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The Challenges of Poverty and Social Welfare in the Caribbean

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The Challenges of Poverty and Social Welfare in the Caribbean INTERNATIONAL DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2397.2006.00453.x JOURNAL OF Int J Soc Welfare 2007: 16: 150–158 SOCIAL WELFARE ISSN 1369-6866 The challenges of poverty and social welfare in the Caribbean Bowen GA. The challenges of poverty and social welfare in Glenn A. Bowen the Caribbean Int J Soc Welfare 2007: 16: 150–158 © 2006 The Author(s), Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC, USA Journal compilation © 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare. Poverty and related social problems have presented a long- standing challenge to policy makers and development planners Key words: Caribbean, microfinance, poverty, social development, throughout the Caribbean. This article is a social primer on social funds, social welfare anti-poverty strategies and welfare programmes established in Caribbean countries. It presents a comprehensive overview of Glenn A. Bowen, Western Carolina University, 460 HF Robinson poverty and attendant problems, discusses the social welfare Administration Building, Cullowhee, NC 28723, USA approach and poverty reduction strategies, and outlines E-mail: [email protected] practical proposals for pursuing social development. Accepted for publication April 6, 2006 programmes in the Caribbean. It also presents practical Introduction proposals for addressing social and human development Caribbean countries have been grappling with poverty in the region. These proposals comprise a general and concomitant social problems for many decades. The approach to poverty reduction rather than specific small island economies of the region1 face formidable strategies geared to different countries. challenges as they deal with the impact of globalisation, particularly in relation to the vital agricultural sector Dimensions and characteristics of poverty (Ahmed, 2001; Paul, 2002). Moreover, widespread poverty has represented the most intractable challenge to social Traditionally, poverty has been conceptualised as and economic development in the Caribbean (Baker, income and material deprivation, but it has long been 1997; Mills, 1998) and has contributed to environmental acknowledged that poverty may be defined in various degradation (Evans, McGregor & Barker, 1998). ways (Banfield, 1981; Macarov, 1995). Poverty involves Despite overall improvements in living standards, much more than the restrictions imposed by lack of poverty remains a persistent problem in Caribbean income. A complex, multidimensional problem, poverty countries today (Department for International Develop- has both income and non-income dimensions, entailing ment [DFID], 2004; Orozco, 2003). Poverty rates average the lack of the basic capability to lead full, creative about 30 per cent of the Caribbean population, with lives. The income dimensions reflect living standards in Haiti’s 65 per cent rate being the highest among the relation to material deprivation; in monetary terms, a countries of the region (Caribbean Development Bank person living on US$1.00 per day is generally considered [CDB], 2004; World Bank Group, 2005).This article poor (UNDP, 2004). Various social and human develop- synthesises research data about poverty and related ment indicators such as health, child mortality, life problems, anti-poverty strategies and social welfare expectancy, housing, education and access to drinking water and sanitation facilities are aligned to the non- income dimensions of poverty (UNDP, 2004; World 1 For the purposes of this article, the Caribbean region consists Bank, 2004). of the 15 member countries of CARICOM (the Caribbean From an economic perspective, a recent survey by Community) – Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, the CDB shows that countries of the region have been Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, experiencing economic recovery in the new millennium. Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago – as well In 2003, Caribbean countries improved their perform- as the Dominican Republic, a CARICOM observer. Except ance, registering, on average, a 2.8 per cent gross for Belize, Guyana and Suriname, all are island countries in domestic product (GDP) growth compared with the the archipelago of the Caribbean Sea. Caribbean countries 1.0 per cent recorded in 2002 (CDB, 2004). The recovery have a common colonial past but are heterogeneous in terms of size, race and ethnicity, language, religion and cultural was fuelled mainly by the services sector and, more heritage. CARICOM serves as a regional integration movement. specifically, by tourism. However, there were significant © 2006 The Author(s) Journal compilation © 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare. 150 Published by Blackwell Publishing, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA Poverty and social welfare in the Caribbean Table 1. Human and social development indicators for Caribbean countries. Country Population Human development GDP per capita Population below Unemployment rate (thousands) index value (rank)a (US$, 2003) poverty line (%) (% of labour force) Antigua and Barbuda 74 0.800 (55) 8,369 12 – Bahamas 312 0.815 (51) 16,691 – 10.8 Barbados 272 0.888 (29) 9,651 14 11.1 Belize 290 0.737 (99) 3,646 – 12.9 Dominica 72 0.743 (95) 3,023 33 – Grenada 102 0.745 (93) 3,353 32 – Guyana 762 0.719 (104) 911 35 – Haiti 8,200b 0.463 (153) 361c 65c – Jamaica 2,600 0.764 (79) 2,962 19 13.1 Montserrat 4 – 7,569 – – St. Kitts and Nevis 50 0.844 (39) 6,510 31 – St. Lucia 167 0.777 (71) 3,658 19 – St. Vincent and the Grenadines 112 0.751 (87) 2,819 – – Suriname 439 0.780 (67) 2,470 – – Trinidad and Tobago 1,300 0.801 (54) 7,836 21 10.6 Sources: All figures, except where indicated, are from CDB (2004), Economic survey of the Caribbean 2003–2004. a HDI data are from Human development indicators 2004 (see UNDP, 2004, Cultural liberty in today’s diverse world). b From Human development indicators 2004. c From Haiti: Country overview, July 2004 (World Bank Group, 2005). Notes: – indicates that data are not available or that aggregates cannot be calculated because of missing data. The human development index (HDI) is a summary composite index that measures a country’s averge achievements in three basic aspects of human development: longevity, knowledge and a ‘decent’ standard of living. Longevity is measured by life expectancy at birth; knowledge is measured by a combination of the adult literacy rate and the combined primary, secondary and tertiary school gross enrolment ratio; and standard of living by GDP per capita (purchasing power parity [PPP] US$). To put the data in perspective, Norway (0.956) has the highest HDI and Sierra Leone (0.273) the lowest among 177 countries, as reported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP, 2004). The GDP per capita data used in calculating the HDI are based on purchasing power parity (PPP) rates of exchange. disparities in GDP growth among countries. At the Geographic and demographic dimensions lower end of the spectrum, Guyana registered an economic downturn (−0.6%) while, at the higher end, Rural and urban poverty are separate phenomena. Antigua-Barbuda and Suriname doubled their growth Typically, in rural areas wages are low, unemployment rates in 2003 in comparison with the previous year is high and work tends to be seasonal. More than half (CDB, 2004). the Caribbean’s poor live in rural areas, where the social In recent years, sociologists and economists have infrastructure is weak and people have limited access developed a deeper understanding of the concept of to quality education and health services (Baker, 1997; development and have begun to accept that economic Bowen, 2004). growth is only one dimension of development. Accord- Conditions are more overcrowded in urban areas, where ingly, in addition to gross national income (GNI) and slums and squatter settlements have been ‘the breeding GDP, measures of poverty now include social and human grounds for the reproduction of poverty’ (Laguerre, development indicators. 1990: 21). The problem of squatting is widespread Table 1 summarises the most recent social and human throughout the region, indicating the inability of the development indicators for Caribbean countries and is formal housing sector to provide adequately for low- useful for cross-national comparisons. With a human income groups in need of shelter. By and large, as noted development index (HDI) value of 0.89, Barbados by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin currently has the highest ranking (29th) in the Caribbean America and the Caribbean (ECLAC, 2000), squatter while Haiti (HDI value = 0.46) has the lowest (153rd). communities do not have the necessary infrastructure to The data suggest that, on the whole, Barbados, Antigua- support their population, and this often results in poor Barbuda and the Bahamas are doing very much better health conditions and other social ills. than other countries in the region in relation to social In Antigua and Barbuda, a recent study of 737 house- and human development. Over the years, these countries holds in six communities (not classified as squatter have been among those achieving ‘high’ human develop- settlements) highlighted links between poverty and ment, while countries like Belize, Dominica, Grenada, disease. The University of Health Sciences (2002) study Jamaica and Suriname have been in the ‘medium’ confirmed that low incomes in these communities were category. Plagued with political and economic
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