Family & Community
The Jamaican Situation
Presented by:
Sonia M. Jackson
Director General
Statistical Institute of Jamaica
STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA
1
Structure of the Presentation









Introduction
Concepts & Definitions – family, households, community
Family types
Types of Union Status
The difficulties in studying “families” vis-à-vis “households”
Role of families
Social issues & the impact on families/households
 Female/male headed households
 Employment
 The Impact of Crime & Violence
 Migration & Remittances
Gaps in the information
Summary
STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA
2
Introduction




Jamaica has a long history of data on households
and poverty (SLC dates back to 1988 & 13
Population Censuses dating back to 1844);
The incidence of poverty still remains high at 14.3%.
Poverty is also higher in the rural areas;
The available data have resulted in targeted
solutions for households – PATH Programme;
Other social issues exist at the family and
community levels that need to be addressed;
STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA
3
Concepts & Definitions

Family is a group of people affiliated by
consanguinity, affinity and co-residence.

Household consists of one person who lives alone
or a group of persons who, as a unit, jointly
occupies the whole or part of a dwelling unit, who
have common arrangements for housekeeping, and
who generally share at least one meal. The
household may be composed of related persons
only, of unrelated persons, or of a combination of
both. (Census 2001-Enumeration Manual)
STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA
4
Concepts & Definitions cont’d
In reporting on the Household the following should be noted:

All lodgers, domestic helpers, farm hands and other employees who live in
the dwelling and consider it, their usual place of residence should be
included as members of the household.

If an individual sleeps in the same structure as the main household and
shares at least one meal per day with the household, include him as a
household member.

A domestic employee who sleeps in the house or in an out-building on the
premises is to be listed as a member of the household if he or she sleeps
there on an average of at least four nights per week and share at least one
meal daily. If the helper’s partner or children live on the premises, all
members of this family are to be included with the main household if they
share meals with the main household. If there are separate arrangements
for cooking they should be considered as a separate household;

In case of a tenement yard where there is a series of rooms rented to
different persons by the landlord, each person or group of persons who live
and share meals together is regarded as a separate household. A
household in this special context may share external bathroom, toilet or
even kitchen facilities with other similar households.
STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA
5
Concepts & Definitions cont’d

A Community can be described as a social
system that has a population, shared
institutions and values, and significant social
interactions between individuals and
institutions.
(Social Work Practice – A Generalist Approach by Louise Johnson)
STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA
6
Family Types




Conjugal – Nuclear – Father, mother & children;
Consanguineal – Parents, Children and other
family members often referred to as the “extended
family”;
Matrifocal – Mother and her children – in Jamaica,
in many instances it is the Grandmother who is head
of the household;
Patriarchal – Father and ruler of the family,
authority sometimes extend beyond the immediate
family to the community.
STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA
7
Union Status
3 types are recognized:
 Married Union – man and woman legally
married to each other and are living together;
 Common Law Union – a man and woman
who share a common household but are not
legally married to each other; and
 Visiting relationship – a man and woman
who have a steady sexual relationship but
are neither legally married to each other nor
living with each other.
STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA
8
The Role of Families






Need satisfaction - Providing for the needs of the
individual members
Procreation
Socialisation – relations, hierarchy, sibling rivalry,
etc.
Education – the home is the first teacher
Economic Unit – mainly farming communities and
family based business endeavours
Political - family structures and/or its internal
relationships may affect both state and religious
institutions – respect for law and order, value
systems
STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA
9
Issues – “Family” versus “Union Status”







The population is referred to as “not the marrying” type – 2001
Census data - 90% of persons 16+ had never been married;
Marriage can be religious, civil and/or a combination of both
(usually both);
Legally marriage in Jamaica is monogamous, one man one
woman;
Common Law Unions, on the other hand, involves the
participation into socially sanctioned family forms;
Stable Common Law Unions, 5 years and over, are now
recognised for inheritance & other benefits;
Children born out of wedlock can no longer be discriminated
against for support and inheritance rights;
Households, as defined, provide a more realistic description
of the base unit in which formation of the child takes place.
STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA
10
Social Issues – Head of Household
Head of Household – def. Census 2001
 For census purposes, every household must have a head. The Head of
the Household is the person, man or woman, who carries the main
responsibility in the affairs of the household. In most cases it will be
obvious who the head of the household is, usually it is the person who
is the chief breadwinner.

In any event, the person recognized by the respondent as the head
should be accepted as such for census purposes.

In the case of a group of unrelated persons sharing a dwelling on an
equal basis, that member of the group whom the others acknowledge
as such should be taken as the head. A person running a boarding
house or similar establishment is considered to be the head of that
household.

In a one person household, that person is the head of the household.
STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA
11
% age Distribution of Household
by Heads of HH & Size of HH 2006
Sex of
Head of
Household (HH)
Male
Female
Jamaica
Household Size
5
6
7
8+
Total
12.4
9.1
4.4
3.5
3.4
100.0
19.4
15.3
11.1
7.7
5.5
4.8
100.0
18.1
13.7
10.0
5.9
4.4
4.1
100.0
1
2
3
4
1,037
32.3
18.0
17.0
880
14.8
21.6
1,917
24.2
19.7
STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA
12
Household Consumption 2006 –
by Region & Head of Household
Per Capita
Consumption
Classification
$
%
Per Capita
Non-Consumption
$
%
Per Capita Total
Household Expenditure
$
%
Region
KMA
178,350
89.0
22,016
11.0
200,366
100
Other Towns
147,068
91.1
14,432
8.9
161,500
100
Rural
109,979
92.3
9,122
7.7
119,101
100
Sex of Head of Household
Male
155,169
89.2
18,742
10.8
173,911
100
Female
125,027
92.4
10,272
7.6
135,299
100
Jamaica
139,595
90.7
14,366
9.3
153,961
100
STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA
13
2007 Labour Force Indicators by Sex
January
ITEM
April
July
October
January
MALE
Total Population
1,317,300
1,318,900
April
July
October
FEMALE
1,320,600
1,322,100
1,356,500
1,358,500
1,359,800
1,361,500
Pop. 14+ years
948,900
950,000
951,300
952,300
993,600
994,900
996,000
997,300
Labour Force
700,800
700,500
695,300
699,900
558,900
560,100
560,700
568,900
Employed L.F.
651,600
656,600
654,600
661,600
471,900
483,800
480,100
487,400
Unemployed L.F.
49,200
44,000
40,700
38,300
87,100
76,300
80,700
81,500
Outside the L.F.
248,100
249,500
256,000
252,400
434,700
434,800
435,300
428,400
93.0
93.7
94.1
94.5
84.4
86.4
85.6
85.7
Unemployment
Rate
7.0
6.3
5.9
5.5
15.6
13.6
14.4
14.3
Job Seeking Rate
4.1
4.4
4.1
3.6
7.0
8.3
8.8
9.2
LF as %age of
Total Population
53.2
53.1
52.7
52.9
41.2
41.2
41.2
41.8
Employment Rate
STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA
14
Victims of Selected Crimes 2007 – by Age & Sex
AGE
GROU.
MURDER
M
SHOOTING
F
M
F
ROBBERY
BREAK-IN
RAPE
CARN.
ABUSE
F
F
TOTAL
By Sex
M
GRAND
TOTAL
M
F
M
F
F
-
-
-
-
2
2
2
11
13
-
-
-
21
23
5
47
52
0-4
1
5
1
2
5-9
2
1
2
2
1
10-14
6
3
10
5
15
4
1
2
165
300
32
479
511
15-19
112
19
88
9
58
47
7
20
242
138
265
475
740
20-24
230
28
195
23
125
96
63
45
109
-
613
301
914
25-29
257
13
154
21
162
90
82
81
52
-
655
257
912
30-34
188
13
140
11
149
78
127
105
43
-
604
250
854
35-39
181
14
90
15
149
60
116
77
23
-
536
189
725
40-44
123
19
100
15
127
53
111
68
16
-
461
171
632
45-49
107
11
64
9
77
28
71
71
15
-
319
134
453
50-54
48
3
36
3
63
64
74
49
6
-
221
85
306
101
12
42
6
134
33
176
76
12
-
453
139
592
71
6
397
5
22
8
37
19
4
2
527
44
571
1,427
147
1,319
126
1,082
521
865
613
710
465
4,693
2,582
7,275
55+
Unknown
TOT.
STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA
15
Components of Population Growth
Year
Births
Deaths
Migration
Population
2001
49,490
17,825
23,900
2,611,100
2002
48,627
17,018
23,300
2,619,400
2003
47,110
16,669
17,800
2,632,000
2004
47,127
16,905
18,100
2,644,100
2005
47,254
17,552
20,600
2,656,700
2006
46,277
16,317
17,100
2,669,500
2007
45,590
17,048
16,100
2,682,100
STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA
16
ANNUAL REMITTANCE FLOWS 2001 – 2007
US$ Million
Main Channels of
Remittances :
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
Commercial Banks
177.5
267.9
313.6
361.2
357.9
385.1
412.1
Remittance Cos.
566.4
621.3
677.0
763.2
961.8
1,042.5
1,167.7
1.2
0.7
1.2
1.2
1.2
1.2
0.1
Bldg. Societies
195.5
240.7
277.7
340.0
300.3
341.7
385.6
Total Inflow
940.1
1,130.6
1,269.5
1,456.6
1,621.2
1,770.5
1,965.3
Total Outflow
147.3
213.4
282.8
340.0
316.8
299.4
8,821.2 9,701.7
10,375.9
Post Offices
Total GDP at
Current Prices
8,127.4 8,473.4 8,256.3
STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA
n.a
11,220.4
17
Eliciting a Community Response





The Community has a role to play in the development of
values and attitudes, management of crime, and
influencing social policy, etc.;
Data are not being compiled at the community level;
STATIN proposes the collection of and study of
communities – a prerequisite is the spatial definition of
communities island-wide and the development of a
community grid for Jamaica;
The issue is, also, how much and what types of data
should be available at the community level;
Training has to be provided for community members,
particularly the leaders, in the interpretation and use of
the data for decision making.
STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA
18
Re-socializing the Family

At the family/household level a number of issues
need to addressed:




The under achievement of young males result in poor
education, high unemployment and high crime rates - resocialization is necessary through education, employment
and other types of support;
The breakdown in the family structure through migration of
parents – the lack of supervision & discipline, increased
vulnerability of minors, the creation of “barrel children”, etc
– support to be provided by social sector groups churches, schools, NGO, etc;
The work of the Family Planning Board to be continued birth rates have been falling and household sizes are being
reduced;
Gender inequalities need to be addressed.
STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA
19
Data Creation & Management

At the macro level






The quantitative and qualitative measurements of the
results of the various social programmes need to be done;
There should be the centralisation of the data gathered for
comprehensive studies to be done on the effectiveness of
the various policy initiatives to support households/families;
Administrative data sources should be strengthened to
provide the required information, and where necessary
should be validated by household surveys;
The overall structure of the data management system
should be reviewed and strengthened;
The legal framework for statistical data management needs
to be strengthened;
Concerns pertaining to the issues of confidentiality and the
release of micro data for research need to be addressed.
STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA
20
Conclusion







Social and cultural issues take time to change. Adequate
resources must be provided over the medium to long term
to effect the change;
Steps need to be taken to gather baseline data on the
deeper issues/factors that impact the development of the
individual within the home and the community;
Families need to be re-socialized;
Gender imbalances need to be addressed;
Communities have a role to play in sustainable social
development, but the members have to be adequately
prepared;
A strong stable economy in which jobs are provided for the
population is a critical element of the process of change;
Corrective action needs to begin NOW!
STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA
21
Glossary




Tenement Yard – properties where the buildings are
divided and rented to several different persons;
KMA (Kingston Metropolitan Area)– The Parish of
Kingston, the urban centres of St. Andrew, Spanish
Town (St. Catherine) & Bull Bay (St. Thomas);
Barrel Children – children whose parents have
migrated and are left in the care of an adult. Support
is usually provided through remittances and items of
clothing and other necessities being packaged and
sent home in barrels;
Bldg. Societies (Building Societies) – housing
finance institutions similar to Savings & Loans of
USA.
STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA
22
References





Population Census Reports 2001The Jamaica Survey of Living Conditions 2006 – a joint Publication by the
Statistical Institute of Jamaica & the Planning Institute of Jamaica
Economic And Social Survey of Jamaica 2007 – A Publication by the
Planning Institute of Jamaica
Demography Statistics 2007 – a publication by the Statistical Institute of Ja.
Jamaica 2015; Government’s Response to the Annual Progress Report on
National Social Policy Goals 2003; - the Jamaica Social Policy Evaluation
(JASPEV) Project
STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA
23