The Department of Statistics also reported recently that the cost of living continues to rise and some people are finding it harder to make ends meet. The average household income of households headed by females remained considerably lower than those headed by males ($33,241 compared to $42,416), Assistant Director of the Statistics Leona Wilson reported on Thursday.
The household income takes into account the income of all adults living in a particular dwelling.
Ms. Wilson said the female-headed households accounted for 33 percent of the total aggregate household income.
The figures also show that in 2005, the number of private households in The Bahamas was estimated to be 101,485, an increase of 1.6 percent over the 99,865 recorded in 2004.
Officials said 62 percent of these households was headed by males and 38 percent by females.
But Ms. Wilson noted that these results represent the preliminary findings of the 2005 survey and may vary from the final estimates.
The new figures were released at a press conference at the Department of Statistics during which time officials also announced that the unemployment rate, which stood at 10.2 percent last year, remained unchanged in 2005.
Officials also reported that preliminary results show that 2,375 persons were added to the labour force this year (unemployed and employed), an increase of 1.3 percent over the previous year.
Women were the main contributor to this growth (1,485 compared to men who numbered 890), according to the data.
The data also indicate that of the additional 2,190 new employees, females out numbered the males (1,180 versus 1,010).
Cypreanna Winters, a statistician, said department officials visited 3,500 households throughout the country during a week in April to conduct their survey.
Ms. Wilson, meanwhile, explained that these figures are an important economic indicator.
“[They] give you some idea of the human capital that you have within your country and if you look at human capital as a particular resource that is available to you to produce economic goods in your country that allows you to see what the potential is in your country,” she said.
“The main reason why [conducting these surveys] is important because [the results are] an indicator of the wealth or the health of your country. If you see the unemployment rate is going down or up, it allows you to see how buoyant your economy is.”
Ms. Wilson said that while statisticians face challenges as it relates to respondents, they make every effort to ensure that their data is as accurate as possible. This includes making questionnaires as easy as possible, she said.
By: Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
