i would not know many dominican employees who make $1000.- per month, i sure would not name such even close to an average of an salary for a employee.
i live in a touristy area, Punta Cana, the Mates on my boats get 15.000.- and the skippers 25.000.-, the head skipper 30.000.- per month, in pesos of course, and i know that within the foodchain of that top-employment providing Punta Cana they range nicely high in that foodchain. they manage to live comfo, all have a own bike, most drive a own car, none has in his house a smaller TV-screen than i have myself etc etc.
when people talk about 1.000.-US$ per month they are not talking about any average employee in this country, or they simply do not know what they are talking about.
and to manage a happy live here there's no need to make that amount of money neither, when a worker/labourer/employee makes a 15K Pesos he/she can manage a dominican styled very good lifestyle, with kids in school and driving a own car and some nice comforts at home, of course that person needs to keep that employment for a timeperiod and progress within that, not achieved within a few months of emplyment, something many here do not manage to do/stand, locals and mid/low class expats alike.
poverty can not be measured on amount of money,
it is the amount of money an average labourer in a country/specific area earns for his/her labor compared to the sweeties of life/lifestyle he/she can buy in the same country/same area with the earned salary.
to be the owner of an 20 years old toyota tercel here in the DR (i state paid and debtfree) is for the lifestyle worth much more than a labourer of so many 1st world countries who work's his a$$ off on 1 or 2 or 3 jobs to live in a rented/own but debtloaded appartment with 2 kids on a so named "college" driving a just 3 years new Dodge or BMW(leased or on credit, means owned by the bank of course).
i bet on such statistics of poverty the BMW driver would show up as the happy daddy with a 'happy' family in a great country.
compared to my 1st skipper with 5 kids from 2 wifes (all kids in good schools under DR measurements, from both wifes devorced, living with my secretary, that's all fact and not some kinda joke) and his salary and the things he bought over he years we work together,
darn,
compared to him i name that BMW or Dodge or what so ever credit/leasing driver with credit card debits for kids college and wifes 2nd car and his own car and on the furniture in the rented appartment etc just a POOR Soul.
but on poverty stats he sure will show up as the american dream,
or the wealthy german,
or the british queen's cousin,
or the ..... what ever they wanna show us on a stat.
i just name it crap,
BS by the ones who see the need to explain us average idiots of the planet something to talk about, in case we have the education and knowlege of life to catch their ball and discuss such, stats written by harvard idiots for nearby college geniuses to talk about, while the primer doesn't care and the ladder doesn't understand that the whole crap has absolutely nothing to do with the present facts of human live.
***
a small colmado owner in a beach barrio somewhere on the east coast, tourist area not far away, driving a 3 years old toyota jeepeta, business in own property, of course living with 3 kids and 1 wife and the usual rest in his own house on own property, no debts to anybody, the simple 500K pesos for the Jeep been paid last year cash, no bothering bank behind that, kids in a basic private shool teaching average bilingual classes 10 miles up the road,
i name that man king of his town, i don't name him poor, i know as a fact that many many many of my fellow countrymen would love to have such position/social life position etc at home, but of course they could never have
***
now we take a german 'due?o' of a german small town Bar, for the rural german area a good running business, like his ''social dominican competitor'' his wife is working in the own business, yes, i know he could not efford to have 3 kids in a bilingual private average school, he has only one and that one is in the usual single lingual german basic school, he drives a typical for his ''class'' 2.000.000.- pesos BMW or Mercedes car, of course every 2 years switched to the newest model like required for that class of lifestyle, sure he never in his life ''owned'' a car, they always been and will be owned by the bank which gives the credit/guarantee to drive that baby, he can efford every 2 years a family vacation of a week or 2 on a spanish Isle, mostly he skips it b/c they would need somebody to take care about the cashier in the business when the 'boss's' are gone for a week and such is not the best idea, they live in their ""own"" property, a really beatiful 3 bedroom 185 squaremeters appartment in a very nice and mostly safe neighbourhood where the neighbours also drive bank-owned porsches and BMW's and Mercedes's up to date. he is a respected small business owner within the small community which is the surrounding of his life. he is scared about the day somebody would call him b/c his 19 years ole son, a student at a very reputable univercity there, had an accident with his expensive bank owned car under circumstances where the expensive full insurance would not cover, b/c his lil business world would be gone by the same moment.
how i know about that???
easy answer,
i know both of the above mentioned Men,
one is my neighbour here on the Isle and the other is one of my growing up best buddies from back home, both know each others very well since i brought all of us together here on the Isle many years ago.
all 3 of us know very clear who is the rich, who is the poor, who is the happy, who is jellous on the other and would ''swicth'' life in a heartbeat.
to he$$ with stats done by computers and students who do not know a shi$$.
cheers
Mike