Gallup polls Cuba
December 19, 2006 Urban Cubans Optimistic About Schools, Not About Work Less than half say Cubans can get ahead by working hard
by Jesus Rios and Steve Crabtree GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ — A recent Gallup Poll of Cuba, conducted with 1,000
residents of Havana and Santiago, offers a rare look at the island’s
understudied population. The findings represent a fascinating
portrayal of a populace living with the paradoxes of a communist
regime. One of the most striking examples can be seen in the way
Cuban respondents feel about the country’s educational opportunities
as opposed to its opportunities to attain fulfilling jobs.
Satisfaction With Schools Is High
Respondents were extremely positive about the country’s schools,
reflecting the success of a concerted effort by the state beginning
in 2002 to make education a higher priority. In 2004, education
spending represented more than 11% of GDP, compared with 6.3% in 1998.
Almost all respondents (98%) agreed that all Cubans, regardless of
economic status, have access to education. A high 78% say they are
satisfied with the schools in their communities. Perhaps most
impressively, a majority of the Cuban respondents, 60%, say the
quality of Cuba’s colleges is superior to that in other countries,
more than twice the regional percentage for all of Latin America (26%).
The vast majority of respondents also perceive Cuban society as good
environment for child development. A full 96% say they think most
children have the opportunity to learn and grow every day, far above
the 50% regional figure for Latin America. Nearly as many Cuban
respondents, 93%, say they think the country’s children are treated
with dignity and respect, compared with just 36% of respondents
across Latin America.
Positivity Toward Work Low for Latin America
Somewhere along the way, the potential generated by Cuba’s well-
developed education system gets truncated. As students, Cubans are
typically presented only with those career options that are deemed in
demand by the state — that is, the professions in which the country
needs workers at that time. State control of prices gives workers
little control over their earning potential, which may reduce their
motivation to work hard or be innovative.
Just 42% of Cuban respondents say people in the country can get ahead
by working hard; the regional figure for Latin America is almost
twice as high (79%).
Among Cuban respondents who say they have jobs, about two-thirds
(68%) say they are satisfied with them. Sixty percent say their jobs
give them the opportunity to do what they do best every day. Both
figures are significantly below the regional results for urban Latin
America (84% for both questions).
Lack of a sense of control may also curb entrepreneurial impulses in
Cuban society: although 94% of respondents say they would describe
the Cuban people as “entrepreneurial,” only about one-third (32%) say
they currently have a plan, idea, or invention in mind to improve
their standard of living, compared with a regional finding of 44%
overall among urban Latin Americans.
Survey Methods
Results are based on face-to-face interviews conducted between Sept.
1 and Sept. 15, 2006, with 1,000 residents of Havana (600) and
Santiago (400), aged 15 and older. Extreme challenges posed by Cuba’s
poor transportation infrastructure made it unfeasible to collect a
nationwide sample; thus, the results are representative only of the
nearly 3 million inhabitants of Cuba’s two largest cities. Comparison
results for all of Latin America are based on data from urban
populations in 20 Latin American countries.
For results based on these samples, one can say with 95% confidence
that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random
effects is ±3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error,
question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can
introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.
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