Almost half of Colombians consider themselves poor

The pandemic affected several economies globally in international industries, in Colombia there was no exception and the ravages caused by isolation and the large losses due to the covid-19 disease have been reflected in national households.

One example of this is the information revealed by the Quality of Life Survey conducted by the National Administrative Department of Statistics Dane, which noted that nearly half of Colombians consider themselves to be in poverty. According to Dane, in 2021, approximately 46.7% households perceived to be in poverty, compared to 2020 when the figure was 38.2% and in 2019, taken before the pandemic, where it revealed a percentage of 37.9%.

Despite the fact that in the economic sector there was an increase in numbers, improving a better picture for recovery and reactivation, the perception of households was not equal. Daniel Oviedo director of Dane indicated. “We have an increase in that subjective perception of poverty in the country. This impact was much more marked between 2020 and 2021, most likely due to the inflationary phenomenon that saw the country consolidate last year and which continues to be a significant focus of attention.”

Causes that can lead to situations of poverty are the difficulty in accessing a job or the high increase in food prices, which despite the celebrations of the Government of Duque because the minimum wage is one million pesos, the reality reveals the serious limitations that Colombians have placed themselves. According to Dane last year, 34.3% of households indicated that they had to reduce their food expenditure.

On the other hand, they indicated that 1% of Colombian households had to take their children out of educational institutions due to costs, and 3.1% of families were forced to sell their property, real estate or appliances. Another alarming fact that they pointed out with the survey was that about 38.3% of households say they had to spend part or all of their savings.

The National Administrative Department of Statistics said that of the Colombian households made up 43.1% the mother is the head of household. Compared to its previous year, women heads of household accounted for 39.8%.

Director Oviedo mentioned this situation, which does not belong to any women's empowerment or economics of change, but are direct consequences of a pandemic. “Elements of deterioration in economic conditions, but also elements such as that on male mortality due to covid, are behind this important evolution of female household leadership, which cannot be interpreted as a condition of women's economic empowerment.”

Compared to the responses of heads of households and spouses who applied the 2021 Quality of Life Survey on whether they consider themselves poor or not, 46.7% consider themselves poor nationally, in the headwaters this index falls to 39.7% and in populated and dispersed rural centers it amounts to 70.3%.

Finally, in 2021, 58.8% of children between 0 and 4 years of age spent most of the time during the week in the care of their father or mother at home, while 25.6% were attended in person or virtually in care facilities such as community homes, kindergartens, child development or schools.

KEEP READING