After reading various times NALs and other posters suggest Dominicans are better off today than those of yesteryears; I wonder, is this a true statement? If we compare/contrast the average Dominican income and include inflation, costs of medical insurance, educational costs, rent, and other factors vs. those same factors of 1 to 2 generations ago, would the statement hold true?
Any data to back up the statement?
There are some data which shows towards an improvement in overall living conditions and every rational Dominican (if he/she is 30 or younger, you might want to use the opinions of their parents - if possible) will agree that the Dominican Republic is much better off today.
There are the obvious differences such as a higher purchasing power and this is proven by the presence of a large middle class and higher consumption rates vs. what they were say in the 1960s. There are also social indicators which point towards an improvement.
For example, life expectancy in 1960 was 53 years, but in 2004 it was 68 and today it's 70. Infant mortality rate in 1960 was 149 per 1,000 live births, in 2004 it was 32 per 1,000 live births. Literary rates, access to potable water rates, access to electricty rates, daily calories and protein consumption, etc have all consistently risen from 1960s to today.
The percentage of the population which lives in urban areas has risen consistently through the years. Usually, when people move from the countryside to the city, their living standards tends to plummet on the short-term, but on the long term as many become accustom to the urban environment and begin to emotionally, economically, and otherwise settle into an urban lifestyle, their standard of living increases. For example, while conditions in the shanties of Santo Domingo (which cover around 10% of the urban area) are still quite low, there was a shift in the materials used for construction from wood, cardboard, etc to cement. There are still many wood, cardboard, etc shanties; there are much more cement homes in those shanties. Access to electricity is widespread, television sets are available in most homes, etc which are goods that would have been off reach for many people a decade ago.
So on that hand, conditions have improved considerably.
On the other hand there is the presence of a middle class which is larger than it has ever been, comprising roughly a third of the population (not counting the members of the lower-middle class or working class). This compares favorably with 1960s when the middle class was virtually non-existant and whatever existed was limited to Santo Domingo and was almost entirely composed of civil servants and their families. Today, the Dominican middle class has grown in part because of the growth of government, but overwhelmingly due to the increase in business activity. Not only is the middle class larger today than it ever has been, but it has greater purchasing power than it did in the past as well. Prior to 1960s, the middle class for all practical purposes simply did not exist.
In terms of concrete data comparisons based on the cost of living, it would be hard to do such a detailed micro-level comparisons for the simple reason that the further back in time we go the less available the data becomes. However, per capita income in the 1960s was $1,698 but by 2000 it was $4,967 and from 1950 to 2000 the DR has experienced an increase of 26% in the health share of welfare gain.
Keep in mind that the Dominican Republic experiences various fluctuations on the short term, but on the long term the Dominican Republic has consistently improved it's lot so to speak. This becomes ever more clear when you compare the situation of the country with our neighbor Haiti. In 1960, the DR and Haiti had equal GDP per capita. The disparities have grown since then and much of that has to do with increasing standards of living in the DR vs. a subsequent deterioration of the same in Haiti. However, even if Haiti would had remained stable and its standard of living remained the same, the disparity between the DR and such would still be great to the favor of the DR.
We can also make comparisons with other countries which have done even better than the DR during the same period, such as Malaysia which in 1960s had a similar GDP per capita as the DR but today it's one of the wealthiest countries, particularly if we disregard the data from first world countries which tends to inflate the average GDP per capita on a global level.
If you want, I could embark on a detailed microeconomic comparative analysis of the DR in 1960s vs 2006. However, you will have to give me some time to collect the data, do the regression analysis and reach a conclusion based on hard facts.
For now, indulge in the following readings:
United Nations Human Development Index
Growth in the Dominican Republic and Haiti: Why has the Grass been Greener on One Side of Hispaniola?
Canadian International Development Agency: Dominican Republic
CONSUMER PRICE INDEX (% CHANGE)
Income Inequality in Central America, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico
Population, Health, and Human Well Being: Dominican Republic\
Dimensions of Well Being, Channels of Growth
-NALs
) inside, say something like a 10 year period. As rapid periods of social change go, this one has been complicated by the drugs/crime issue becoming an issue at the same time.
