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Friday, January 29th, 2016  |  USD: Buy 531.29 / Sell 543.92
20 years

President Solis promises to cut extreme poverty in half

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President Luis Guillermo Solís / Archive (Photo: Casa Presidencial)

President Luis Guillermo Solís / Archive (Photo: Casa Presidencial)

November 18th, 2014 (InsideCostaRica.com) President Luis Guillermo Solis promised to reduce the number of households living in extreme poverty from 95,000 to 52,000 while presenting his government’s National Development Plan yesterday evening.

 

According to official data, 6.7% of Costa Rican households comprising some 345,000 people currently live in extreme poverty.

 

The promise is significantly more conservative than promises given by President Solis during his presidential campaign, when he promised to “completely eliminate” extreme poverty by 2018.  That goal, the government says, has been pushed back to 2030 and will depend on future administrations.

 

Solis also promised to reduce unemployment from the current 8.6% to 7% by 2018 by creating 217,000 jobs.

 

 

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  • disgsted

    Whatever happened to all the money collected on our luxury houses? I never hear anything about how much they collected and spent directly on the poor. 5 years has any of the poor neighborhoods here been improved?/ Other than department heads and consultants pocketing the money?/ That shameful!

    IF Pres.Solis can only come up with more taxes my heads going to explode. CR is already by reports 20% more expensive than any other Central American country now! And our main roads are in bad shape compared to our north and south neighbors.

    • mhogan

      Abeconomics. More taxes that will drive away investors. Result: collapse of economy.

  • HONEST MAN

    The only way Pres Solis can change poverty in Costa Rica is by making bigger goverment and everyone will work for the goverment. I guess soon your business that you built will soon be owned by goverment. The Costa Rican goverment has no money to fix anything and no balls to fix the real problems the Public sector unions.

  • John

    Anyone know the working definition of “extreme poverty” here?

    • Yeims

      It’s when someone doesn’t have enough money to eat three meals a day.

    • http://insidecostarica.com/ Timothy Williams

      In general, most government surveys in Costa Rica consider “extreme poverty” those households who have trouble meeting the daily caloric requirements for all members of the household. This is generally calculated using the cost of the “basic food basket”, which is currently pegged at about 45,000 colones per month.

      • HONEST MAN

        Your right on the daily food requirements. I know most Costa Rican can´t feed there families. But you never hear goverment talk about the staving families and children in Costa Rica. I feed familes on friday,saturday,sunday night everyweek and see lots of kids and parents that can´t feed there family. Last week we gave food to over 1000 people on every night in San Jose the most we have seen in 6 months of feeding. Costa Rica is a real mess and sad to say this its getting very bad for families and kids. Even Cuba feeds there kids and people now in the Costa Rica goverment only cares about stealing and corupt system that keep them charge. Its getting hard to see starving kids and parents that can´t get rice and beans to feed there families.

        • disgsted

          Honest Man, Your doing a good thing, Where are you located in San Jose feeding the poor? I go to the church in La Uruca once a week we have a dinner available to the youth.. 3 Yrs ago I decided to be a benefactor to a struggling family and help the children with uniforms, school meals as long as they study and bring home good grades. If we as expats just did this for one needy family and make a difference is some ones life. The government IMAS all seem to be AWOL for the most part

          • HONEST MAN

            I live in Barrio Dent. Two years ago my wife and i started taking Hot food to San Jose and some dried food we give to families the first night we started 125 people showed up now its around 700+ average a night and last week we feed around 1000 a night. I raise my own funds from friends and Family. I am a chef by trade and cooking is easy we have around 15 volunteers on and off that help. Things are getting really bad when police officers are in line with homeless to eat and want food to bring home to there families. I lived on and off in Costa Rica for 8 years and see so many kids and families on the street now. No jobs,NO Chances of jobs. Not enough money to survive. The CR goverment is the major problem they really don´t want to see old and young people begging for food i have had problems with Goverment official that want me to stop feeding people but i have all the permits as a catering company. I have traveled everywhere in the world Thailand,Cuba,Brazil,Panama est and Costa Rica goverment is the worse to help people and families. I am not religous at all and its just very sad to see the families not able to feed kids and really sad to see young people that need jobs and food.

    • HONEST MAN

      People that leave on 2 dollars or less a day are considered extreme poverty. Thats almost 48% of Costa Rica and 76% of Central america are in poverty.

  • Yeims

    WOW!!! He’s going to HALVE only the EXTREME poverty, and will take only a whopping FIFTEEN years to do it? And it’s not he who will be doing this, but the future administrations? Not exactly a “the buck stops here” kind of guy. I guess it’s a little early to start standing in line, then, although here one never knows. A fifteen year line in Costa Rica? Yes, definitely possible. .

  • Ken Morris

    This, or rather the entire package, is what I’ve been waiting for from Solís. I’ve been saying all along that he desperately needs to articulate a vision and back it up with a plan. Alas, it’s 560 pages and a bit tardy, so may not get the traction it needs, but it looks pretty thorough.

    For anyone who complains that his goal for eliminating extreme poverty is too modest and his timetable too extended, I will retort that these features actually strengthen his plan. Every president promises the elimination of extreme poverty, and none makes a dent. Solís is to be respected for being honest. He ain’t going to do it completely or quickly, but has put a plan on the table that may actually work.

    Also, from what I’ve seen, I don’t think he’s planning on just taxing the rich and giving to the poor. I think his plan is for a long-term economic development strategy.

    Mind, his isn’t the last word on the matter, and with luck good people will improve upon his plan. However, we finally have a sensible plan, rather than a bunch of blather.

  • disgsted

    Fight poverty.. First thing and the churches and government needs to do is address the …. Out of wedlock babies! Young 14 yr old with swollen bellies, 20 yr old with 3 children in tow and no job no money spells extreme poverty. Irresponsible fathers and yes mothers too. Those mothers are reduced massage parlors and begging for for food and shelter. This is the unspoken truth, Right President Solis?/

    At the local clinic Cloroita, My doctor says they have the injections too prevent pregnancy every 3 months appointment. However, either they are too lazy, in denial or some other excuse.

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