JEDDAH: Saudi authorities have embarked on a massive plan to reduce the Kingdom’s poverty rate to 13.3 percent by the end of this year. They hope the poverty rate could be further reduced to 2.2 percent by 2020.
Abdullah Al-Moaiqel, secretary-general of the National Strategy to Combat Poverty, said a number of programs have already been introduced to fight poverty across the Kingdom.
“A family that cannot meet the basic necessities of life such as food, clothing, housing, education and health, is considered extremely poor,” Al-Moaiqel said. He estimated the number of Saudi families living in extreme poverty at 35,000 or 1.63 percent of the total Saudi population. They live on less than SR1,700 a month. There are 409,000 families who spend less than SR3,800 a month and they represent 18.9 percent of the population, he explained.
Al-Moaiqel said the government has been spending more than SR264 million annually to support poor families. It requires SR7.2 billion annually to meet the needs of the poor.
According to a study, Jizan province has the largest number of poor people in the country (45 percent) while Qassim has the lowest (eight percent). The Jizan Economic City was planned as part of the government’s strategy to fight poverty and achieve balanced growth in all parts of the Kingdom.
Jizan has the largest number of people living under extreme poverty (9,700 families), followed by Riyadh (4,100 families), Asir (4,000), Madinah (3,500), the Eastern Province (3,200) and Makkah (3,185), the study said.
The study showed that 39 percent of families in Jizan are under the poverty threshold (the minimum level of income deemed necessary to achieve an adequate standard of living), against 24.53 percent families in Najran, 24.07 percent in Madinah and 23.59 percent in the Northern Border Province.
“There are 106,000 families in absolute poverty (families living below the poverty threshold) in Makkah, 55,600 in Jizan, 55,029 in Riyadh, 46,900 in the Eastern Province and 42,400 Madinah,” Al-Moaiqel said. Makkah Province requires SR1.6 billion while Riyadh Province SR1 billion to fight absolute poverty, he pointed out.
“Income is not the only factor that determines people’s living standards. There are social and cultural factors, too,” he said, adding that unemployment is a major component.
Saudis represent only 32 percent of the total work force in the country. About 90 percent of Saudi women are unemployed.
“Every employed Saudi has to feed about six family members,” Al-Moaiqel said. The study found that 13 percent of Saudi workers receive a monthly salary of SR1,500, while 44 percent get no more than SR3,000.
About 44 percent of Saudis live in rented apartments, and 30 percent (695,000 families) in unsuitable housing. The government has set up a housing authority to address the housing problem of Saudis.
About 40 percent of the Kingdom’s illiterate are poor, and women account for 70 percent of the illiterate population, living mainly in Jizan, Baha, Asir and Najran.
The elderly (55 and above) represent 65 percent of the beneficiaries of poverty fighting programs. “Illiteracy prevents the poor from getting jobs,” he said.
Most poor Saudi families have six or more members. About 80 percent of poor families earn less than SR1,500, the study said, adding that the number of families earning less than SR1,000 is on the increase.
