Barbados’ true poverty line should be known by January 2025, thanks to the information that will be gained from the Country Assessment of Living Conditions (CALC) 2024, a socio-economic study that will be undertaken over the next six months.
Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs, Kirk Humphrey, revealed this yesterday as he launched CALC 2024, at the Warrens Office Complex, Warrens, St. Michael.
Pointing out that the CALC project will empower lives and the nation as a whole, he stressed it was essential to understand ordinary people and ordinary living in the country while also urging Barbadians to participate in the study to be rolled out in July, by the CALC National Assessment Team in his Ministry.
Noting that such a study needed to be done more frequently, as the “spaces in between studies” have “been too long”, Minister Humphrey lamented that data is often unavailable in Barbados and the region.
“Caribbean countries have a history and a very unfortunate record of not having adequate data. There is a dearth of important information on a lot of important topics, and therefore decisions can’t be made. And then when we’re being assessed, we assess on the information that people do not have,” he stated.
The last survey of living conditions was done in 2016. Commenting on this gap, Mr. Humphrey added: “We do not know what it will tell us now, but we do know that we need to know so that we can make informed decisions. I also must say to you that in the intervening years, I have had some concerns that, while perhaps we pursue the information, that a lot of the data that should be used to make decisions are not used to make decisions. Caribbean governments are very good at collecting information sometimes, and not doing anything with it.
Giving the assurance that the information from CALC 2024, would not be “stored on a shelf to gather dust” but would be used to make serious decisions going forward, he stressed: “I also hold the view, having said that we have to do that, it cannot be a kind of made-up conjecture, gut feeling, interpretation of the reality. We need scientific, evidence-based interpretations of people’s realities and to be able to express that as a true representation of what it is that people are dealing with in this country.”
Thirty-five enumerators will be conducting the survey across Barbados, which will help Government assess the living conditions of its people and come up with a poverty line by next year.
Minister Humphrey, while acknowledging that people seem tired of surveys, urged the public to cooperate, be “nice” and respond “with grace” as the country works towards improving the lives of people.
The Country Assessment of Living Conditions 2024 will target some 2,800 households. It is expected to help Government determine the minimum income a household needs to meet its basic consumption and non-consumption needs and understand the dynamic link between poor living conditions and education, health, household size, and employment.
It will also encapsulate the voices of citizens and take on board their recommendations to improve living conditions and allow Barbados to track progress towards national-level goals and international social development agreements, such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
CALC 2024 is being undertaken with technical assistance from the Caribbean Development Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. It comprises four major components – the Participatory Poverty Assessment; the Survey of Living Conditions; the Institutional Assessment; and the Macro-Economic and Social Assessment.