In 2022, more than half of Colombian households (50.6 percent) miss being poor. A considerable increase compared to years prior to the pandemic such as 2019, when that perception was 37.9 percent. The data is from the National Department of Statistics (Dane), which yesterday Thursday presented the results of its annual survey on the quality of life in which expose the challenges that the country has in terms of health, education and above all poverty.
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Increased perception of poverty
By departments, the figure becomes more worrying and only in some, 8 out of 10 households are considered poor. The regions that presented the highest perception of poverty were Vichada, with 85.8 percent; Córdoba, with 83.7 percent and Chocó, with 83.4 percent.
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The perception of poverty increased in households in the country.
Juan Pablo Rueda Bustamante / Time
In contrast, the departments where fewer households were considered poor were Caldas with 34.4 percent; Bogotá as a special district and capital in second place, with 32.3 percent; and Risaralda, with 32.3 percent.
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eating problems
The survey reveals that the 5.4 percent of households responded that they had not eaten anything for a whole day; 12.7 percent stated that the household ran out of food and 14.6 percent admitted to being hungry but not having eaten anything.
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Food problems are getting worse in the country.
Juan Pablo Rueda Bustamante / Time
If health recommendations on the importance of consuming a variety of nutritious foods are taken into account, the problem in the country worsens. 38 percent responded that they consumed little variety and 33.5 percent admitted not having eaten nutritious and healthy foods.
Access to public services
Of the 17,526,000 homes in the national territory, 98.6 percent have access to the energy service; 68.6 percent have access to natural gas; 89.9 percent have an aqueduct service; 75.4 percent have sewerage; 82.8 percent have a garbage collection service; 1.2 percent do not have access to any service.
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Access to higher education
In 2019, the percentage of people aged 17 or over who accessed higher education was around 30 percent, it remained that way during 2020 and increased to 30.2 in 2021, however, the figure had a reduction in 2022 and remained at 29.5 percent.
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Laura Restrepo receives classes in a mixed modality, on weekends.
Courtesy Fundación Secretos para Contar.
Women aged 17 and over are the ones who have the most access to higher education with a percentage of 31.2 percent; in contrast to 27.6 percent of men. Piedad Urdinola, director of Dane, said that this was almost ironic, since, despite the fact that women are the ones who receive the most training, in the labor market they are less employed than men and their unemployment is higher.
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The departments, including the capital, in which higher education was reached the most were Bogotá with 47.1 percent; Atlántico, with 16.3 percent and San Andrés, with 36.3 percent. In contrast, in the that did less were Arauca with 13.9 percent; Vaupés, with 12.8 percent and Vichada, with 7.7 percent being the lowest income percentage in the country
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Courtesy Botanical Garden
Although during the pandemic the percentage of people between the ages of 6 and 21 who were studying fell, in 2022 it grew and reached 80.6 percent of the national total. Currently, of the 13,278,000 people in this age range, 10,703,000 attend some educational establishment.
health coverage
During the presentation of the report, it was announced that by 2022 94.7 percent of Colombians were affiliated with the health system.
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Piedad Urdinola explained that of this percentage, 44.9 percent belongs to the contributory regime and 54.8 percent to the subsidized, which has been increasing since 2019. This increase was justified by the director based on the ravages caused by the pandemic.
JOHN DAVID CANO
School of Multimedia Journalism EL TIEMPO
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