More than 40% of Colombian households have a woman at the head, according to Dane

In the National Survey on Quality of Life of the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE), it revealed that more than 40% of households in Colombia were headed by women in 2021.

According to the entity, Bogotá and the departments of La Guajira, Santander, Arauca and Antioquia were what most recognized a female head of household last year (the proportions range from 46.0% to 51.5%).

It should be noted that 43.1% of Colombian households had a woman as head of household in 2021. Also 60.5% had access to the internet.

In addition, it was reported that in Colombia the majority of households had three members, referring to 2021. With a figure of 23.8% in the national total, families were made up of three members. On the other hand, it was known that 23.6% of households had two members; 19.6% four and single-person families accounted for 18.2%.

It should be noted that, by region, Putumayo concentrated the largest number of single-person households, as did Guaviare, which had 27.5% and 26.3% respectively.

The departments with the fewest households of this type were found in the Caribbean (Atlántico, La Guajira and Bolivar with levels of 10.7%, 11.6% and 11.9% respectively).

Finally, DANE announced that 39.4% of the country's households have their own homes, which includes people who are paying and those who ended up. As for the lease model, there were 38.6% of families living this way last year.

According to the statistics department, the survey aims to show an x-ray of how Colombians live and the changes that have occurred as a result of the covid-19 pandemic.

El Dane found that the possibility of owning their own housing - which is fully paid for - has fallen since 2019, because while in that year 42 per cent of households reported having their own home, by 2021, only 35 per cent had it. By 2021, the 17.1 million households were grouped into 17 million homes.

The survey also showed that in 2020 - the height of the pandemic - Colombians regrouped in their families as a method of saving, as the number of people who claimed to live at home increased. But by 2021 many returned to living in apartments, as the figure rose from 36.9% in 2020 to 38.1% in 2021.

Likewise, this housing rearrangement affected homeownership, which, as already said, registered a noticeable decline in 2021 when compared to 2019, that is, before the entry of the pandemic.

Juan Daniel Oviedo, director of Dane, explained that the decline in own housing is due to the fact that many had to sell their property in order to live during the pandemic.

“A good way to cushion the revenue shock was with the liquidation of that residential asset,” said the official.

Another economic impact of the pandemic was the loss of jobs by the head of the household and the delay in the payment of rent or installments of housing credits. To cushion the blow of these problems, households had to acquire debts, extend payment periods or even reduce food.

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