Last week we observed that available data show good outcomes for the Region in the area of social development. For example, for a developing part of the world the Region's rankings on the UNDP's Human Development Index (HDI) are very good. The evidence also shows that since Independence the Region has been able to attain both a "demographic transition" and "health transition." This is reflected in the fact that performances in these areas are excellent for a developing region. A similar situation also exists in education, with this small Region already claiming three Nobel Prizes!
The point however, was made towards the end of last week's article that all these achievements are now under threat of reversal. Serious challenges have emerged, which can undermine the sustainability of the gains. In this week's article we begin an examination of some of these social challenges.
Challenge 1
The good showing of the Region in terms of the HDI reflects the average performance of individual countries. As more and more data emerge from local studies, it is becoming clear that, like all averages, the HDI may conceal as much as it reveals, if it is not disaggregated at the sub-national level. Guyana is a good example of this problem. Here we find that the variations in levels of social development between the Coastal and Interior Areas are stark. Available data on poverty, living conditions, health, and education show wide gaps . Clearly in such circumstances, performance measured only at the national average level does not tell the whole story. Throughout the rest of the Region similar situations also exist, if not to the same extent. It is common to find serious pockets of marginalised and depressed communities in most countries.
Challenge 2
While the Region can fairly boast of its demographic transition, as population profiles seem more similar to developed than developing countries, this situation also brings its particular difficulties. One of these is overcrowding, which has placed great strain on urban environments and services supplied to urban areas, especially services like safe water and sanitation. Alongside these poor environmental conditions, in some urban areas serious social pathologies have arisen. For example, there is a heavy concentration of crime, prostitution, and drugs.
We also find that females outlive males on average in some countries by 5 years and more. This creates problems of caring for elderly single females, which adds to the broader problem of elderly care for both sexes, occasioned by the rising ratio of persons 65 years + in the population. At the same time, migration, particularly of skilled persons, continues its cancerous consequences on Caribbean societies and economies. This has become acute, as the cost of training and educating persons within the region has been rising steeply in recent times.
Challenge 3
Another serious social challenge that has emerged is poverty. This was listed earlier as a major economic challenge. We now find that at the social level a certain typology of poverty has emerged, which reflects in many ways its chronic and persistent character. One group in this typology has been referred to as the "chronic or persistent poor". This includes persons who are without adequate assets to earn a livelihood and are also unemployed or under-employed on a long-term basis. It often includes persons who are also chronically ill and therefore unable to provide for themselves. The aged and the disabled who are usually in similar circumstances in terms of earning a livelihood, are also classed in this group.
A second group is the "structural or working poor". In the region this includes low-wage migrant workers and agricultural labourers; small farmers with very little land and no access to credit; low income service operators like vendors and domestic workers; women in low paying commercial outlets; and, youth, who neither work nor study.
A third group is the "employed poor". This refers to persons who are employed in low productivity, low-wage jobs and who are usually the main bread-winner of the household. Here the income earned is insufficient to sustain the livelihood of the entire household.
A final group in this typology is the "new or transitory poor". These are persons thrown out of jobs as a consequence of economic dislocation, like the banana workers in the Windward Islands, or persons who work in low paying seasonal jobs.
Characteristics of the poor
Studies in the Caribbean also reveal certain defining characteristics of poor persons. Universally they lack assets, whether it is land/property or monetary savings. They also lack as a result, access to credit. They also usually lack education, skills, and training. The challenge to educate and train the poor, as well as to provide assets and access to credit is urgent everywhere in the region, if poverty alleviation is to advance.
Regional studies reveal other important social characteristics of persons in poverty. One is that they are likely to have poor housing and live in overcrowded situations. Another is that larger families tend, on balance, to have more poverty than small families. Further, poverty is also very heavily concentrated in particular communities. All these indicators make obvious the fact that the challenges posed by poverty in the Region are multi-dimensional and complex. These therefore, require integrated responses, since poverty embraces so many other related social characteristics.
Of course, the list of these challenges does not end here. Next week we will look at some challenges particularly in the important areas of health, education, and community development. The key point to bear in mind at this stage, however, is that the social development achievements of the Region, while striking and impressive when compared to other developing regions, are now confronted with major new challenges. If these are not resolved then globalisation, which has been associated with the gains made so far, may well be associated with serious reverses further down the line.