Dump and development bring down quality of life score
(CNS): In Cayman’s first ever official Quality of Life Survey Report, the Economics and Statistics Office has made an attempt to measure and score how the population feels about the quality of life here, going beyond the traditional economic measurements of wealth, such as GDP, that have been the yardsticks for how well nations are doing for decades.
But money is not the only thing that matters in life — billionaires can be miserable. The overall quality of life score comes in at 82.2% based on six subject areas, with the country’s poor waste-management and over-development bringing the score down.
While those who took part ranked the natural environment as the least important of the six criteria, it also scored the lowest with just over 70% satisfaction because of household and waste management practices and the extensive development.
Health was listed as the most important criterion, scoring 84.5% overall. But while people gave high scores to their mental, physical and spiritual wellness, their satisfaction with health services was under 80%.
The highest score overall was material living conditions, which scored 88.6%, though overcrowding, income disparity and bills brought the score down. Economic and physical safety had second-highest score at 86.5% based on self-assessed poverty, food insecurity, economic and financial security, economics and financial outlook, and resources to support the standard of living.
Leisure and social activities, which scored 81.7% based on work-life balance, social cohesion and connections, ranked in fourth place. Employment and job quality ranked the second lowest with a score of 75.2%.
The report reveals some interesting and often contradictory findings on how people feel about their overall lives, their jobs and the circumstances in which they find themselves. There were some notable differences in the answers between Caymanians and expatriates, between residents in different districts, and between men and women.
However, one of the highest ranked elements of quality of life across the entire survey and those who took part was the country’s spiritual well-being with Caymanian women ranking that at over 95% — the highest of all scores.
While only 4.9% of respondents self-assessed as living in poverty, around 20% said they had given things up because of financial difficulties and would not be able to cover the cost of an unexpected bill of under $2,000 without having to borrow. However, 92% of people were generally optimistic about the outlook of their economic circumstances, expecting their standard of living to improve over the next two years.
Although 71% of people said that they engage in some kind of reducing, reusing and recycling waste as well as conserving energy and water, overall people gave public waste-management systems the thumbs down. And while the natural environment was listed as the least important criterion impacting the six subjects, less than 42% of Caymanians who responded said they were satisfied with development.
CNS has asked the ESO how the criteria it has used can help us compare the situation in the Cayman Islands with other countries, as many don’t measure quality of life and those that do use many different ways to do it. However, officials here said the goal is to track our own development over time. They explained that the QOL score is within the ballpark of the 2021 Cayman Islands Human Development Index score of 87.7, which used different indicators.
“Our intention is more to obtain local sentiments and keep track of changes over time,” ESO Director Adolphus Laidlow said. “Our ongoing Fall version of the QOL expands public sentiments to include road and transportation, human capital development, components of development, disaster management and policing, crime and personal security.”
Laidlow also encouraged residents to contact the office and give feedback about the inaugural report, which can be emailed to to info@eso.ky.
The Cayman Islands’ Quality of Life Survey Report Spring 2024 is availableon
the ESO website and in the CNS Library.
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid
Category: Local News
As normal highlighting symptoms of the real problem this population expansion absolute rubbish program is bringing down our quality of life and well being and destroying of children’s future.
Define “spiritual well-being”.
One of the most important practices of Cayman culture is a very simple and easy practice that everyone can adopt. That is to simply say hello to each other. Sounds stupid to some people, but when you consider that we are about 80,000 residents on a 100 square mile strip of land surrounded by water, it puts it into perspective. Historically, a common practice here was to say hello to everyone you come across in your daily routine. Hello, Good Morning, Good Evening. All part of our culture that has quickly eroded as more and more people come here. If I look a stranger in the eye to say hello these days, they look as if I’m going to rob them! Understandable, as they are probably not accustomed to acknowledging strangers in their home country. But I believe if we all made the effort to maintain this simple culture norm, everyone will benefit. All residents on this island, Caymanian and expat alike, are one or two degrees of separation from one another. You probably work with someone I know, or I live next door to someone you know, or we go to the same gym, or the same church or whatever. With that in mind, it only makes sense for us all to make the effort to be kind to one another, because if you live on this island, we will see other on a regular basis.
Agree completely. This is — as you might suspect — much more common on the Sister Islands.
Well said. When I first arrived in 1968 everyone would greet each other and waive at cars not knowing the occupants. How things have changed.
The CIG should look at the small country of Bhutan where they have a Minister for State of Happiness. The country is dedicated to National Happiness and ensures that lifestyles are based on family and community values. They concentrate on conservation and ensure there are no traffic jams.
It is about 15,000 square miles with a population of approximately 800,000 people.
I suggest our government elects a Minister of Happiness at the next election but I do have a problem selecting any current politician
As a resident here for 30 plus years I have seen a lot of changes. Not all of them good by any stretch of the imagination.
Today I was at 7 mile shops. The putrid stench from the dump followed me into the shop and it lingered. When the door opened with other customers the small again filled the room. Anywhere downwind of the dump should be declared uninhabitable. If it smells that bad there are unhealthy compounds being taken in every breath from those unfortunate enough to work or reside in the downwind stench.
Traffic has become a burden. Hours of unproductive time stuck in a long slow crawl to go nowhere.
Creep through town that is in decay and an eyesore for all those unfortunate enough to have made the visit.
The tourism product no longer is desirable. Get on a private charter if you can. Otherwise it’s overloaded cattle boats, a disappearing 7 mile beach, painful traffic congestion, out of this world prices for food and drink.
I have enjoyed myself but have now made the decision to leave it all behind. Not for guaranteed greener grass but to reside where imbeciles aren’t using their engine brakes day and night.
Protect the environment, reduce the development footprint, issue fines for pollution = see these concerns fall away.
Rid Higglers from the beach
Deport Karens that dis Caymanians
Force government to answer phones
Fix the education system
Enforce laws
And do what you said.
Crack down on noise. Adopt the UK noise policies. RCIPS should acquire decibel meters. Stop the thumpy-thump which we all have to endure every day. It’s not part of our culture. We are all tolerant, to a point. I think that point has been reached.
Ban leaf blowers!
So do our politicians
I wasn’t sure so I just answered C for every question.
Who are they trying to fool with that poll? The real quality of life in Grand Cayman is approaching zero. Uncontrolled pollution (dump, traffic, oil generated electricity), poor general health (obesity, lack of good healthcare services), no social activities other than drinking, no recreational spaces outside, including no beaches, increasing crime, no quality fresh food, and a lot of poverty and near-slavery working conditions. Too many people haven’t left the island for too long, and have lost touch with reality.
We should have ALL been afforded the grace to participate in this poll/study. After all, it’s OUR quality of life, not that of the privileged MPs nor those that wish to tweak the study to fit their own needs.
The ESO aims to ask a representative sample of the population. They do not have the resources to interview everyone in Cayman. That is nothing unique to Cayman, which is why it is called “statistics”
I believe they are ‘cultured input’; those statistics that are arrived at by careful sampling.
Thank you travelling Kathy.
If only you could understand what a constitutes a conflict.
A barbed wire fence has been used by Caymanians for years.
Having to dump thousands of glass bottles & jars in landfill daily because this Govt refuses to buy a glass crusher is so embarassing in this day and age, and has unneccessarily added about 50 ft to Mt Trashmore’s height. That depresses people like me.
Vote them out.
You could just dump them next to the recycling bins across the island like the other virtue signalers, you know, so they can be transported by petroleum fueled vehicles twice instead of once to make it to the landfill.
This frustrates me immensely. I try to do my best by returning Cayman Brewery bottles (they also give you $4 off your purchase at most liquor stores when you return a case of empties). At least they recycle their bottles. Screw-top wine bottles can also be recycled at Jacques Scott. I think the owner of the kombucha company repurposes them. This is the only small way we can recycle our glass. We desperately need a crusher. It’s beyond ridiculous that they haven’t replaced it by now.
#hopeforachoice
Wellp, I made myself a lil slingshot with some tubing and shoe tounge like back in the day and use my glass beer bottles (can’t recycle the type I like to drink) for targets in my backyard.
Please do not shoot the local chickens lol. They eat the creepy crawlers so that I can walk on my lawn barefoot.
Any time I hear an expat say get rid of the chickens I ask them if they would rather step in a pile of shit or nest of centipedes
The neglected state of all the islands landfills, the old hyatt husk 20 years on, approved tunnels to nowhere, secret deals with preferred developers, cruise lobbyists, and missing accounting are what really drag on quality of life: they are the corrosive hallmarks of actively corrupt governance. With no end in sight.
As the article says it would be interesting to compare to other countries.
worst thing is cayman has never had so much money…and all these issues are only getting worse.
caymanians elect these people so you have no-one else to blame but yourselves.
and to make things worse, you also prevent the most qualified and successful people on island from being elected…
welcome to wonderland.
cayman biggest problem…50% of the population have no representation or voting rights…..hence the litany of caymanian made problems.
LOL. what are you suggesting? we give Temporary workers the right to vote?
at least some sort of representation…even if it is a talk-shop forum or something.
btw caymankind, try harder with the basics of democracy.
Where else could you go in the world where this happens? Outside of Cayman, we have to ahdere to the law and political system that’s in place. I understand Cayman is the best thing since slice bread, it doesnt mean you have rights here when you haven’t went through the process to be domiciled here.
#votefred2025
The island is a mess. It is dirty and full of garbage. Littered derelict vehicles and heavy equipment on residential roads everywhere. Expats living off fishing boats in residential neighborhoods running generators all night looking like a homeless camp you’d see on the street in Florida. Cars speeding and driving dangerously with no repercussions. All of this needs fixed before JuJu gets that no need school. Fact of the matter, it’s easy to fix a lot of our issues but you would need the agency’s to step up and enforce the laws!
Ghetto feel. People mostly die from cancer. Health hazards are not even identified, let alone mitigated. I am talking ( among numerous others) about health facilities of all sorts, from veterinarians and dentists to hospitals and pharmacies. Caymanians either pretend not seeing or knowing about it or just ignorant. But every cell in your body is “seeing” just fine.
Open obituary sites and see what people die from in this so called paradise.
Pipe down son, Authorities don’t like anyone mentioning that stuff and the fact that there are soil/groundwater contamination hotspots all over. They’d rather it stay under the rug.
And we wonder why tourism is down?
We wonder why the Caymanian people are becoming furious?
We have been driven into a shitshow by an inept civil service and a wholesale disregard for our community standards.
How does this compare with the government of Bhutan’s measurement of “Gross National Happiness”?
two wrongs don’t make a right.
4% of the estimated population were surveyed and they expect it to be taken seriously? Nope.
Exactly. Until you get to a sample size of 1000 (for any human population) one shouldn’t try to draw any conclusions.
What is 4% of 80,000, genius? Hint: much more than 1000.
So what do you think is a statistically significant number of respondents?
Go on, look it up.
“Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital.”
You know that’s how polls and surveys work, right? You don’t survey everyone. Try googling statistical surveys.
it’s a nonsense survey on many levels but sample size is pretty impressive….if you understand surveys/polls.
They survey the same people over and over, why in hell can’t they survey different people. Every time they come to my house and ask the same questions and gets the same answers.Go and survey others not me every time.