Basseterre, St. Kitts, February 01, 2021 (SKNIS): St. Christopher and Nevis Social Security Board is celebrating 43 years of service to the Federation’s population, today, Monday, February 01, 2021.
The occasion was marked by Minister responsible for Social Security, Honourable Eugene Hamilton, who delivered a national address on Monday (February 1, 2021) highlighting the past, present and future prospects of the insurance scheme.
He noted that the number of contributors in 1978, the first year of operation, stood at 12,119 persons with $3.3 million contributions collected. In 2019, those figures rose considerably with 30,437 contributors with $99.6 million in contributions collected for the period.
“You should all be well aware, that our Social Security Fund holds a reserve of $1.6 billion,” Minister Hamilton said in his address. “It remains a strong and resilient safety net for the thousands of workers who contribute to the fund weekly, and monthly, as the case may be, in preparation for timely response to their various contingencies, and very importantly, for the assurance of a secure source of income in their retirement years.”
In order to secure the future, the Board is considering the current structure of the programme and several reform measures.
“There is a common-sense obligation upon us, to look at the best model of benefits and contributions, the best model of investment and the best model of administration; to implement reformed models of contributing to the fund base and of providing benefits,” the minister stated.
Honourable Hamilton added that “The goal is to develop and implement the best model, one that will serve the people who benefit now and one that will serve those who will be relying on Social Security for future benefits.”
Wide-ranging consultations on reforms will be held with stakeholders including experts in the field and the general public.
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