Resident Commissioner promotes discussion in the Federal Capital about children poverty in Puerto Rico

Washington, D.C.- The Resident Commissioner, Jenniffer González Colón, sponsored the presentation of the study on the impact of Hurricane Maria on the children of Puerto Rico by the Youth Development Institute (IDJ, by its acronym in Spanish), held today in Congress.

"Last Thursday was the first anniversary of the arrival of Hurricane Maria to our island. It not only severely affected our infrastructure and aggravated our economic crisis but added a mental and emotional tension to our people; and this is the worst effect of such a phenomenon, "said the Commissioner.

The Youth Development Institute led the study along with technical studies INC. in collaboration with Save the Children, Massachusetts United Fund, and the Angel Ramos Foundation.

According to the Census Bureau, Puerto Rico has the highest percentage of children living below the poverty level with the lowest household income of $20.078, compared to $41.754 in the state of Mississippi--which had the highest poverty rate among the 50 states to the year 2016 and $57.617 nationwide.

"I must highlight that the concept of poverty, in this case, should not only be measured only by income and material assets. We must also bear in mind that when children experience poverty, their health is affected, as well as education and abilities such as social belonging and self-esteem. We have done, and continue to do, many efforts to improve the quality of life of our constituents, but in specific children and young people. That is why it is so important for me to approve this average that would represent $770 dollars to each family in Puerto Rico impacting more than 406,000 children, " said the Commissioner who presented her legislative work that deals with economic aspects.

Among them stood out the H.R. 798, known as the "Act of equity of Child tax credit for Puerto Rico of 2017 ", which proposes the extension of the child tax credit to Puerto Rican families with one or two children. With this legislation, we seek to provide equitable treatment to residents of Puerto Rico with respect to the refundable portion of the child tax credit and to provide the same treatment to the families in Puerto Rico of one or two children, who are currently Provides families with three or more children to the island.

The study was done with interviews in 705 households with children under 18 years old around the island between July and September 2018; Having an error margin of 3.7%.

Some of the findings of the study are that 8.1% of children were separated from their families because of the hurricane; 41.7% suffered damage to furniture or household appliances; In residences where the average income is $15.000, $40.1% suffered floods.

The study divides Puerto Rico into six areas where it identifies days without paid television service; phone lines; Electric power; Internet connection; Water and mobile telephony. The central area is the most days without these services.

At least 35.9% of respondents said they had suffered loss of clothing and personal items; 30.9% income losses; 21.7% had reduction in hours of Labor Day; And a 20.4% suffered loss of employment.

The study also analyzes access to food, family income, the socioeconomic status of households; The behaviors that the minors showed after the hurricane, if the families considered moving or if they still consider moving because of the consequences of the hurricane.

It is estimated that children under the age of five were an average of 92 days without attending preschool and 7.2% have shown different behaviors in their places of care in the cause of the hurricane; While children between 5 and 17 years old are estimated to have been an average of 78 days without attending school.

It is estimated that 31.8% of households have at least one minor with disabilities; The study stipulates that at least 3 out of 10 children who need medication to treat their condition had difficulty obtaining it after Hurricane Maria.