Study to determine poverty level – last at 17 per cent

By Ryan Gilkes

Just how many Barbadians are living in poverty is to be measured this year, Ministry of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs Kirk Humphrey announced Friday.

“This poverty study is necessary . . . for us to make proper decisions as is the case for any decision-making,” he told reporters at a post-Cabinet briefing. “You need to have the relevant data to be able to do so. The reality is, as well, COVID would have made any poverty statistics that we had prior to COVID pretty much irrelevant. Therefore, in the best of circumstances, you should probably have updated poverty status . . . every two years.”

According to the last survey conducted in 2016, 17.2 per cent of households were below the poverty line, an increase by two percentage points on the 2010 figure of 15 per cent, according to the ministry. A 1997 study estimated the poverty rate at 8.7 per cent 

“Poverty line is not a static line,” Humphrey said. “It is calculated based on what the evidence would suggest over the data collection period.”

The new Enhanced Country Poverty Assessment is a collaboration with the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). 

The study consists of four components: an institutional assessment of the agencies responsible for reducing poverty; an assessment of the broader socioeconomic conditions in the country; and a participatory poverty assessment that involves direct engagement with communities and NGOs to understand poverty from those living through it.

The final part of the study is a survey of living conditions.

“This is where you get your vulnerability line,” the minister said. “This is where you’re able to establish the amount of money that is necessary to be able to have a decent life above poverty in a country. And this is what most people are aware of.”

He revealed government’s contribution to this study is $1.3 million, covering the data collection component. The IDB has funded the design of the survey tool at $270 000 with the CDB bearing the bulk of the costs.

A six-month data collection phase is set to begin on April 1, with the intention of providing a comprehensive overview of poverty in Barbados by the end of the year, said the minister.

Humphrey added: “That allows us to be able to be in a position to make serious determinations about how do we treat poverty? Who is experiencing poverty? Where is that poverty? Do we need to make new adjustments to the government’s social programming? Because you really cannot make decisions if you do not have the data.

“So, by the end of the year, we’ll have this new more accurate reflection as to the level of poverty in Barbados. And therefore, we will then be able to make decisions going forward about how we look to seek to address the levels of poverty in Barbados.”

Humphrey further revealed that the CDB will be providing access to a gender specialist and a social policy adviser to improve the study’s execution and policy development.  

He stressed the assessment is a critical step towards understanding and addressing poverty in Barbados, ensuring that future policies are data-driven and effectively targeted. (RG)