The Prime Minister of Jamaica, Bruce Golding, said in Parliament on Wednesday that poverty has hit a six-year record.
caribbean360.com: The poverty rate has jumped to 16.5 percent – which translate to about 445,000 Jamaicans – the highest since 2004. That is based on statistics in the Survey of Living Conditions for 2008 and 2009. The last survey in 2007 showed 9.9 percent on Jamaicans were living below the poverty line.
“Not unexpectedly, the level of poverty has risen both in 2008 and in 2009. In 2008, the poverty level rose to 12.3 percent and in 2009 it rose further to 16.5 percent,” Golding said.
