Create robust social security systems to withstand national shocks – Charles
Published:Monday | November 6, 2023 | 12:05 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
JUST DAYS after Jamaica was rocked by a 5.6 magnitude earthquake last Monday, Labour and Social Security Minister Pearnel Charles Jr used the impact of the incident to emphasise the Caribbean region’s need to strengthen its member states’ social security policies for economic growth.
During his keynote address at last Wednesday’s 31st meeting of the Heads of CARICOM Social Security Organisations, held at the Hilton Rose Hall Hotel in Montego Bay, St James, Charles pointed to the impact of the earthquake, as well as that of the COVID-19 pandemic, as illustrations of why strong social security policies must be implemented to cushion citizens’ economic circumstances.
“Were you here during the tremor? I felt it, I felt all of it, and the tremors really were a reminder of our vulnerabilities and the unforeseen challenges that we face as a region. Yet, in the midst of all those trials, the significance of our work here as a collective is truly magnified. The earthquake, much like the pandemic before it, has laid bare the essential need for the robust social security systems that should be designed to stand as bastions of stability when the ground shakes and the unexpected strikes,” said Charles.
“Our resilience as small island developing states is tested in these times. It is in these moments that the true strength of our social security systems will be measured, not just in the support that they offer, but in the hope that they promise,” he emphasised. “As we stand shoulder to shoulder, it is my hope that we will all renew our commitment to fortify our networks of safety and support to prepare for the shocks and the unforeseen, just as we have learned from the lessons in the last few years.”
COVID-19 fallout
The minister’s admonition follows a similar observation by sociologist Dr Orville Taylor in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, that the economic fallout caused by the pandemic up to that time demonstrated a need for Jamaica’s social safety measures to be widened and deepened.
At that time, a study conducted by UNICEF and the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CAPRI) about the impact of COVID-19 on children and families indicated that 80 per cent of families suffered a reduction in income because of the pandemic, and that one in two households reported only having enough income or savings to sustain them for two weeks or less.
Prior to the pandemic, in 2014, recommendations were made that the Government should pay keen attention to the social safety nets in the then-upcoming Budget, so as to ensure that the poor and those most vulnerable in Jamaica should not be neglected and forgotten, even amid fiscal constraints because of Jamaica’s agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in that period.
In the meantime, Charles told Wednesday’s meeting that attention must be paid to identifying the core factors contributing to poverty, to better facilitate needed social security reforms.
“I want to strongly encourage our sister territories to take urgent steps towards any necessary reform measures that will ensure that our social security institutions receive the support that is needed to ensure sustainability and growth. As a region, we must continue our efforts towards ongoing reforms, with a deeper focus on identifying and addressing the key causal issues that impact poverty, income insecurity, and also social exclusion,” said Charles.
“The resulting policies and interventions must directly impact the development of our human capital and employ social investment as part of our regional strategy for economic growth.”