fbpx
Belize lose 1-0 to Panama in UNCAF U-19 Women’s Championship in Honduras
March 9, 2023
Tumul K’in Center of Learning prepares for Maya Day 2023
March 9, 2023

“Around 31,000 households have difficulty meeting basic needs,” new Study from Statistical Institute of Belize shows

Posted: Thursday, March 9, 2023. 3:26 pm CST.

By Benjamin Flowers: The Statistical Institute of Belize (SIB) has a new way of measuring poverty, the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), which shows that over 130,000 people across 31,00 households countrywide are having difficulty meeting basic needs.

The SIB presented the findings of the MPI on Wednesday, conducted as a part of the September 2021 Labour Force Survey, which was carried out with technical and financial support from the United Nations Children’s Fund, United Nations Development Programme, the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, and the Caribbean Development Bank.

Unlike the SIB’s 2018 Poverty Analysis, which determined that 52 percent of Belzizeans were below the poverty line based on available income, the MPI looks at 17 indicators that look at the basic needs of households, to determine how many of those needs are lacking. Based on this methodology, the SIB determined that only 35.7 percent are actually multi-dimensionally poor. On average, these households were found to be deprived in 39 percent of the 17 indicators measured.

Director General of the SIB Diana Castillo-Trejo explained that the indicators chosen were those that are considered essential to the well-being of households.

“These dimensions are health, education, employment and living standards. Under health, you have your things like your quality of the drinking water, access to health services, under education you have whether or not children of school age are attending school, whether or not children of school age are lagging behind the grade they’re supposed to be in. For living standards, we look at the quality of housing materials, the type of assets that they have…,” Trejo said.

The MPI data showed that, across the districts, the Toledo District had the highest levels of multidimensional poverty, while the Belize District showed the lowest. The data also showed that persons living in rural communities were more likely to be multi-dimensionally poor than those in urban areas, with the incidence of multidimensional poverty in rural communities being double that of urban ones.

Notably, Belize’s younger population, larger households, households with children, households with a head who was either unemployed or underemployed and households with a head who had completed only up to a primary level of education or none at all, had a higher likelihood of being multidimensionally poor. Higher levels of multidimensional poverty were also seen among male-headed households than among households headed by females.

The SIB said in a release following the launch of the report that the data for measuring multidimensional poverty in Belize will be collected each year as part of the September round of the Labour Force Survey and these estimates will be compiled annually. The institute stressed that the data will be useful in monitoring the country’s progress in reducing poverty over time.

“This data will also help to provide a more comprehensive understanding of poverty in Belize, enabling policymakers to design more targeted and effective poverty reduction strategies,” the SIB added.

 

Advertise with the mоѕt vіѕіtеd nеwѕ ѕіtе іn Belize ~ We offer fully customizable and flexible digital marketing packages. Your content is delivered instantly to thousands of users in Belize and abroad! Contact us at mаrkеtіng@brеаkіngbеlіzеnеwѕ.соm or call us at 501-601-0315.

 

© 2023, BreakingBelizeNews.com. Content is copyrighted and requires written permission for reprinting in online or print media. Theft of content without permission/payment is punishable by law.

Comments

  • Galen University
  • Belmopan Aggregates
  • larry waight
  • Belmopan Aggregates
  • cahal pech village resort
  • Galen University
  • Shindaiwa
  • Belmopan Aggregates