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Fluctuation noted in recipients of old age pension – Statistics

Jul 28, 2011 News

For last year, statistics indicate that there was a fluctuation in the recipients of old age pension.  As at December 2010, there were 42,536 pensioners. For the same period in 2009, there were 43,398 pensioners.
Statistics show that from January 2009 there were 40,794 recipients of old age pension and this figure constantly escalated.
Data also shows that 1,124 persons received assistance from the Difficult Circumstances Unit.  The most prevalent forms of assistance were; spectacles 32 percent, finance for food items (hampers) 23 percent, and funeral nine percent.
Females accounted for 80 percent of the assistance rendered whilst males accounted for 20 percent. In 2009, 1,203 persons received assistance, which is a slight increase from 2010.
Recent years have witnessed a rapid increase in the amounts paid by Government under the old age pension and public assistance programmes.
From this year, old age pension was raised to $6,600 per month, while public assistance was $4,900 per month. This was announced by Minister of Finance, Dr Ashni Singh.
It was reported that under these programmes, more than 50,000 elderly and otherwise vulnerable beneficiaries are expected to receive direct income support on a monthly basis.
According to reports, given the income and expenditure profile of the beneficiaries, almost all of the amounts disbursed are transmitted immediately into the domestic economy through consumption of goods and services.
Reports disclosed earlier in the year that in addition to other initiatives such as the water rates assistance programme, under which Government provides financial support to meet water charges on behalf of old age pensioners, the staggered electricity tariff structure which sees household consumers of small amounts of electricity below a specified monthly threshold being billed at a concessional rate, there is the Government’s residential programme for the elderly such as at the Palms, along with the several public health care programmes aimed at enhancing and improving the scope and quality of services offered by the public health care system thereby contributing to improved quality of life.

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