Poverty in Jamaica and Public Insensitivity

New poverty figures are out in Jamaica and it’s not pretty. Prior to 1994, poverty levels were at 30%, in 2007, poverty levels were at 9.9% and the recent “survey of living conditions” tabled by the Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding in Parliament on Thursday October 14 indicates that poverty in now at 16.5%, the highest since 2004. And of the nearly half million in poverty only a fraction are benefitting from a mockery of a social safety net.

Correspondingly, in 2009 when Jamaica went back to the IMF, the government implemented several new tax packages that sought the increases in taxation on the public and the removal of some government subsidies on basic goods and services. Inflations climbed to 16%. It’s not hard to imagine the resultant increases in inflation and poverty .Further, A World Bank Official, Badrul Haque commented in a Jamaica Gleaner report dated July 8, 2009, that consumption at the top and bottom 20% has remained unchanged over the last 25 years.

I am simply appalled at the level of discourse on poverty and inequality in Jamaica. As a Jamaican Graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania studying inequality in Jamaica, I have recognized that Jamaica focuses very little and almost punishes the
cash-strapped working class with the introduction of higher than usual tax packages in a shrinking economy which has only grown in real terms by 0.3 percent since the 1970's. Nationwide News, Jamaica, reported on Wednesday October 13, that over 2 years, 22 thousand jobs have been made redundant, and we should add that hundreds of school graduates are entering the job market each year; correspondingly job creation is
either slow or rare.

This poses a severe fiscal and monetary problem for Jamaica as a whole. Joblessness not only reduces government revenues, but increases income inequality and the number of persons affected by poverty which further places tremendous burden on the
state to create social-welfare programs or increase the nation's safety net so as to cushion the adverse effects of poverty which militates against a comfortable life. Needless to say, The Jamaica Gleaner reported today that 16.5% of Jamaicans are below the poverty line and almost half of the poor are benefitting from what our government called a social safety net. But, education and health care programs
alone cannot satisfy the severity and pervasiveness of poverty which
transcends health and educational needs.

Indeed, the public response to these figures indicating increases in poverty, especially during excessive rise in prices and cost of living, has been disappointingly slow and insignificant. In fact, what we have to mitigate the ferocity of the financial crunch and joblessness on the poor and rising poverty, is more increases, joblessness and reduction in government subsidies on some goods and services that benefit the poor. Moreover there has been little or no discussion on the increasing income inequality and disabling effects of our economic situation on the poor or the working class who are experiencing sharp cuts in their incomes.

Many of the poor have turned to illegal vending in Down Town Kingston where they peddle goods in “bags and pan” or make-shift hand-carts. Unfortunately, the local authorities have recently acted against such activity describing it as a clean-up the town even. But this move is insensitive to the plight of the poor and protects the wealthy business class stores and shops downtown from any profits they might loose from the “pan-handlers” who are regulated and relegated to peddle away from the established businesses where people commute to dead markets which is virtually a waste of time and money.

What policies are currently in place to subvert the crippling effects of these job figures and help the poor or rising poverty? And how we are addressing a dull job market? What are our long-term economic strategies to increase our economic viability and reduce our economic vulnerability to changes or crisis in the international markets? Our
plan cannot be to borrow our way out of debt or depend solely on overseas investment that repatriates 90% of the profits out of the country. But my ultimate concern is with our unresponsiveness to the redundancies. We cut “willy-nilly” without contemplating the
ramifications of these cuts on those whom we are "getting rid of". While these cuts preserve or increase profit margins for the wealthy Jamaican or expatriate, they erode the lifestyle and living conditions of our working class in a society without a real social safety net.

Where are those whose jobs have been made redundant…vending illegally down-town? What has happen to them? How many are able to access new jobs? This is the dialogue we should have and the questions we should ask? Will the Jamaican media follow these persons? Will they create narratives that highlight the effects of joblessness and redundancies on the Jamaican working class? Are we waiting for the international media or cinema to create the narrative for us?