The Comisión Económica para América Latina (CEPAL) considers that poverty in the Dominican Republic and seven other nations on the continent is rather worrying. CEPAL points out that 53% of small busineses are sole traders, i.e. unincorporated businesses owned by one individual, and 24% involve only two people, where the owner has someone from his family working for him. It adds that poor people make up the majority that work alone, or with someone from his family that receives no payment and is technically unemployed. It also indicates that the majority of people that are affected by poverty are women, children and the elderly.