Poverty in Grenada

According to the World Bank, some 32 percent of Grenadians live in conditions of poverty. Recent government research suggests that most of these households are in rural areas, often in the most inaccessible and sometimes drought-ridden parts of the island.  Unemployment or underemployment are the main problems in rural areas, especially for young adults who wish to escape what they see as the drudgery of agricultural labor.  Squatting (the illegal occupation of government-owned land) is not uncommon in makeshift communities around St. George's.  Some of the worst poverty is to be found on former estates, where barracks-like accommodations are still used by rural laborers.  In such communities, housing conditions can be extremely rudimentary, with no sewerage and little access to other services.  Clean drinking water is available throughout the island, even if poorer families have to resort to sharing a communal water pipe.