Fwd: CSO mumbo jumbo 'explanation' for 'AFRO TRINIS EARNING MORE' - bordering on racist asininity and social engineering
CCDSJ_TT
Afro Trinis earning more
Household Budget Survey:
By Kevin Baldeosingh
Story Created: Jul 16, 2011 at 10:42 PM ECT
Story Updated: Jul 16, 2011 at 10:42 PM ECT
A new Household Budget Survey from the Central Statistical Office has suggested there are more wealthy people of African ethnicity in Trinidad and Tobago than any other group.
In fact, in all but two categories of monthly income, there are more Afros than Indos earning high salaries.
But, just 12 years ago, Afros earned the same or less than Indos.
Sterling Chadee, a senior statistician at the CSO, is cautious about these figures.
"Income is only one part of the story," he explained to the Sunday Express in a telephone interview. "Expenditure is the other part."
The HBS survey, like the national census, is done every ten years. The previous HBS was done in 1998, and this one in 2008. The report was released in October last year.
As the title suggests, the survey collects data on what citizens spend their income on, from food to liming.
In some ways, it is thus actually more detailed than the national census.
However, unlike the census, the HBS uses a random sample, whereas the national census (which was done this year and whose preliminary results should be out by July 2012) aims to record every person in the country.
According to the report, "Africans comprised 38.2 per cent of the sample, Indians 36.7 per cent and Mixed 24.1 per cent. All other ethnic groups together made up exactly one per cent of the sample."
The survey concentrates on the heads of households and showed that, by ethnicity, Afros comprised 42 per cent of heads while Indos accounted for 37 per cent.
However, these figures do not tally with the 2000 census, which places the number of Afro-Trinbagonians at 37.5 per cent of the population, with Indo-Trinbagonians making up 40 per cent.
Population projections from the CSO's 2007 Demographic Report show a higher proportion for Afros in the 0-19 age group, which means that, if present trends continue, Indos will remain the majority ethnic group until about 2025.
When asked about this issue, Chadee replied that the survey listed household heads, and not the members of the home.
Chadee, who has been with the CSO for 26 years, suggested one reason for the difference between total population and household heads is that there might be more African householders.
"Indian households are normally larger, so there might be more members in the Indian household," he said.
If this is so, then even if there are fewer Indo heads, persons of Indian origin might still outnumber those of African origin. In an e-mail response later, however, he added, "The sample data is representative. As such, it can infer to the population."
Nonetheless, the HBS figures still showed Afro-Trinbagonians earning more than Indos.
In the 1998 HBS, African heads were also oversampled at 45 per cent, but their average household income then was $1,200 lower per year than that of Indians.
Now, in the 2008 survey, Afro heads earn an average of $4,476 more per year than Indos.
Not only this but, contrary to the popular stereotype, Afro-Trinbagonians also spend less than Indos. Whereas Africans' average monthly consumption expenditure totals $6,872, Indians spend $7,204. (See Table 1.)
TABLE 1
Afro and Indo household indicators
Ethnicity Average Average Average Average
Size Monthly Monthly Spenders
Income Expenditure
Afro 3.3 $9255.1 $6872.7 2.8
Indo 3.4 $8882.3 $7204.5 2.9
Source: HBS 2008/2009
Chadee, however, cautions that this apparent disparity may arise from the urban-rural divide. "A lot of Indians are located in rural areas, and the rural income is less than the urban," he says. (See Table 2 for a list of the urban and rural regions in T&T.) The Labour Force Report 2008 explains: "Regions which, by a set of classification rules, are labelled 'urban' tend to have higher rates of participation of females in the labour force, higher income levels and greater degrees of infrastructural development than those that are not."
TABLE 2
Higher and lower income regions
Urban Rural
Port of Spain Wards of Arima, Blanchisseuse, San Raphael
Borough of Arima Nariva, Mayaro
Diego Martin Counties of St Andrew and St David
San Fernando County of Victoria
Chaguanas Caroni
Point Fortin County of St Patrick
Tacarigua
St Ann's
Source: Labour Force Report 2008, CSO
The HBS lists 45.9 per cent of Indos living in urban areas, as compared to 68.7 per cent of Afros. The average monthly household income in urban areas is $9,713, while in rural areas it's $8,447.
The report shows that more Africans live in poorer areas (to 27.2 per cent, as compared to 23.5 per cent of Indos), but more Africans also live in high-income areas (25.6 per cent, as compared to 18.7 per cent of Indos).
There are ten per cent more Indos living in middle-income areas.
However, both Afro and Indo households have the same average size—ie, number of members.
Chadee suggests that, with this urban-rural ethnic divide, expenditure has to be taken into account before concluding that Afro-Trinbagonians earn more than Indos.
"The African might have to spend more on household expenditure," he says. "The Indian may own his house, grow food."
The figures show that urban households spend on $7,718 per month on average, while rural households spend $6,492. So urban households spend 79 per cent of their income, and rural households spend 76 per cent.
Housing, utility bills and such expenses take up 28 per cent of the urban householder's income, but 23 per cent of the rural dweller's.
However, the urban households only spend 16 per cent of their income on food and beverages, while rural ones spend 18 per cent. And almost three times as many rural dwellers as urban ones grow some of their food.
It is in the income breakdown, however, that the most striking figures are seen.
Only in the $19,000-$24,999 category is there a higher percentage of Indian household heads earning more than African ones. In all other middle- and upper-level income ranges, there is a greater proportion of Afro-Trinbagonians.
Table 3 highlights selected categories.
TABLE 3
Heads' average monthly income
by ethnicity
Income range African (%) Indian (%)
No Income 35.7 40.1
Less than 1,000 31.6 48.1
3,000 - 4,999 42.7 35.9
9,000 - 10,999 40.2 34.8
25,000 and over 50.0 23.8
Source: HBS 2008/2009
There are about ten per cent more Afros than Indos in the higher income groups, but the most striking disparity occurs in the $25,000-and-over category.
Among all household heads who fall within this income bracket, 50 per cent are of African descent, while just under 22 per cent are East Indian.
Even among Caucasians, only 11.7 per cent claim to be earning over this figure.
Chadee, however, sounds one more cautionary note: "The very highest income group are the very worst respondents," he says.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Afro_Trinis_earning_more-125698248.html
Sponsored by Management Services Consulting of Trinidad and Tobago (MSCTT)
INCREDIBLE INDIA! Journey of a lifetime - INDIA December 2011 to January 2012
Xmas in VARANASI.
New Years' in RISHIKESH and HARIDWAR.
TAJ MAHAL...on to VRINDAVAN. JAIPUR. KOLKATTA. UTTAR PRADESH. BIHAR. MATHURA. CHENNAI. KERALA.
MUMBAI. BOLLYWOOD and more...
Visit LONDON on the way back...One month in India - December 15th 2011 to January 15th 2012.
Call 1 868 687-7529 or e-mail 2011In...@gmail.com for more details.
