The most recent Dane Social Pulse Survey showed that the figures for economic recovery and optimism regarding the country’s situation have improved, but the damage left by the pandemic still persists: 23.8% of Colombians do not eat three times a day. day, 68.9% believe that the prices of products will increase in the next year and 55.4% do not feel safe walking in their own neighborhood at night.
This is one of the last large statistical measurements of the Dane – they surveyed 10,445 people – before the change of presidential mandate. The figures give a glimpse of the country left by the government of President Iván Duque and the one left to the elected president Gustavo Petro.
Precisely, the director of Dane, Juan Daniel Oviedo, emphasized that the bulk of the information was collected after the elections on June 19, which had a direct impact on the results.
Oviedo explained that the end of that electoral process also marked a reduction in uncertainty. This was seen, for example, in the improvements shown by the Consumer Confidence Index (ICC). which went from 35.4% to 38.4% in a single month.
The ICC refers to the perspectives that Colombians have regarding the family and national economic situation. Oviedo recalled that since January the ICC was in the doldrums. “We had always associated that loss of confidence since January 2022 with two phenomena: the political cycle and inflation,” Oviedo explained.
And he explained that, to that extent, the end of the political cycle caused the ICC to rebound.
When households are asked if their economic situation is worse or much worse than a year ago, 46.6% answered affirmatively. However, this indicator has been reduced compared to the worst moments of the pandemic. There were months when eight out of ten households said their financial situation was getting worse compared to last year.
The economic recovery is also palpable in terms of food security: the proportion of people who eat three times a day or more rose 10.1% in the last year.
This indicator, explained the Dane technicians consulted by EL COLOMBIANO, only refers to the three basic meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner, which does not include smaller portions of food that are consumed daily.
Despite the optimism and improvements in specific indicators, Oviedo indicated that two out of three people think that the country’s economic situation is worse than it was 12 months ago.
“This means that the feeling of structural deterioration of the country’s economic situation is quite strong, which requires a very important adjustment in confidence levels, surely aligned or motivated by the decisions and the main actions taken at the beginning of the Government. of the elected president, Gustavo Petro”, indicated Oviedo.
More fear of the night
The measurement also shows that citizen security is an issue that keeps Colombians up at night.
In fact, the proportion of people who have a negative perception of security in their own neighborhood increased in the last year. In June 2021, those who said they felt unsafe or very unsafe to walk in their neighborhood at night totaled 51.8%. By June of this year that percentage rose to 55.4%.
The five cities where more people showed mistrust in walking on the street at night were Riohacha, Cartagena and Quibdó. Where people feel safer is in Manizales, Armenia, Santa Marta and Pasto. During the day, however, this indicator shows an improvement: those who feel safe or very safe to take daytime walks in their neighborhood went from 50.8% in June 2021 to 53.9% in the same month this year.
Beware of inequality
This last survey also included a new component called “perception of inequality”. The interesting thing about this is that it shows how much Colombians are concerned about and affected by the gaps between rich and poor.
Thus, for example, the measurement revealed that there is practically a consensus on inequality in Colombian society. The bulk of Colombians (53.6%) consider that the State has “a lot” of responsibility in this matter.
It was also measured how much social mobility there is in the country. Thus, it was found that seven out of ten Colombians do not consider that they are richer than their parents when they were the same age.
