Extreme poverty in Venezuela fell almost 15 points between 2021 and 2022, according to an academic study presented this Thursday, which nevertheless highlighted the enormous inequality that exists in the country, the greatest in the entire American continent.
The National Survey of Living Conditions (Encovi) 2022, coordinated by the private Andrés Bello Catholic University (UCAB) and a reference in Venezuela Given the lack of official figures, it placed 53% of the population in extreme povertyand 81.5% in a situation of poverty.
In 2021, the figures were 68% and 90.9% respectively in this country of 28.3 million inhabitants, according to the survey itself.
"For the first time in seven years poverty is reduced in Venezuela"said sociologist Luis Pedro España at the presentation in Caracas of the survey, which observes an increase in income in the midst of an economic rebound.
After years in recession and hyperinflation, Venezuela observes a relative recovery, which goes through an informal dollarization, which includes wages, and the relaxation of strict price controls.
"We are not tight, you are not earning like this (much)… but you always take something home"Tania Navas, a 49-year-old informal vendor at her stall in the popular neighborhood of Chacaíto, told AFP. "One does not suffer as much lack as before, with the question of queues and all those things".
Refers to years of crisis deeper in which scarcity forced people to stand in line to buy products, and led many to emigrate.
– "take something home" –
The Encovi collects a 50% growth in formal employment and a reduction of 7.7 points in informality.
In any case, Venezuela is "the most unequal country in America", he assures. The poorest earn an average of 7.9 dollars per month, while the most advantaged earn about 553.2 dollars, 70 times more, according to the study.
And almost 40% of the wealthiest are in Caracas, the capital.
"This situation of inequality will not be able to be corrected only with economic growth"Spain noted.
"Next year, growing the same, we are not going to reduce poverty like this. Every year we are going to reduce it less and we are going to reach a valley" because "public policies are needed to lift people out of poverty and turn them into productive subjects".
"Right now poverty has more to do with social factors"indicated in relation to multidimensional poverty, which is located at 50% and includes, beyond income, aspects such as services, housing and infrastructure.
Non-labor income fell from 44.8% in 2021 to 26.2 this year, at 2017 levels, in part due to the increase in formal remuneration.
That item includes government bonds – which averaged $4.5 (last year, 2.5)- and remittances, which fell to 49% of the migrant population (10 points less than in 2021).
– ¿"re-pack"? –
Academics are concerned about the reduction in school coverage. In the 2021-2022 period, 1.5 million of the country’s inhabitants between the ages of 3 and 17 were left out of the education system, he observed, and also highlighted that the use of public health services was reduced, due to their increased cost.
"Almost half of the population between the ages of 3 and 5 remains excluded from benefits of education initial"indicated the Encovi. "This exclusion is concentrated among the poorest because the public offer is limited and the private one is expensive.".
Anitza Freitez, also coordinator of the study, in turn ruled out a massive return of the millions of Venezuelans who left the country in search of a better life. She estimates that 6% of the 7 million migrants have returned, a figure that she says is questionable because of the mobility cycles of these people.
"There are some signs of improvement, of growth, but there is still a great uncertainty" about the future, Freitez pointed out, highlighting the roots of many families who have been away for five or more years. "Going back again to pack suitcases with the whole family group and return to Venezuela when the guarantees are not given, we do not see that as feasible.".