Family

1
Family Community

• The Jamaican Situation
• Presented by
• 
  Sonia M. Jackson
• Director General
• Statistical Institute of Jamaica

2
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

3
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

4
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)

5
Concepts Definitions contd

• 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
  helpers 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.

6
Concepts Definitions contd

• 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)

7
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.

8
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.

9
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

10
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.

11
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.

12
age Distribution of Household by Heads of HH
Size of HH 2006
Sex of Head of House-hold (HH) Household Size Household Size Household Size Household Size Household Size Household Size Household Size Household Size Household Size Household Size
Sex of Head of House-hold (HH) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Total
Male 1,037 32.3 18.0 17.0 12.4 9.1 4.4 3.5 3.4 100.0
Female 880 14.8 21.6 19.4 15.3 11.1 7.7 5.5 4.8 100.0
Jamaica 1,917 24.2 19.7 18.1 13.7 10.0 5.9 4.4 4.1 100.0

13
Household Consumption 2006 by Region Head
of Household
Per Capita Consumption Per Capita Consumption Per Capita Non-Consumption Per Capita Non-Consumption Per Capita Total Household Expenditure Per Capita Total Household Expenditure
Classification
Region Region Region Region Region Region 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 Sex of Head of Household Sex of Head of Household Sex of Head of Household Sex of Head of Household Sex of Head of Household 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
14
2007 Labour Force Indicators by Sex 2007 Labour Force Indicators by Sex 2007 Labour Force Indicators by Sex 2007 Labour Force Indicators by Sex 2007 Labour Force Indicators by Sex 2007 Labour Force Indicators by Sex 2007 Labour Force Indicators by Sex 2007 Labour Force Indicators by Sex 2007 Labour Force Indicators by Sex
ITEM January April July October January April July October
MALE MALE MALE MALE FEMALE FEMALE FEMALE FEMALE
Total Population 1,317,300 1,318,900 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
Employment Rate 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
15
Victims of Selected Crimes 2007 by Age Sex Victims of Selected Crimes 2007 by Age Sex Victims of Selected Crimes 2007 by Age Sex Victims of Selected Crimes 2007 by Age Sex Victims of Selected Crimes 2007 by Age Sex Victims of Selected Crimes 2007 by Age Sex Victims of Selected Crimes 2007 by Age Sex Victims of Selected Crimes 2007 by Age Sex Victims of Selected Crimes 2007 by Age Sex Victims of Selected Crimes 2007 by Age Sex Victims of Selected Crimes 2007 by Age Sex Victims of Selected Crimes 2007 by Age Sex Victims of Selected Crimes 2007 by Age Sex Victims of Selected Crimes 2007 by Age Sex
AGE GROU. MURDER MURDER SHOOTING SHOOTING ROBBERY ROBBERY BREAK-IN BREAK-IN RAPE CARN. ABUSE TOTAL By Sex TOTAL By Sex GRAND TOTAL
M F M F M F M F F F M F
0-4 1 5 1 2 - - - - 2 2 2 11 13
5-9 2 1 2 2 1 - - - 21 23 5 47 52
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
55 101 12 42 6 134 33 176 76 12 - 453 139 592
Un- known 71 6 397 5 22 8 37 19 4 2 527 44 571
TOT. 1,427 147 1,319 126 1,082 521 865 613 710 465 4,693 2,582 7,275
16
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
17
ANNUAL REMITTANCE FLOWS 2001 2007
US Million US Million US Million US Million US Million US Million US Million 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
Post Offices 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 n.a

Total GDP at Current Prices 8,127.4 8,473.4 8,256.3 8,821.2 9,701.7 10,375.9 11,220.4
18
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.

19
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 - re-socialization 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.

20
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.

21
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!

22
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.

23
References

• Population Census Reports 2001-
• The 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 Governments Response to the Annual
  Progress Report on National Social Policy Goals
  2003 - the Jamaica Social Policy Evaluation
  (JASPEV) Project