1769 The following facts appeared in a pamphlet, Why Tolerate Poverty end Oppression? issued by the Unemployed Yorkers Council of Kingston, Jamaica,
More than 300,000 men and women are without a secure means of exist— ounce in Jamaica — some permanently without jobs, some finding jobs for only a few wooks of the year, More than 60,000 families lack homes while 250,000 other families live in overscrowied rooms under extromely unhealthy conditions, Nearly half the familios in Jamaica have only one meal a day.
Throughout the country hundreds of young end old beggars wander. Prostitution , involving girls as young as twelve, is rampant. Moro than 71% of the children born in Jamaica are illegitinnte.Out of a population of 1,700,000, some 1,200,000 are recorded as attending the country's public heclth institutions, which gives an indication of the disease-ridden condit—ions, More than 80% of the children above the age of 5 never have milk.
More than two-thirds of the country's 400,000 children between the ages of 5 and 14 lack shoes, Today Jamaica has 169,000 above the ago of ten who cannet read or write, an average of one out of six, For the past 8 years soma 7,000 children reaching the age of seven have had no schools to go to.
4 common daily occurrence is tho seizure of furniture and other beloncings because of the failure of families to keep up time payments. “i Heonomic crimes such as burglary, house-breaking, shop=breaking, fraud, general theft and traffic in narcotics, which stood at 24,680 reported cases in 1959-60 rosa by 5,035 in 1960-61 and 3,019 in 1961-62 — a rise of more than 32% in two yoars.
Coupled with this is a steep rise in the cost of living. From December 1959 to December 1962 the cost of living went up by 20% more than the rise in wages. Profits plundered by an alliance of foreign imperialists and nat=iva capitalists rose from £60,000,000 in 1956 to £100,000,000 yearly by 1962, During the seme period wages rose from £84,000,000 to £142,000, 000; tut this is accounted for mainly by an increaso in the work force of 50,000, Yet almost 20,000 workers were “retrenched" from industry during this same period,