LatinNews Daily - 14 March 2024

*Venezuelan private Andrés Bello Catholic University (UCAB) has released its latest nationwide annual survey of households, known as the Encuesta Condiciones de Vida (Encovi), which showed that 51.9% of Venezuelan households live in “multidimensional poverty” – measured in terms of education, employment, living conditions, services, and income. Agricultural activities tend to keep people in poverty the most, as 73.4% of Venezuelans in this sector cannot cover their basic needs. Meanwhile, 69.9% of those working in finance live in households that are “not poor”, according to the report. According to the survey, 79.5% of households have received at least one temporary bonus from the government in the last year, up from 71% in 2022, while the bonuses averaged at US$11, an increase from US$5.50 in 2022 and US$2.50 in 2021. The survey also showed that 84.6% of bonus recipients live in “extreme poverty”. The survey also showed that, in terms of education, the volume of the school population has recovered to levels registered prior to the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic but the growth rate fell short of the potential demand — with potential demand of 11,597,754 school places in 2023, exceeding the school population of 7,613,237. Last year the percentage of educational coverage for those aged 3 to 24 years was 66%.