Montserrat Survey of Living Conditions (MSLC) Executive Summary

Montserrat Survey of Living ConditionsExecutive Summarynumber of mentions of the words ‘struggling’ and ‘surviving’ in the PPAs. In this sense, the term hardshipis arguably more apposite in the Montserratian context than poverty.3.8 Changes since 2000Comparisons of the 2000 and 2008 PPAs reveal very similar results. This is not unsurprising given thatthey were both undertaken in periods of economic hardship. The factors causing these situations arehowever different. In 2000, the country was only beginning to recover from the eruptions while in 2008the economy was contracting due to the global recession and the completion of major constructionprojects. Both surveys are dominated by concerns about the high cost of living that has imposed a varyinglevel of hardship on a large proportion of the population. The coping strategies employed to enablepeople to ‘make ends meet’ are virtually identical as are the groups likely to be most vulnerable to severepoverty: the elderly, the mentally challenged and households with single headed families with children.There are however differences although these are a matter of degree rather than radical change. Inparticular, it is probable that the psychological impacts of the eruption have reduced, given that they arenow living in safe areas and considerable reconstruction has taken place. For instance, respondents arenow more concerned about improving current housing conditions than discussing the failings of the posteruptionshelter policy. If the sense of insecurity resulting from the eruption has, for many, decreased thisis partly offset by an increase in insecurity resulting from increased immigration, especially during a time ofeconomic stagnation. Issues related to unemployment and under-employment receive greater attention forthe same reason. Little attention was paid to migrant issues in 2000.Overall, responses received in the 2008 PPAs are more typical of those from other Eastern CaribbeanPPAs than those from 2000 16 . In the future, this is likely to be increasingly the case as memories ofMontserrat’s volcanic eruption fade to be increasingly replaced by the issues found in other CPAs –although they will be reawakened every time there is a spate of volcanic activity.4 The Institutional Analysis (IA) (Chapters 4 and 5)The objectives of the IA were to: (i) to identify the principal policies, programmes and activities relevant topoverty reduction; (ii) to assess the scope and effectiveness of these interventions; and hence (iii) toidentify potential recommendations as to how existing activities and can be improved and newinterventions introduced. The IA was undertaken through interviews and discussions with numerousgovernment, non-government and private sector organizations as well as the review of relevant documentsand statistics. The IA covered economic, infrastructure and social sectors. Suggestions arising from theIA, of which there were many, have been included in the CPA’s recommendations.16 Some of the differences may also be due to the different approaches in the two studies. The 2000 surveys wereundertaken just as the concept of PPA approach was gaining favour. At that time, poverty was still essentially seen inincome and quantitative terms; hence greater emphasis was given to exploring alternative definitions of poverty.Much of this is now the orthodoxy so more recent PPAs tend to stress the examination of the characteristics,concerns and needs of different sub-groups of the poor. This facilitates addressing the non-income aspects ofpoverty and deriving policy interventions for different vulnerable groups.Montserrat Country Poverty Assessment, Final ReportHalcrow Group Limited, July 2012.ES16