Isabel Cocker/The Santiago Times
SANTIAGO – The principle dream of most Chileans is to own their own high-quality house, according to a new survey.
More than a third (37.4%) of all participants in the study “Chile Dice”, carried out by the University Alberto Hurtado in conjunction with Emol, responded to the open question of “What is your biggest wish?” with the dream of becoming a homeowner. This figure was more elevated among women (48%), and among people aged 30-39 (49%).
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In second place, 22.6% of respondents answered, “to have access to good quality education and a profession” followed in third by “to go on holiday”, which had a much lower percentage of 6.5%. Other dreams and wishes mentioned were: “for me and my family to be healthy” (6.2%), “to live a peaceful and happy life” (5.7%) and “whatever God wishes” (0.4%).
When asked in a further part of the study about what is preventing them from reaching these dreams, the largest response was “lack of economic resources” (37.6%) followed by “low salaries” (18.9%) and “lack of jobs” (16.4%).
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Only 0.7% of respondents said that their biggest wish was “to live in a more equitable country”, and it was also a low percentage (3.3%) which said their biggest problem in achieving their dreams was “inequality”. However, while 18.9% of all respondents highlighted low salaries as an obstacle, this figure was almost 50% higher among women (27%), evidence of the gender gap still present in society.
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These results have been released as one of four sections of the larger “Chile Dice” survey, which aims to compare the daily expectations and challenges of the Chilean people with the issues and themes which gain most public debate. The other sections are “Problems and Difficulties of the Chilean People”, “A Profile of Chileans” and “Chile in 5 Years”.
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In an interview with Emol, the Rector of the University Alberto Hurtado highlighted that “identifying and understanding the issues which the citizens of our country value, their expectations of the future, their dreams, fears and securities, is something essential and greatly relevant for a universe such as ours.”
