A study carried out by the Juan Bosch Foundation and the Development Cooperation Institute (ISCOS in Italian) has revealed that 47% of Dominicans are living below the poverty line. The study is called “The analysis of the announcements made by President Danilo Medina and a comparison to the real numbers in terms of employment, salaries, poverty
The report states that between 2014 and 2017 some 380,608 new jobs were created, of which 47% were in the informal sector and in 2017, some 121,066 new jobs were created of which 66.7% were informal, that is they are part of an economy that is neither taxed nor monitored by any form of government.
Comparing the data provided by President Medina, in his state of the nation speech on 27 of February 2019, they said that 60% of people have an average income of RD$11,734 that is below the cost of the cheapest family basket which is RD$13,346.
Matías Bosch Carcuro, Edgar García and Cabrera Airon Fernández said that the majority of the Dominican working population earn much less than is needed to survive with 80% earning less than RD$17,000 that is much less than the average family basket estimated at RD$23,422. They criticized that President Danilo Medina had announced the public sector minimum wage would be doubled to RD$10,000 when the amount does not even cover the cheapest family basket.
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El Dia
5 March 2019