Disciplinary violence has affected 63.5% of boys and girls in the country, according to ONE and Unicef

Among the findings of the general report of the Enhogar-MICS 2019 survey, the National Statistics Office (ONE) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) revealed that 63.5% of boys and girls between 1 and 14 years old had experienced a method of violent discipline, increasing this figure to 70% in the group of 3 to 4 years.

One of the most worrying findings is that only 61% of young people between the ages of 18 and 23 have completed high school. There are also huge disparities among the richest, where 90.5% finish high school—versus the poorest, which only reach 28%.

The report highlights that women finish secondary school 20% more than men at the educational level.

Another aspect of the report indicates that there is still a low coverage of early childhood care services since only 48% of children attend these services.

Among the relevant data from the survey, it is specified that 20.4% of women between the ages of 20 and 24 had a child before the age of 18, and 2% had a child before the age of 15. In that age group, 32% of women were married or in union before 18.

They highlight that the variable that most impacts this problem is the level of education of these women, increasing this figure to 65% in females with primary education versus 12% in those with tertiary education; followed by poverty, rising to 49% among the poorest versus 11% among the richest.

In both cases, the data is worse in rural areas. It points out, in turn, that 9% of women between the ages of 20 and 24 married or had a union before the age of 15, in both cases, the lowest figures are found in the Ozama region.

Since 2006, UNICEF has been supporting the ONE, which has incorporated the MICS into the annual ENHOGAR program, in such a way that they carry out an ENHOGAR MICS every five years, thus ensuring the sustainability of this survey.

This survey, carried out every five years, is the most critical and reliable data source for the Dominican Republic on children’s rights and was implemented by ONE with technical and financial support from UNICEF.

This version of the study not only covered the entire national territory in an effective probabilistic sample of 31,488 households interviewed, but it is also the first country survey of households carried out with digital tablets.