Turks and Caicos Islands

5.8. Community Livelihoods, Gender, Poverty and Development
As part of the CARIBSAVE Community Vulnerability and Adaptive Capacity Assessment methodology,
household surveys were conducted in the Lower Bight community to determine household and community
access to five livelihood assets (financial, physical, natural, social and human). Livelihood strategies
(combinations of assets) are evaluated to determine the adaptive capacity of households and consequently
communities.
A total of 31 respondents were surveyed, 18 of whom were male and 13 female. There were 19
respondents from male headed households and 12 respondents from female headed households.
5.8.1. Demographic Profile of Respondents
Residency in the Community
Respondents indicated living in their community for varying lengths of time, and this is illustrated in Table
5.8.1. Greater percentages of the female sub-group reported living in the community for longer periods of
time than male respondents.
Age Distribution
Table 5.8.1: Length of residency in community
Residency Male Female Total
Less than 1 year 2 11% 1 8% 3 10%
1 - 5 years 3 17% 0 0% 3 10%
6 - 10 years 2 11% 3 23% 5 16%
11 - 15 years 4 22% 3 23% 7 23%
16 - 20 years 2 11% 2 15% 4 13%
Over 20 years 5 28% 4 31% 9 29%
Table 5.8.2 shows that respondents fit into most age categories, with majority of the sample (39%) being in
the 35-44 age range. However, when disaggregated based on sex of respondent, the males were generally
older than the female respondents.
Table 5.8.2: Age distribution of sample
Age Male Female TOTAL
Under 25 1 6% 0 0% 1 3%
25 - 34 2 11% 2 15% 4 13%
35 - 44 6 33% 6 46% 12 39%
45 - 54 5 28% 2 15% 7 23%
55 - 59 2 11% 3 23% 5 16%
Over 60 2 11% 0 0% 2 6%
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