By Joseph Guyler Delva and Anastasia Moloney
PORT-AU-PRINCE, July 18 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Haitian domestic worker Rose Marie Saint-Fort had to pull two of her three teenage children out of classes this year as spiraling living costs meant she could no longer afford their school fees.
Like a majority of Haitians, Saint-Fort spends more than 60% of her income on food. With inflation sharply rising, many families have been forced to choose between skipping meals and or not sending their children to school.
“I have to spend most of my salary on food and school fees for my son,” said Saint-Fort, whose two daughters aged 13 and 15 have been forced to drop out.
“It’s been very hard for me to watch my children sitting at home, not being able to attend school while their wish is to be in a classroom.”
Haiti’s lack of functioning government means there is no reliable up-to-date official inflation data, but independent economist Etzer Emile estimated that it is running at more than 25%.
Since December, inflation across the Caribbean nation has seen prices of staple food rice rise by 44% and beans by about 128%, while the cost of cooking oil nearly doubled, according to stallholders at a Port-au-Prince food market.
Countries worldwide have been hit by a perfect storm of rising global food and energy costs, largely triggered by the Ukraine war and fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Roughly a third of Haiti’s 11.4 million people live in extreme poverty, barely surviving on less than $2.15 a day, and about 4 million struggle to eat two meals a day.
That means even tiny price hikes can push people to the brink.
