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Undercurrents: Survey Looks at Who We Are

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A regular Source feature, Undercurrents explores issues, ideas and events as they develop beneath the surface in the Virgin Islands community.

Is migration into the U.S. Virgin Islands slowing?

Not according to the latest statistics published by the Eastern Caribbean Center at the University of the Virgin Islands.

From the mid-1980s, the number of immigrants has hovered around 4,000 to 5,000 every four years. But the numbers began to spike after 2005. From 2005-2009, some 9,152 people moved to the territory. In just the next two years, 2010-2012, the total was 7,818.

At latest count, non-natives outnumber native Virgin Islanders 61,713 to 43,367. Since “native” means actually “born here,” the 43,367 number includes the descendants of migrants who came just a generation or two ago.

Where are the immigrants coming from? What’s the racial make-up of the territory’s population? How many of the residents are U.S. citizens? How many households are below the poverty line? What’s the average income?

Answers to all that and more are in the Community Survey conducted by ECC and published this fall. The survey is intended to expand upon and update U.S. Census data annually. The last U.S. Census was made in 2010 and the next will be in 2020.

Unsurprisingly, charts in the 2012 Community Survey – the most recent – show the vast majority of non-native residents came from other non-U.S. islands in the Caribbean – 45,592 of the total 61,713. Another 9,489 were born on the U.S. mainland and 2,555 were born in Puerto Rico.

Finally, 4,097 are listed as being born “elsewhere.” Again, the numbers refer literally to place of birth, not ancestry.

Leading the numbers from the Caribbean are people born in St. Kitts/Nevis: 10,326. The next highest count is 6,222 from Antigua/Barbuda. The number given for the Dominican Republic is 5,944; for Dominica, 5,065; St. Lucia, 4,756; and for Haiti, 3,308. The survey shows just 2,301 born in the British Virgin Islands.

The racial breakdown for the 61,713 residents not born in the USVI is 45,460 black; 9,439 white; and 6,814 “other.”

Income-related data paints an all-too-familiar, grim picture. Twenty-one percent of all households in the Virgin Islands reported income below the federal poverty level. Those headed by a single female breadwinner were worse; some 32 percent of those were living in poverty. The statistics for individuals were similar to the average for household; 23.3 percent of all people were living below the line.

The median income in the territory is listed as $36,674, meaning half are living on less than that. The average household income is $47,421. The disparity between the average, or the mean income and the median income suggests a large economic gap between the poor and the well-off.

Concerning individual incomes, the survey also portrays a wide gender gap. The mean income for males is $34,900 and the median is $27,510. For females, the mean is $29,773 and the median is $23,940.

The survey was conducted in 2012, beginning in May of that year. Most of the figures are current as of 2012, but the economic data is actually from 2011 since it’s based on a full year’s income for the year immediately preceding the survey.

Ayishih Bellew, research analyst at ECC, said workers surveyed 2,400 randomly selected households. With each household representing roughly 20 households, the figures were extrapolated from those samples. The accuracy probability is five percent.

While there have long been questions about the accuracy of surveys because of concerns that undocumented residents may not participate, Bellew said the Center takes care to include them in its random cross-section and to alleviate any fears that they will be identified individually.

“Our track record is good,” she said. “We do keep information confidential … We’re someone who can be trusted” and that’s the general belief throughout the community.

“We’re at several different stages right now” on the annual surveys, she said. The 2012 was printed in September. The information for the 2013 has already been collected and is now being scanned and organized into tables. The 2014 surveys are just beginning.

Older reports are available on the Eastern Caribbean Center’s page on the UVI website at www.uvi.edu. Information about the 2012 survey is available by contacting the Center at 1-340-693-1020.

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