National census to begin in April

The collection of information for the National Population and Housing Census is slated to begin in April. The national census, undertaken by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN), is conducted every 10 years. It was due to be done last year, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Carol Coy, director-general of STATIN, said that the data collected from citizens will include age, sex, marital status, education attainment, religious affiliation, household composition, family characteristics, and household size.

"[We] need to look at the housing stock to see how Jamaicans are living... their access to electricity, their access to water, their access to garbage collection, and which showed up during the pandemic, was our access to Internet," Coy said.

"You would have realised that ... a significant number of children didn't have access to Internet, and so it's a census that will give you this detailed information as to what is happening," she added.

Coy said that the census will target every Jamaican, whether they live in private households, institutions - including prisons, or on the streets.

The director-general said that the information collected during the census will be treated confidentially by STATIN. She is encouraging citizens to participate in the census, as the information collected is critical.

"We complain that we're not getting certain facilities, but it's only when governments have this data or the private businesses have this information, that they can provide for you," Coy explained.