Poll: Six in 10 Nicas Willing to Leave Country

MANAGUA – Six in 10 Nicaraguans would be willing to leave Nicaragua and move to a foreign country, according to a poll conducted by the firm M & R Consultores published Sunday in the Nicaraguan daily La Prensa.

Of those polled, 60.6% said they would leave Nicaragua, 38.1% said they would not leave and 1.3% opted not to answer.

Additionally, 80.3% of those who said they would leave Nicaragua said they would do so to find work, while 9.2% said they would leave to study, 6% said they would leave to visit new places and 3.9% said they would leave to visit family members, the survey found.

Unemployment and poverty were the main reasons those polled gave for wanting to leave Nicaragua. Corruption, delinquency, high prices of public services and political problems were other reasons mentioned.

Statistics indicate that 43% of the Nicaraguan population lives in conditions of poverty, while 80% earn a daily income of $2 or less.

Different statistics also estimate there are 300,000 to 800,000 Nicaraguans living in Costa Rica and 750,000 Nicaraguans living in the United States.

The study, which was carried out Aug. 4-10, polled 4,020 people all over the country and claims a 1.58% margin of error.

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