Official academics acknowledged the increase in the inequality gap in Cuba due to the polycrisis the country has been experiencing over the past five years.

Three Cuban sociologists told EFE in a joint interview that social inequalities have widened across economic, racial, territorial, age, and gender divides.

Inequality is the main effect of the polycrisis,” stated Enrique Gómez Cabezas, coordinator of the Social Policy and Inequalities Group.

Gómez Cabezas and other experts from the state-run Center for Psychological and Sociological Research (CIPS) acknowledged that this phenomenon creates tensions in a country characterized for decades by strong egalitarianism and the government's responsibility to seek new solutions to overcome it.

"The recognition of migration as an alternative for economic improvement has grown," adds Gómez Cabezas.

This state sociologist believes that the regime needs to update its social policies, which are now insufficient for the reality of the island.

"Although they are universal policies, they are not enough to prevent inequalities from reproducing. There are sectors that are in better conditions and will seize the best opportunities for themselves. Meanwhile, other sectors will be left behind, which reproduces and amplifies those disadvantages," he justifies.

"We must acknowledge the existing inequality," she concludes.

For Mirlena Rojas Piedrahita, coordinator of the Network of Sociological Studies on Work, what she refers to as "polycrisis" is a "trait of the era" that "imprints a fundamental characteristic on today's Cuban society."

"Sometimes the word resilience feels too small for me. I still haven't found the word that one might use when facing survival strategies," the sociologist questions.

Rojas Piedrahita also states that this context generates an "uncertainty" that "produces and reproduces" states of stress.

"There are those who have been able to access the most dynamic and well-paid private sector, who can afford a generator for power outages,... and who have the resources to leave for another country," he adds.

For her part, Jusmary Gómez Arencibia, coordinator of the Cuban Network of Social and Solidarity Economy and Corporate Social Responsibility, states that the "deterioration" of education and healthcare has become another reason for emigration.

According to the officialist experts interviewed by EFE, inequalities began in 2011 with Raúl Castro's reforms, known as the "updating."

Experts indicate that the Gini coefficient, the main indicator of social inequality, increased from 0.25 (on a scale with a maximum of 1) in 1989 to between 0.4 and 0.5 currently, according to government figures.

In this way, Cuba would rank, if we believe the regime's figures, in the average of Latin American countries.

But for these pro-government experts, the island cannot be compared to Latin American countries. “We approach some realities, but we are still distant,” they assert.

Poverty in Cuba

Last year, the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH) stated in a report that "89% of Cuban families suffer from extreme poverty"

One of the most significant pieces of information highlights that “7 out of every 10 Cubans have stopped having breakfast, lunch, or dinner, due to a lack of money or food shortages.”

In 2023, furthermore, Cuba was ranked as the country with the most miserable economy in the world, according to the Annual Index compiled by American economist Steve H. Hanke, a professor at Johns Hopkins University.

To the extent that the regime itself has been forced to recognize the misery in which its population lives.

According to the Minister of Labor and Social Security, Marta Elena Feitó Cabrera, before Miguel Díaz-Canel, in February 2024, there are, as of that date, 1,236 communities in Cuba living in misery

Frequently Asked Questions About Inequality and the Crisis in Cuba