Puerto Rico

Group 7: Mercy, Desirae, Tristin & Attie

Section 1: Country Introduction

Author: Mercy

The top five most populous cities in Puerto Rico are: San Juan, Bayamón, Carolina, Ponce, and Caguas. The populations of these urban agglomerations are: 418,140, 203,499, 170,404, 152,634, and 86,804, respectively.

This data is as of 2021, which is the most recent available data from Geonames.org.

In Puerto Rico, 93.48 percent of the population, or roughly 3 million people live in urban areas, and 6.52 percent of the population, or roughly two hundred thousand people live in rural areas.

This data is as of 2020, which is the most recent available data from Worldbank.org.

Climatic/Geophysical Features of San Juan

San Juan is one of the biggest and best natural harbors in the Caribbean. A harbor is a section of a body of water that is near the shore, sheltered and deep enough for ships and large boats to be docked there. Natural harbors have long been of great strategic naval and economic importance, and many great cities of the world are located on them.

Section 2: Demography

Author: Desirae

Puerto Rico Life Expectancy (Female= Pink, Male= Blue)

Puerto Rico Death Rate (along with neighbor countries, Dominican Republic, Venezuela)

Puerto Rico Birth Rate (along with neighbor countries, Dominican Republic, Venezuela)

Age Pyramid

Infant Mortality Rate

SOURCE:https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/PRI/puerto-rico/infant-mortality-rate

Trends in life expectancy and infant mortality

Examining the life expectancy between females (pink line) and males (blue line) in Puerto over the last 20 years, it is apparent that both sexes are continuously increasing their life expectancy over time. For example, in 2000, the life expectancy for females was about 81 years old however, in 2020 their life expectancy increased to about 83 years old. While for males in 2000, their life expectancy was about 72 years old however in 2020, it increased to about 77 years old. Although both sexes’ life expectancies are increasing over a 20-year period, females intend to have a longer life expectancy compared to males overall.

Examining Puerto Rico’s infant mortality rate over the last 20 years, it is apparent that it has been rapidly decreasing from 2000 to 2020. For instance, in 2000 for every 1,000 live births, about 10 deaths occurred among infants. Although compared to 2020, it decreased to about 5 deaths for every 1,000 live births. Over a 20-year period, infant death rates have decreased by about 50%.

Median Age in Puerto Rico

In 2020, the median age in Puerto Rico is 44.5 years.

SOURCE:https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/puerto-rico population/

Percentage population of working age (20-64) in Puerto Rico

The total percentage of Puerto Rico’s working age (20-64) is 57% out of the entire population of 3.7 million.

SOURCE:https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=Puerto%20Rico%20population%20age%20and%20sex&tid=ACSST1Y2019.S0101&hidePreview=true

Discontinuities or “jumps” in the age structure of the population of Puerto Rico

As evident in the Age-Sex Pyramid above, the population aged between 10- 14 and 15-19 is quite larger than the population of the population aged 0-4. Whereas the people in the age group of 10- 14 and 15-19 account for about 13.7% together of the total population, people in the neighboring age groups of 0-4 only make up about 3.6% of the population. In other words, there is a jump in the population between 10-14- and 15–19-year-olds and 0–4-year-olds. This jump could possibly be related to the aftermath of both the Hurricanes of Irma and Maria in 2017. Both Hurricanes had negatively impacted Puerto Rico which already had a high infant mortality rate compared to the United States (Welton, Et al., 2020). Furthermore, both hurricanes destroyed the island leaving their citizens without electricity, wireless communication, and water which left many homes destroyed and around 4,500 deaths (Welton, Et al., 2020). As such, there is a noticeable increase of the population between 10-14- and 15-10-year-olds compared to the 0–4-year-olds recently.

Comparatively, after the population age of 19, the population bracket between 20 to 39 starts to decrease, however after the population age of 40 it starts to increase until the population bracket of 59 through 100+ which rapidly decreases. The unpredictable change in the population growth observed is most likely due to migration of Puerto Rican natives after the Jones Act of 1917 which considered Puerto Ricans to be U.S. citizens. According to D’Vaera Cohn and others (2014), about 42% of Puerto Rican natives migrate to the United States in search of a better economic opportunity. As a result, the Puerto Rican population declines on the island although it continues to grow in the United States which can explain why there is a volatile trend among the Puerto Rican population based on their age to start working (Cohen, Et al., 2014).

SOURCES: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7059554/, https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2014/08/11/puerto-rican-population-declines-on-island-grows-on-u-s-mainland/

Section 3: Cultural-Linguistic Information

Author: Attie

The top three languages spoken in Puerto Rico are Spanish , English and Chinese .

Spanish is spoken by 3,291,955 people, English is spoken by 171,709 and Chinese by 1,055 people in Puerto Rico.

This data is from the timeframe 2009-2013, which is the most recent available data from the US Census Bureau.

The vast majority of Puerto Ricans speak Spanish. English is spoken in less than 5% of households in Puerto Rico, meaning that less than 5% of households speak English as a first language. However, there are a significant number of Puerto Rican’s who are proficient in English. Below is a map showing the geographical locations of those who speak English “very well”, based on the 2010 US Census.

English is spoken as a first language by 171,709 people in Puerto Rico, and these speakers are in many small enclaves on the archipelago. This is usually due to Americans born in the mainland USA relocating to specific neighborhoods. These neighborhoods are often ‘Americanized’ and self-contained communities. The majority of English speakers in Puerto Rico live in Culebra.

This data is from the 2000 U.S. Census Bureau.

Section 4: Economic Information

Author: Tristin

Median Income

According to the most recent data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau, the median household income for adults in Puerto Rico is $20,474.00 USD (a stark difference from the median U.S. household income of $65,712.00 USD).

Data from 2019 American Community Survey 1-year Estimates

Unemployment Rate

Data from U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics

GDP Composition (Top Industries)

Industry and services account for 99% of Puerto Rico’s revenue. The island’s top five industries include pharmaceuticals, electronics, apparel, food products, and tourism.

Top 5 Exports (US + Global)

Puerto Rico’s primary exports are pharmaceuticals and medical equipment. The U.S. Census Bureau reports the commonwealth’s exports as part of the mainland’s; in 2020, Puerto Rico’s exports accounted for 1.2% of the United States’ total foreign trade activity.

##                  product percentage
## 1            MEDICAMENTS       38.2
## 2 IMMUNOLOGICAL PRODUCTS       25.4
## 3      INSULIN AND SALTS        3.8
## 4 HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS        2.4
## 5  ARTIFICIAL BODY PARTS        2.3

Data from United States Census Bureau

Local Food Production

According to an agricultural assessment conducted by World Central Kitchen (WCK) during the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, 85% of Puerto Rico’s food is imported from the mainland. In an effort to stimulate local farming and strengthen the resilience of its food system, WCK has committed $4M USD in grants and volunteer assistance to the island through at least 2023.

Section 5: Education

Author: Attie

The mean number of years of schooling among adults aged 25+ in Puerto Rico is 12.9 years. This is higher for females, where the mean number of years of schooling for adult females aged 25+ is 13.2 years, compared to 12.6 years for males.

This is from 2017, which is the most recent available data from UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS).

University Information

27 percent of those aged 25+ in Puerto Rico have graduated from a university, achieving a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

This is based on 2019 Data from the US Census Bureau.

The median cost of yearly tuition at a college/university in Puerto Rico in 2019 was $6830. This is in US Dollars, which is the local currency for Puerto Rico. This is 33 percent of the median adult income in the country.

This information is based on 2019 data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and from the US Census Bureau ACS 1-year Estimate.

Demographic or Socioeconomic Patterns / Trends

Income Inequality: Residential segregation through an intersectional lens of socioeconomic status and race/ethnicity

Author: Desirae

In Denton and Villarrubia’s (2007) article, they examine the correlation with race, socioeconomic status, and residential location in Puerto Rico for the first time in 50 years. They discovered through their data that segregation by race is lower than segregation between the lowest and highest income categories in all metro areas. Although, their data varies by city; for example, Aguadilla and Arecibo have higher segregation by race/ethnicity compared to education or occupation compared to Caguas, Mayagüez, Ponce, and San Juan-Bayamón segregation by education or occupation is higher compared to race/ethnicity. Additionally, Britton and Velvez (2015) looked at the disparities of the health of Island-born Puerto Ricans from a low-income socioeconomic status (SES) and its impact on establishing residential segregation. For instance, Puerto Rican residential isolation was correlated with low-income women having a higher risk of preterm birth compared to high-income women. Furthermore, both articles found that race can be associated with an individual’s socioeconomic background and contributes to the residential segregation within Puerto Rico. For instance, according to Denton and Villarrubia in Puerto Rican culture, there is a belief that upward mobility is not obtainable for black Puerto Ricans because of the stigmas that perceive them as culturally unrefined and lacking ambition. Additionally, Britton and Velvez found that predominantly black neighborhoods were exposed to poverty, high levels of violence, and other environmental factors that contribute to the health disparities among Puerto Rican women.

Furthermore, Cushing (2013) et al. explore the distribution of heat risk-related land cover (HRRLC) characteristics among racial/ethnic groups and the degrees within residential segregation. Specifically, looking at the household income concerning poverty and homeownership was demonstrated from the 2000 Census. The researchers found that individuals who rented housing units rather than owning housing units had an income below poverty compared to a higher-level household income. Additionally, they examine the socioeconomic disparities among Puerto Rican residents in relation to race/ethnicity and residential segregation across hundreds of urban areas. For instance, they discovered that there was a correlation with residential segregation being greater among high-income white and low-income black residents compared to Asian and Hispanic residents. This further contributes to the suggestion of an intersectionality perspective between race and income inequality in relation to residential segregation among urban areas in Puerto Rico.

Migration: Puerto Rico Migrants and Return Migrants

Author: Desirae

In Aranda’s (2008) article, she discusses the historical relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States focusing on labor migration. For instance, after the United States colonized Puerto Rico in 1898, labor migration from the island to the United States began to increase gradually and peaked after World War II. However, after the 1970s, a lot of migrants started to return to the Island which created greater numbers of high unemployment rates and low labor force participation rates in Puerto Rico. Furthermore, Aranda points out that unlike other immigrants entering the United States, Puerto Ricans have legal documents that allow them to move freely back and forth. Similarly, Ramos (1992) et al. further elaborates on the unrestricted movement across the United States borders permitting Puerto Rican migration. Their research revealed that Puerto Ricans who migrated to the United States consist of relatively unskilled workers causing the out-migration flow to be negatively selected while the migrants returning to the island consist of the most skilled among the relatively unskilled migrants.

Consequently, Aranda’s study analyzes the potential direct and indirect impact of factors such as class origins, educational attainment, and labor market incorporation regarding the implications for the trans-nationalization of Puerto Rican natives. While Ramos et al.’s study suggests that the Puerto Rican migration flow is understood as part of economic incentives from workers choosing to either reside in a particular geolocation in order to acquire skills that will provide them with financial rewards. Both articles further demonstrate a potential cause for Puerto Rican migration in hopes of socioeconomic improvement by joining the United States labor market.

Furthermore, since the impact of Hurricane Maria in 2017, data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) revealed the growth of the Puerto Rican population in the United States. This data indicates that many Puerto Ricans have been negatively impacted by the Hurricane and have turned to economic support through migrating to the United States. These articles suggest that many native Puerto Ricans depend on migration towards the United States for economic opportunities.

Population decline

Author: Mercy

Puerto Rico’s population has been decreasing for more than a decade. Some of the factors contributing to this decline are: a low birth-rate caused by increased access to birth control that’s effective, more women participating in the labor force, higher incomes, more people attaining a higher education, and more recently, the state of the economy has made raising children harder to afford (Abdel & Deitz, 2014). The most salient factor driving Puerto Rico’s population decline is an increase in the number of Puerto Rican citizens migrating from the island. This exit, largely composed of younger Puerto Ricans (16-30 years old), is generally attributed to the Jones Act of 1917, which made the people in Puerto Rico U.S. citizens and allowed them freedom to move between the mainland and Puerto Rico (Abdel & Deitz, 2014). Recently, the island’s high employment rate and weak economy have led to more Puerto Ricans leaving the island for the mainland (Abdel & Deitz, 2014; Santos-Lozada et al., 2020).

Although the island has seen a decrease in its population after hurricanes Maria and Irma, researchers have found that this out-migration is largely temporary while migration due to the state of the economy was not (Santos-Lozada et al., 2020). Santos-Lozada et al. (2020) utilized air passenger travel data and population and employment trends after hurricanes to determine the main cause of migration from Puerto Rico. When examining population and employment trends after hurricanes, the researchers found that population changes are more affected by employment shocks than hurricanes.

A consequence of the population decline due to migration that is caused by hurricanes and the state of the economy is a decrease in the number of children on the island (Hinojosa et al., 2019). Because of this, the island has seen a decrease in the number of children enrolled in its private and public schools, which has led to school closures. Rural areas have seen more of their schools (65 percent) closed than urban areas (35 percent). In order to curb school closings, (Hinojosa et al. (2019) recommend the development of public Montessori schools/comparable community schools and reusing the closed public school buildings as community centers or for other social purposes that could serve the growing older population.

Changing gender roles in Puerto Rico

Author: Mercy

In Latin American and Caribbean countries such as Puerto Rico, the increase in urbanization and industrialization has led to the changing role of women, especially in families (Safa, 2019). Urbanization and industrialization in Puerto Rico began in 1948 with the election of Luis Muñoz Marín as the island’s first governor. At the time Puerto Rico was an agricultural country, and Muñoz Marín and other leaders in the government felt that in order for Puerto Rico to be a developed country, it was necessary for the economy to develop through manufacturing (Denis & Pooley, 2006). Consequently, the Puerto Rican government created Operation Bootstrap that led to industrialization and urbanization in Puerto Rico because it encouraged American companies to create factory jobs on the island by offering them benefits like tax exemptions and help with building the factories (Denis & Pooley, 2006). The companies that took advantage of Operation Bootstrap hired women and men, and urbanization and industrialization in the region have led to an increase in families with female heads, even among married women (Denis & Pooley, 2006; Safa, 2019; Warren, 2010). Warren (2010) also found that women’s participation in the labor force has led to progress in women’s autonomy, gender equity, and renegotiations of the provider role. By examining the data from 2000-2009, Safa found that the combination of unstable earnings for men, women’s higher educational attainment and increased employment have contributed to a reduction in family poverty. This, however, only holds true among families with dual earners and families with female heads (Warren, 2010). Even with changes as a result of women’s participation in the labor force and an increase in urbanization and industrialization, the dire economic conditions faced by the poor in Latin America and the Caribbean still have many women continuing to look to men as the breadwinners (Safa, 2019; Warren, 2010).

One area where gender roles are still deeply entrenched is sex, specifically the sincere communication about how to practice safe sex (Noland, 2006). This is of particular importance in Puerto Rico because the rate of HIV transmission between heterosexual partners is higher on the island than on the mainland. In their study, Noland (2006) interviewed 42 Puerto Rican adults about how they communicate about sex, sexual practices and their impressions on the role of culture and gender in practicing safer sex. The results of the interviews showed that there are three factors related to gender roles that restrict sincere communication about sex in Puerto Rico: (1) machismo, (2) the changing role of virginity, and (3) the silencing of both men and women because they feel they have to adhere to archaic gender roles (Noland, 2006). All three of these factor work together in the following way: machismo dictates that men must have many sexual partners and eschew emotional intimacy and communication in partnerships with the opposite sex, while women are expected to act like virgins, or as though they are sexually inexperienced. Both of these ideas of how one performs their gender in a sexual relationship with a partner are imbued at an early age and contribute to the silencing of parties in a heterosexual relationship because they feel they have to follow the gender scripts that are written for them, which do not encourage open communication about safe sex (Noland, 2006).

Public Health

Author: Tristin

The September 2021 issue of The Journals of Gerontology revealed new information about Puerto Rico’s lack of sufficient healthcare infrastructure and the ways in which this deficit disproportionately impacts its growing population of senior citizens. Despite 46% of the island’s overall population being wholly reliant upon government-subsidized healthcare, disparities in Medicaid and Medicare funding between Puerto Rico and and the mainland have remained a consistent, contentious topic for decades (Garcia et al., 2021). A 2005 examination by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that Medicare funding in U.S. territories has consistently amounted to less than half the average amount received by states; the size of this funding gap is almost always in flux, leading to higher copays for elderly inhabitants of already strained economies (Rodriguez-Vílla et al., 2017). Financial strain spills over to the hospital system(s), as well, creating a domino effect that leaves already underserved populations in an increasingly desperate state.

Puerto Ricans young and old faced lapsing healthcare infrastructure even before Hurricanes Irma and Maria; an uptick in funding due to the emergence of COVID-19 has provided the island with a fiscal bandaid, but bandaids are no match for bullet wounds. The fact remains that although Puerto Ricans pay similar levels of payroll income taxes as mainland inhabitants do, the allotted healthcare spending per enrollee is roughly $0.21/dollar less than in Mississippi, the poorest U.S. state. An ongoing mass exodus of doctors and other vital healthcare specialists has made accessing adequate, routine care challenging in 72 out of the island’s 78 municipalities (Garcia et. al, 2021). The hurdles are often so high that individuals – especially disabled seniors and/or those without family nearby – often refrain from attempting to seek treatment at all.

The Biden administration recently agreed to guarantee Puerto Rico consistent, baseline funding of $2.9B per year, but the determination isn’t binding. And despite the GAO’s findings regarding the aforementioned funding disparities between Puerto Rico and the mainland, they recently issued a legal opinion stating their opposition to that decision, citing conflicts with rules set forth by the Social Security Act. In their words, “we are not free to rewrite the statute that Congress has enacted” (Emmanuelli Perez, 2021).

Economic challenges and opportunities

Author: Tristin

In 2017, Puerto Rico became the largest bankruptcy case in the history of the U.S. municipal bond market (Caraballo-Cueto & Lara, 2018). According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the bankruptcy was inevitable after the commonwealth reached a point of no return in 2014 when a hazardous combination of growing debt and a weakening economy resulted in three major credit bureaus labeling Puerto Rico’s debts as “non-investment grade” (2018). Hurricane Maria’s arrival in 2017 ultimately served as the final nail in the island’s fiscal coffin.

In their 2018 work, Deindustrialization and Unsustainable Debt in Middle-Income Countries: The Case of Puerto Rico, authors Jose Caraballo-Cueto and Juan Lara set out to study instances of unsustainable debt in middle-income countries, an area which they found to be significantly understudied. Using Puerto Rico as a case study for countries in this bracket, they found that deindustrialization – or a sharp decrease in manufacturing employment – is a greater source of blame for the island’s debt crisis than fiscal mismanagement by the government. The two go on to examine the relationship between deindustrialization and increased government borrowing, and their analyses serve as a jumping-off point for exploring the depth of Puerto Rico’s increasing economic instability.

In a separate work by Eric Joshi and and Amogh Joshi, Puerto Rico’s debt crisis and its far-reaching effects are analyzed through the lens of the PROMESA act; PROMESA gave the island an opportunity to restructure what it owed at the time of writing (2017). Their paper also provides an analysis of how internal policies have set the stage for Puerto Rico’s current state of economic struggle, offering both a macro and micro view of what makes the economy unique. Ultimately, their argument rests on the the fact that a lack of U.S. statehood has served as the framework for the island’s fiscal fragility (Joshi & Joshi, 2017).

US-Puerto Rico Conflict

Author: Attie

Puerto Rico is a commonwealth and an unincorporated territory of the United States of America (US). This means that some laws and regulations apply in the commonwealth, but not the entirety of the US Constitution. This, consequently, has created some conflict between the US and Puerto Rico, as often Puerto Rico is considered as a ‘colony’ of the US (Rivera Joseph, 2020). This has often resulted in Puerto Rico suffering as a result of inconsistent treatment from the US government. This is well illustrated by the inconsistencies in the US federal government’s disaster relief efforts in Puerto Rico with regards to hurricane Maria.

In the article, Quantifying inequities in US federal response to hurricane disaster in Texas and Florida compared with Puerto Rico, researchers use a retrospective analysis of landfall and damage, and combine this with measures of federal spending, federal resources distributed and direct and indirect storm-mortality counts. The researchers found that disaster responses were different in the sense that they did not relate to the scale of damage, death or recovery needs. The researchers concluded that there was inequity due to differentiated disaster relief from the US government (FEMA) between areas and that this could “promote inequity among populations that receive less aid” (Willison et al., 2019: p4).

There are significant inequities between US federal disaster relief for Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, which caused widespread damage in the US mainland and Hurricane Maria, which caused widespread destruction and death in Puerto Rico. Whilst the death toll for Maria in Puerto Rico far exceeded the death tolls for Irma and Harvey, the US federal government did not respond proportionately. The inequity in response relates not only to financial distribution but also to the number of staff provided by the US in each case and the timing of both forms of relief. The figures below display these inequities. Charley Willison et al. (2019) highlight that this inequity in aid may have resulted in increased mortality and adverse health incomes.

Data from: Willison C.E., Singer P.M., Creary M.S., Greer S.L. (2019) Quantifying inequities in US federal response to hurricane disaster in Texas and Florida compared with Puerto Rico. BMJ Global Health 4:e001191.

Climate Change

Author: Attie

Carlos Ramos-Scharrón (2021a) et al. have argued that, looking at the evidence of sediments, landfall and rainfall since recent hurricanes, Puerto Rico is especially vulnerable to negative impacts of climate change. Puerto Rico has experienced several “100-year” storms in the past three decades, but Hurricane Maria, which hit Puerto Rico in September 2017 produced the highest daily rainfall amounts ever seen in the country. The runoff from Hurricane Maria also triggered over 70,000 landslides and these landslides were the main source of the sediment that ended up filling Puerto Rico’s drinking water reservoirs, which had a long-term impact on the country for years after the storm (Ramos-Scharrón et al., 2019; 2020).

Ramos-Scharrón et al. (2021) looked at the geography of Puerto Rico as compared with other regions in the world. They found that the low-lying geography, hydrological landscape, and size of the country meant that it was especially susceptible to adverse effects, like flooding, from climate change, including severe rainfall events.

These adverse effects, caused by climate events, have lasting impacts on the country, such as the long-term effects on drinking water and the death toll as a result of the hurricane. The death toll of Hurricane Maria was not effectively quantified in official statistics, with the official death toll showing only 64 deaths from the hurricane (Kishore et al., 2018). However, researchers, employing various methods of investigation, have found that the death tolls are actually in the thousands (Kishore et al., 2018; Santos-Lozada and Howard, 2018). Issues such as displacement and infrastructure loss, as a result of the kind of lack of preparedness highlighted by Ramos-Scharrón et al. previously, contributed to the higher death toll, as well as contributing to the difficulties in quantifying mortality after the hurricane.

The figure below shows the estimated death counts for two different methods of quantifying the death tolls from Hurricane Maria. Nishant Kishore et al. (2018) surveyed households across Puerto Rico to produce an estimate of all-cause mortality after the hurricane, based on household experiences and reports. They calculated excess deaths by comparing this data, post-hurricane, against official rates for the same period in 2016, before the hurricane. Alexis Santos-Lozada and Jeffrey Howard (2018) looked at monthly death counts between January 2010-December 2017, to quantify a figure for expected monthly deaths and calculate the deaths in this period as a measure of excess mortality. These two methods came up with varied estimated death counts, which Santos-Lozada and Howard (2018) attributes this variance to differences in methodology.

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