The Commission to Combat Child Poverty and Social Inequality in Puerto Rico presented the ten-year plan focused on fighting the main social problems that affect the development of many families on this Caribbean island, under colonial domination by the United States for 126 years. The organization, created by Law 84-2021 with the participation of more than 200 representatives from various sectors of society, has the main objective of reducing child poverty by 50 percent by 2032.
The plan establishes various strategies framed in four main goals, including strengthening the capacity of the ecosystem of services aimed at children and their families and ensuring greater coordination, integration and efficiency between sectors and the community, to combat child poverty and social inequality.
The Secretary of the Family, Ciení Rodríguez Troche, stated that eradicating child poverty in Puerto Rico must be a commitment of all to, together, improve the quality of life of many families who are in vulnerable situations.
This plan also proposes improving the economic conditions of families with children under 18 years of age to eradicate child poverty and promote their full development in this country of 3.2 million inhabitants.
Expanding the availability and access to high-quality and integrative services for children and their families, to improve their equitable access to resources and opportunities that contribute to reducing social inequality and promote their mobility and full development, are on the agenda of the multi-sector organization.
The executive director of the Commission, Eduardo A. Lugo Hernández, mentioned the urgency of “addressing child poverty in Puerto Rico since the stressors associated with this reality affect the full development of children, impacting their quality of life and future social mobility.”
“The goals and strategies outlined are anchored in a research process to identify updated indicators of child poverty and inequality to develop evidence-based multi-sector strategies to address these problems,” he said.
83.8 percent of people experience some type of vulnerability in their homes, such as physical damage and economic burden, while 44.4 percent have some type of disability and 16.4 percent of respondents do not have their own vehicle. In addition, 4.6 percent of children in these households face physical and mental health problems and 14.6 percent of these do not receive services.
Meanwhile, 43.2 percent of those surveyed have jobs, while 15.4 percent said they are actively looking for work.
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