NASSAU, The Bahamas – The Bahamas’ Household Expenditure Report Survey, 2013, is expected to play a key role in the future decision-making process in The Bahamas in the future.

Minister of Social Services and Community Development, the Hon. Melanie Sharon Griffin said the Survey was an important exercise for the Government and people of The Bahamas as it was able to provide useful inputs for the compilation of national accounts for the household sector, while allowing for the calculation of the country’s poverty line.

The Survey also allows for an analysis of data that facilitates the measurement of differences in consumption patterns of different population groups, all of which are expected to assist the Government to improve its decision-making process.

The Survey was spawned out of the need for the country to obtain “more current empirical data” to support the Social Safety Net Programme.

“It is important that we as a nation value the importance of gathering data in order to assist with sound, decision-making by policymakers for with empirical data, sound decisions can be made,” Mrs. Griffin said.

“[By] calculating the poverty line, the Survey assists the Government in identifying who is really poor in the country, which allows for provision of specific services for this group.”

Conducted by officials of the Department of Statistics, the Survey was facilitated by funds included in the Inter-American Development Bank’s loan for The Bahamas’ Social Safety Net Reform Programme (SSNRP).

The objective of the SSNRP, which is being implemented by the Ministry of Social Services and Community Development, is to promote human capital development and poverty alleviation through the consolidation of a number of existing social welfare programmes, into a Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programme targeted at the poor.

It also focuses on changing behaviours so as to promote educational achievement and healthier lifestyles for children whose families are participants in the programme.

“Since the reform targets the poor, it is essential for us to know who fits in this category and where they are located,” Mrs. Griffin added.

Field Work for the Survey began in February 2013, and was conducted in New Providence, Grand Bahama and designated Family Islands. The Survey captured information on the Labour Force, Social Protection, Housing and Health. A new module, called Lifestyle, was also added. It sought to establish specific information on the lifestyle patterns of persons such as eating, sleeping and exercise habits.

The Survey provides data that will assist in measuring the economic well-being of the population while also measuring the effectiveness of the social service system in the country.

Officials from a number of key Government Ministries, Corporations and Departments, in addition to key private sector and non-governmental partners, gathered on Thursday (September 25) for a presentation on the Survey, which also provides officials with up-to-date data from the first Bahamas Living Conditions Survey.

“The first Bahamas Living Conditions Survey was conducted in 2001 and this established for the first time, a poverty line in The Bahamas,” Mrs. Griffin said. “We know that much has happened since 2001. It is important therefore that we measure poverty rates more regularly [as] our country, and indeed the world, has undergone significant changes during that time span due to the global recession.