A recent study by the Oficina Nacional de Planificación concludes that 60% of the Dominican population lives in poverty. This contrasts with 47% of the population in 1980. More than 8 million people live in the Dominican Republic, including over two million in the National District. Some 1,619,399 persons were found to be living in extreme poverty, while 4,649,502 barely surpassed this level.Furthermore, the study shows that poverty is concentrated mainly along the frontier, and in El Seibo, where a large number of Haitian sugar cane cutters have migrated. The study, "Focalización de la pobreza en la República Dominicana," was financed in part by the United Nations. It was carried out to help the Dominican government determine the priority areas for social expenditures.The poorest Dominican provinces are Elías Piña, El Seibo, Bahoruco, Monte Plata, Samana, San Juan de la Maguana, Independencia, Santiago Rodríguez, Azua and Sánchez Ramírez.Contrastingly, in addition to the National District, the provinces with the highest income per capita are National District (Santo Domingo), La Romana, Santiago, San Pedro de Macorís, Monseñor Nouel (Bonao), Puerto Plata and Peravia (Baní).In the National District, the study showed the poorest neighborhoods are Domingo Savio, La Zurza, Palma Real, Gualey, Simón Bolívar, Capotillo, Santo Domingo Country Club, Engombe, Nuevo Arroyo Hondo, Villa Francisca, Buenos Aires de Herrera, Mejoramiento Social, 24 de Abril and María Auxiliadora. Overall, the poverty level of the National District is 35%, according to the findings of the study.Nevertheless, the investigators feel the percentage in the increase of the poverty level has stopped. Indeed, the study, which compared the porportion of poverty in homes between the census of 1993 and the Encuesta Demográfica y de Salud 1996, forecast that poverty is beginning to decline.
