Caribbean since women are head so households In many Caribbean Islands, chronic and or long term poverty was strongly associated with single parent female headed households. Poverty is multi generational, repeated over generations

Feminization of poverty Early child bearing amongst females, low levels of education, unemployment and low wages associated with lack of marketable skills. These factors contribute to the perpetuation of poverty and growth a number of households headed by single females. Gender inequality-Research indicate that females generally tend to have more responsibility for household chores (care economy)

Feminization of women Women continue to be the main victims of economic and social disadvantage, expressed in higher numbers of women living in poverty Women although educated to tertiary level, this is not translated into social and economic beneifts.

Feminization of women Women are segregated in the labour market in the low paying jobs, particularly in the service sector in the Caribbean. Women are denied access to the benefits of social security and other social protection.

Read article on the feminization of poverty What have you gathered about the feminization of poverty. Gender poverty in the Caribbean

Poverty and the elderly in the Caribbean The elderly are those aged 60 or more the region will grow 55% between 1950 and 2050: a person who will be born in 2050 will live 28 years more than a similar person who was born in 1950 In fact, life expectancy has been growing in LAC at rates above the world mean. In LAC, as in the rest of the world