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CABINET has approved for tabling in Parliament a white paper for the revised National Policy for Senior Citizens, which will seek to lessen poverty among the nation's elderly.
This policy will be implemented over a period of 10 years and its monitoring and implementation will be undertaken by the National Council for Senior Citizens.
Information Minister Fayval Williams told yesterday's post-Cabinet press briefing that the Government recognised there are significant informalities in the labour market which would have caused many Jamaicans who are 60 years and older not to have been contributing to a pension scheme.
The move to have the national policy revised, she said, was in keeping with Government's commitment to implement a comprehensive social protection strategy, which would include adequate safety nets and social protection to mitigate the risks to economic and social development for the elderly.
"The Ministry of Labour and Social Security will be studying the existing legislation, global best practices and an analysis of the local situation, with the view of developing legislation for the care and protection of the elderly," Minister Williams said.
"Given the significant informalities in the labour market and the fact that many of them would not have contributed to any pension scheme, there is a high prevalence of poverty within this group. In Jamaica, the cohort of persons 60 years and over is growing and is projected to account for 16 per cent of the population by 2030 and 22 per cent by 2050. Persons in this cohort demand greater levels of goods and services specifically from the Government," said Williams.
Director of the Mona Ageing and Wellness Centre Dr Denise Eldemire-Shearer, in an interview with the Jamaica Observer following the press briefing yesterday, welcomed the tabling of the revised policy for seniors.
"The emphasis of promoting active ageing into the new dimensions of healthy ageing makes it a policy for all seniors and also for supporters of seniors, being it families or caregivers. It includes educational activities for families, communities and volunteer groups. It is a forward-thinking policy and successive governments are to be complimented in the unity of advancing the policy with regards to senior citizens," she said.
Eldemire-Shearer, meanwhile, said her greatest disappointment is that the society seems not to recognise the importance of contributing to a pension scheme towards their lives for the future.
"If the policy and the action had a weak area it is that of convincing people. I don't think that we as a society recognise the importance of pension to an individual. When we talk to seniors, many tell us that they didn't think it would be important. They thought it was more important to buy the house or the car and look after today. We need to convince people that tomorrow will follow today. Therefore, we have to find ways as 30-year-old and 40-year-old to make preparations for tomorrow," said Dr Eldemire-Shearer
Regarding the impact that the coronavirus pandemic has had on senior citizens, a group which comprises more than 350, 000 Jamaicans, Dr Eldemire-Shearer said the elderly risked severe illnesses and challenges, but said that on the flip side, the pandemic was accompanied by opportunities.
"Never in the history of the world has there been so much focus on senior citizens in identifying them as a vulnerable group and prioritising them as has been throughout the pandemic. There are lessons to the pandemic and the approach during the pandemic in terms of putting seniors first and that we must ensure that we enshrine and continue to recognise our seniors as very valuable members of our community.
"I do know that the policy for seniors, represented then as it does now, a different focus and certainly because of the discussions around it and the bringing together of several ministries. You would recognise that the policy looked not only at the provision of social security benefits but also health. There was also in the policy, education, which took it all the way down to including family life education programmes. What the policy did was create awareness among groups that never thought they had a role in making the lives of seniors more comfortable. A particular strength of the policy then and now was the life course perspective and understanding the ageing process."