The Dominican Republic has been a fast growing economy but poverty remains high.

 

Forty percent of the population receives less than 10 percent of the country’s wealth,

 

while the wealthiest 10 percent account for more than 40 percent of the country’s

 

income.  More than 40 percent of the Dominican people live in poverty. 

 

 The World Bank 2006 Poverty Assessment showed that the one of the reasons for the

 

continuing high levels of inequality and poverty in the Dominican Republic is low labor

 

productivity. This is caused by failure of the education system to teach minimal skills

 

required by the labor market. 

 

 Youth leave school lacking the skills to search for a job, an understanding of what

 

employment opportunities are available, and the knowledge and skills required to attain

 

the jobs they want. Another obstacle to finding jobs is that finding a job is often based on

 

social connections which most youth from socially deprived neighborhoods do not have.  

 

Employers are reluctant to hire youth, particularly from poor communities. 

 

 The Dominican Republic has a high dropout rate, and boys tend to drop out at a higher

 

rate than girls, making boys more susceptible to crime and gang membership. Data has

 

revealed that students drop out as they are unaware of the increase in income returns

 

when they finish secondary and high school. Therefore if parents and students

 

understand more fully the economic benefits of staying in school it would help with

 

economy. 

 

 A lot of emphasis has been placed on training Dominicans for professional careers this

 

has created a lot of doctors and lawyers but there is a shortage of skilled technicians.  

 

Areas where youth may have opportunities to find jobs include: call centers, trades

 

(electricians, plumbers), nursing, tourism, farming, and mining.  However youth have

 

insufficient command of English. 

 

Therefore improvements in education, having youth stay in school longer and offering

 

vocational training for already dropped out youth will improve the economic situation. 

 

Another reason for the decline in wages in the Dominican Republic is the slow growth of

 

the manufacturing industry which usually creates a lot of jobs.  

 

Despite the growth of tourism,  the manufacturing industry and business has not grown

 

as much. 

 

 

According to the World Bank the Dominican Republic implemented several reforms to

 

make it easier for entrepreneurs to do business in 2015. 

 

These reforms include: 

 

1)Reducing the number of documents required to export and import items. 

 

2)Introducing  greater shareholder rights to encourage minority investors. 

 

3)Increasing requirements for corporations to be transparent. 

 

4)Improving the credit information system by making new laws regulating the protection

 

of personal data and also tighter regulation of credit reporting agencies. 

 

The reforms above and the improvements in education will help the economic issues in

 

the Dominican Republic. 

 

 

Sources: 

 

www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1862/Dominican-Republic-CDCS_publicversion 

 

www.worldbank.org/en/country/dominicanrepublic/overview 

 

www.heritage.org/index/country/dominicanrepublic