San Juan, Puerto Rico — July 10, 2024. The Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics released the results of the Cost of Living Index (COLI) for the first quarter of 2024, whose data show that the urban area of Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) of San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas, is ranked 82nd out of 301 urban areas in terms of overall cost of living in the United States, with a composite index of 102.3. The 15 municipalities that make up the San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas MSA are: Bayamón, Caguas, Canovanas, Carolina, Cataño, Cidra, Dorado, Gurabo, Guaynabo, Rio Grande, San Juan, Toa Alta, Toa Baja, Trujillo Alto and Vega Alta.

At the national level, the average cost of living is set at an index of 100. The composite index of 102.3 for the urban area of the San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas MSA indicates that living in this region is 2.3% more expensive than the average of the 301 participating urban areas nationwide.

The composite index is derived from six main categories of consumer spending, of which the following table presents the Rankings for the urban area of the San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas MSA. The combination of higher costs in supermarkets and utilities is partially offset by relatively low costs in health care and miscellaneous goods.

‍

‍

About the Cost of Living Index (COLI):

COLI is a crucial tool for understanding regional differences in the costs of consumer goods and services. The indices are calculated based on data collected quarterly by different entities in each participating urban area. The COLI has been calculated in urban areas of the United States since 1968, using the methodology developed by the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER), a non-profit organization dedicated to research on community and economic development. The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute, together with the network of members affiliated with C2ER, is responsible for collecting prices for goods and services established by C2ER.

The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute has designed a comparative calculator for the cost of living between the urban area of the San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas MSA and the rest of the participating cities in the United States. This tool is available at: https://apps.estadisticas.pr/coli/.

The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute is an autonomous governmental entity responsible for coordinating the Government's statistical production service to ensure that the data collection and statistics systems, on which public policies are based, are complete, reliable, and have quick and universal access.

For more information you can visit the website: www.estadisticas.pr or write to preguntas@estadisticas.pr. They can also follow social networks through Facebook (@estadisticas .pr), X (@EstadisticasPR), LinkedIn (Institute of Statistics of Puerto Rico) and Instagram (@institutodeestadisticas) accounts.

‍

AMERICAN STATISTICAL ASSOCIATION REQUIRES ROSSELLÓ NOT TO DISMANTLE PUERTO RICO'S STATISTICS INSTITUTE

The executive director attacked the measure and invited the Government to take statistics seriously at this time of fiscal crisis

San Juan, PR, January 25, 2018 — The American Statistical Association, known as the American Statistical Association (ASA) today released a cyber petition entitled Clear Accounts: Let's Preserve the Autonomy and Impartiality of the Puerto Rico Statistics Institute in which he calls on both Governor Ricardo Rosselló and members of the Legislature to desist from transferring the functions of the Puerto Rico Statistics Institute (IEPR) to the Puerto Rico Department of Economic Development and Trade in order to eventually outsource all the statistical functions of the Government of Puerto Rico.

The ASA request makes specific reference to Reorganization Plan No. 1 And to Senate Bill 809, which was published yesterday and signed by five scientists from prestigious entities such as Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Yale University.

In addition, he emphasizes that this measure “would dismantle the IEPR and its autonomy, and would jeopardize the transparent and impartial statistical analyses that are critical to the functioning of Puerto Rico and to decision-making in all sectors of society, public and private.”

To this end, the executive director of the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics, Dr. Mario Marazzi-Santiago, insisted that everywhere in the world there is a recognition of the need for official statistics to be prepared by independent governmental entities so that they can carry out their functions in a manner totally disconnected from political influences.

The Government of Puerto Rico has a long history of producing, disseminating and presenting rigged, outdated, misinterpreted, and incomplete statistics, and then access to sources of information is not provided so that the information can be verified, either by the citizen or by a congressman. The reality is that statistics are a serious issue and it is time for our Government to take them seriously, particularly if it wants to address its own fiscal problem.

Marazzi Santiago assured that there is no way that the proposed reorganization of the Institute of Statistics, as a program within the Department of Economic Development and Trade or outsourced by it, will solve the serious problem of reliability and credibility that the Government of Puerto Rico has with its statistics.

“We appreciate the efforts of the American Statistical Association (ASA) to create a vehicle that allows data users to express themselves publicly about the proposed reorganization,” said Dr. Marazzi-Santiago.

-

The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute is an autonomous governmental entity responsible for coordinating the Government's statistical production service to ensure that the data collection and statistics systems, on which public policies are based, are complete, reliable, and have quick and universal access. The Institute has in its inventory, accessible through www.estadisticas.pr, more than 300 statistical products. In addition, it is a guardian and provides access to over 100 data sets or “data sets” through www.data.pr.gov and to over 40 tables and more than 6 thousand indicators through: www.indicadores.pr.

For more information you can visit our website: www.estadisticas.pr. In addition, you can follow us on social networks through Facebook (estadisticas.pr), Twitter (@EstadisticasPR) and LinkedIn (Institute of Statistics of Puerto Rico) accounts.

‍

Only 22% of the women surveyed hold a supervisory position

This is according to the results of the study on the needs of working women, in which 13,283 people participated.

San Juan, Puerto Rico. December 6, 2023 - The Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics and the Office of the Women's Attorney presented the results of the study on the Needs of Working Women, a collaboration that involved the participation of 13,283 people surveyed. This joint effort aimed at identifying the needs and challenges of working women, basing the conclusions on empirical evidence and thus providing a basis for identifying possible solutions to the different situations faced by working women in Puerto Rico.

Under the slogan “We are all working women”, the electronic questionnaire was aimed at working women in different sectors, including the public and private sectors, housewives, caregivers, businesswomen and those who work independently. Participation was voluntary and anonymous. The topics addressed in the survey included the work situation, work environment, breastfeeding, motherhood, household structure and needs, quality of life, physical and emotional health.

From the results of the study, which is available by accessing https://estadisticas.pr/en/Necesidades-Mujer the following are highlighted:

Employment status:

• 95% of the women workers surveyed had one or more jobs.
• 38% worked in an agency or branch of government.
• 22% held supervisory positions.
• 44% indicated that they had not received guidance on the Affirmative Action Plan, followed by 36% who were not sure.

Breastfeeding:

• 47% indicated that their place of employment does not have a nursing room.
• 64% of the women who used the nursing room, provided by the employer, considered that the time offered was not adequate.

Maternity:

• 72% of the pregnant women surveyed indicated that the employer always provided them with flexibility to attend medical appointments and treat symptoms during pregnancy.

Structures and needs of the house and home:

• 47% of working women indicated that they were the legitimate owner and were still paying their mortgage on their homes.
• 57% had 1 to 2 sons or daughters.

Need for a caregiver:

• 1 in 3 (34%) expressed a need for a caregiver for their children, dependents or family members.

Quality of life, physical and emotional health:

• The majority indicated that they had a good level of emotional and physical health.
• 63% experience or have experienced a “double working day”.
• 51% indicated that painful menstruation disables them 1 to 2 days a month.

Gender-based violence:

• 34% reported having been a victim of workplace harassment.
• 24 percent reported having been a victim of domestic violence.
• 1 in 4 (24%) experienced gender discrimination.

Socio-demographic characteristics:

• Forty-six percent were 50 years of age or older.
• 73% had reached an academic level of baccalaureate and/or master's degree.
• 70% had a household income equal to or less than $41,500 per year.

“I am grateful to the thousands of women who participated in this important study. Its detailed input will allow us to take action and create initiatives aimed at companies and employers so that they can improve and reinforce the areas of greatest need. In our office, we continue to be in the best position to help women and ensure that their rights are fulfilled in the personal and work environment,” said the acting attorney, Madeline Bermudez.

“The data collected in this study are essential to help us understand the realities that women face in the workplace. Statistical objectivity is essential for the progress of our society, and these data are a valuable tool for evidence-based decision-making. This information could help to effectively understand the specific needs of working women, thus contributing to the construction of more equitable and just working environments,” said Dr. Orville M. Disdier Flores, Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics.

‍