Survey to get information on living conditions of women, children begins April 12
Published:Thursday | March 24, 2022 | 12:05 AMChristopher Serju/Senior Gleaner Writer
The training of some 80 interviewers who will visit an estimated 8,000 households across Jamaica between April 12 and June, to gather information on the living conditions of women and children, got under way in Mandeville, Manchester, and the Corporate Area on Monday.
The training, which is slated to last for three weeks, is being conducted under the multiple indicators cluster survey (MICS), which will, among other things, seek to ascertain the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on these vulnerable groups. The information gleaned will be used to designed appropriate and effective interventions.
Chief of Operations at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Lorenzo Escondeur, said this data will be used to inform strategies for empowering both groups which suffered most of the health and economic fallout brought on by the pandemic. He noted that in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region, women were particularly hard hit, as despite representing 42 per cent of the labour force, they suffered 56 per cent of all job losses. In addition, while closures of small and medium-size businesses led by men reached 29 per cent, those led by women amounted to 40 per cent.
BAD NEWS
And the IDB executive had even more bad news in regard to learning loss.
Recent estimates suggest that the share of children who are unable to read proficiently when reaching late primary schooling could rise from an already-worrisome 51 per cent to 62 per cent in the Latin American and Caribbean region. Also, in the LAC, the data show learning losses are estimated to be considerably greater for poorer students, which would widen an already-high socio-economic achievement gap by 12 per cent (equivalent to three months of schooling).
During the period of school closures, preschoolers experienced a significant and substantial loss in child development, particularly in the language and socio-emotional domains.
“Considering all that, this survey happens to be in perfect timing. In the wake of the pandemic, the massive economic and learning loss, we must know the current state of affairs as it relates to Jamaican women and children,” he told the launch.
Meanwhile, Senior Director in the Social Planning and Research Division of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), Easton Williams, disclosed that children living in deprived conditions are exposed to factors that adversely affect their living conditions or life chances. He said a complex set of factors affect their living conditions and predispose them to a wide set of vulnerabilities that have both immediate and long-term consequences for the quality of their lives.
“Children face development risks when there is, for example, inadequate nutrition, poor education, an unsafe environment, poor parenting, inadequate social amenities, and healthcare services that are lagging. It is therefore imperative that as we strive towards development status, we continuously assess the situation of children as a development imperative.”
WELL OVERDUE
He explained that for this reason, MICS is a valuable tool, specifically designed to collect data on key indicators that are used to assess the situation of children and women. The PIOJ relies heavily on data in the development planning process and in tracking the country’s progress towards its national development goals.
“This is well overdue. Jamaica has experienced many shocks over recent years, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Interventions for improving the lives of children have yielded positive results for the COVID-19 pandemic; but note that those gains are either being threatened or lost altogether on account of these crises,” Williams warned.
“An assessment, therefore, is critically needed at this point in time to assess the situation and to inform the best strategies and actions going forward.”
MICS is an international household survey programme developed by UNICEF to assess the situation of women, children and households, and is a key source of data on child protection, early-childhood education, and a major source of internationally comparable data on child health and nutrition. The PIOJ, Statistical Institute of Jamaica and the IDB are among the local and international partners on this project.