Future old folk in Jamaica

[Wahalla]

I believe we will be seeing more and more of this as inflation coupled with the increased urbanisation.. middle class seniors without adequate retirement provisions....

Starving Seniors

Published: Wednesday | June 26, 20131 Comment



A beggar petitions a motorist near the traffic light at the intersection of Old Hope and Lady Musgrave roads in St Andrew in this February 13, 2007 Gleaner photograph. - File




Dennie Quill, Columnist
He gave me a shy, lopsided smile as our eyes locked while we stood in the supermarket checkout line. He was an elderly, bespectacled man, possibly someone's cherished grandfather, I thought to myself. Even though his shirt had food stains on it, he was otherwise well put together.
I noticed her standing around the meat freezer for a very long time. She had a packet in her hand and kept turning it over and over as if trying to make up her mind whether she could really afford it. I judged her to be in her late 60s, her grey hair was neatly plaited, and her full black shirt was topped off with a crisp white blouse, reminding me of one of my treasured teachers of old.
"You think you could manage to pay for this for me?" I heard this enquiry and looked behind me to see a small-bodied woman holding up a packet of rice and a tin of corned beef as I shopped in a Manor Park supermarket one Thursday. She looked so pitiful, that there was no way I could have refused her request. I added a few other items I thought she might need.
AN EMERGING CLASS
These incidents happened at different Corporate Area supermarkets, and I have come to realise that these persons are among an emerging class that I have labelled starving seniors. I see them over and over in shopping areas, embarrassed about their situation, but utterly desperate for a stranger's help to get them some food, or sometimes, medication.
Perhaps you have encountered them, too. These men and women in their senior years have seen their standard of living fallen so sharply, that they are now numbered among the rising poor.
In the case of the gentleman mentioned above, he trotted behind me to my car. Unable to conceal his deep shame, he looked down at his shoe as he announced that he had not eaten for two days and that he also needed bus fare to take him to Spanish Town. "I really don't like doing this," he muttered ashamedly as I offered him a few dollars.
This man was an accountant in better days, but health challenges had placed him in a precarious position and now he was near destitute. For a range of reasons, his children could not offer any help to him. The reality is that in most families, essentials such as food, rent, transportation and utilities take priority.
DON'T FORGET INDIGENTS
So when I see officials making a big deal about the introduction of a new expensive diesel fuel, I think to myself: Is this really that important in the scheme of things? How will the roll-out of ultra diesel help us address the crescendo of woes that currently exists in this country? Does it really matter to starving seniors?
By all means, introduce a fuel that is environmentally friendly, but considering that there is already so much pain at the pump for ordinary citizens, I believe the hoopla about this fuel is public relations money and effort misplaced. In my view, the need to celebrate an expensive ultra fuel serves to confirm just how unequal this country has become.
There is compelling evidence that worse is on the horizon based on the shrinking dollar, job losses, and a stunted economy. These realities should challenge our Government to try to understand and respond to the needs of the vulnerable poor in our society. Don't these once productive people, who helped to build this country deserve some kind of safety net in the last phase of their lives?
Dennie Quill is a veteran journalist. Email feedback to [email protected] and [email protected].

[jah_yout]

unfortunately this is the natural progression within the cultural framework in which we now live...the war on the elderly is inevitable in a dominant culture obsessed with youth---and money; urbanization together with the monetary system will ensure that this demographic will continue to increase within the foreseeable future

[j-kid]

"Has become"? It has always been that way.

In my view, the need to celebrate an expensive ultra fuel serves to confirm just how unequal this country has become.

[RichD]

I have seen this thing happen quite a bit. For example..i knwo fo a couple..both husband and wife were doctors..had a good practice lived very comfortable. retired in the early 90's thinking that had put away for a comfortable retirement. by the early 2000's what they had saved was worth much much less...lucky for them they had sons who were able to step in and bridge the gap.

[Wahalla]

I have seen this thing happen quite a bit. For example..i knwo fo a couple..both husband and wife were doctors..had a good practice lived very comfortable. retired in the early 90's thinking that had put away for a comfortable retirement. by the early 2000's what they had saved was worth much much less...lucky for them they had sons who were able to step in and bridge the gap.

they are the luck ones.. and praiseworthy sons...now a days sons ah nyam out dem parents fi tek care ah dem own pickni...But if u think about teachers nurses who retired like this couple twenty years ago with run away devaluation their pensions is valueless...Then what of those who never had a regular income. to me this is a heart breaking issue.

there will come a point that government pensions in Jamaica will cease...

Reflecting on my own I think I am going to start investing in Canada case dem evil and evil mek money...

[j-kid]

Wan ah dem days yah di Canadians gwine get together an tar an feather yuh.

[Suesumba]

Wan ah dem days yah di Canadians gwine get together an tar an feather yuh.

well dem seh di new retirement age will be 73 or sitt'n such, but the way i see thing, i'll just keep buying shooz. there won't be any money in the kitty when my generation retires.

[Wahalla]

Here is a case that ilustrates the issue in todays observer... Again a hard working man..interestingly if he retired at 65 had 27 years service he must have started the job at 38... what was he doing for the 20 years from he was 19 ???

Thst is 300 US dollars a month...the use of children to supliment his income shows the importance to have more than one child!

Allan McPherson's allowance barely covers his expenses

BY INGRID BROWN Associate editor — special assignment [email protected]
Friday, June 28, 2013

ALLAN McPherson contributed to the Government's pension scheme for his entire 27 years as a correctional officer with the belief that the funds would allow him to care for himself and his family when he retired.
But that has not been the case as the $30,000 he now receives monthly can barely cover his expenses, forcing the 66-year-old to rely heavily on his children to fill the gap.

Explaining how the $30,000 is spent each month, McPherson says the grocery bill eats up a major chunk --all of $12,000 --given the rising food prices. And, there is the electricity bill which takes up another $5,000 to $7,000, while $6,000 is used to purchase petrol for his motor vehicle, and another $2,000 for cooking gas.
"So when mi done with those basic things, you can see fi yourself seh nutten much nuh lef'," he told to the Jamaica Observer. "It is still hard to survive on that considering that I have some of the same bills ah use to have when me was working and getting me full pay."
McPherson, who lives in Islington, St Mary, said when he first started getting his pension it was only $24,000 for the month, but the figure gradually increased to the current amount. But while he is grateful for the additional $6,000, McPherson said this increase has not made much of a difference since it has been absorbed by inflation.
In addition, McPherson said he was forced to live without an income for some time as it took some four years before he started receiving his pension.
"In Jamaica, it is so hard to get anything because I have been back and forth trying to get my NIS (National Insurance Scheme) benefits and all now, nutten," he informed. According to McPherson, he completed the forms eight months before his 65th birthday, which is when he became eligible for the NIS benefit. But nearly two years later, the former prison warden said he is yet to receive an update on the status of his application.
He said he has been assured that the money will be paid retroactively, but this is little comfort as he needs it now.
Like so many other pensioners across the country McPherson said he has relied heavily on his adult children who are living overseas.
"Is a lot ah people in Jamaica living on money transfer and if that ever cut off mi sorry for us because is my children abroad me haffi depend on," he said.
McPherson said as one who worked tirelessly through the years and paid his taxes, he should not have to rely so heavily on the benevolence of others.
He, however, argued that one of Jamaica's biggest problems is that too little people are employed to support those who are not.
"In slavery days it was the majority who worked to help the minority, but now it is the other way round," he said.
He said although he was introduced to all the other options of saving for his retirement, his salary did not make it possible for him to prepare any better for the twilight years.
"The salary was still so small that I couldn't put away anything else because I had all that expense for the kids who were going to school plus me had to pay back credit union for the loan fi the house, so ah never had much left to save for anything else," he said.
However, McPherson said he would encourage others to make preparation, other than the regular pension contribution, while they still have that earning power. His situation, he said, could have been so much more dire were it not for the support of his children and this, he argued, is not the case for many pensioners.
"Some pensioners not so lucky because dem have to still mind dem pickney and dem pickney pickney," he argued.
And, living in rural Jamaica does not make life any easier for him as a pensioner, as he said there is no opportunity to earn additional income. Even renting a room on his house would prove a challenge because of the condition of roads in the area.
"If you even have a house to rent in Islington, people not interested because of how bad di road is," he said.
He said the hilly terrain also rules out farming as an option to make extra cash as it is difficult to get produce from the fields to the market.
"If yuh plant a banana and it shoot 10 hands, how yu get it out the bush to the road?" he questioned.



Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz2XVwMvN3l

[j-kid]

This is crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it took some four years before he started receiving his pension.
"In Jamaica, it is so hard to get anything because I have been back and forth trying to get my NIS (National Insurance Scheme) benefits and all now, nutten," he informed. According to McPherson, he completed the forms eight months before his 65th birthday, which is when he became eligible for the NIS benefit. But nearly two years later, the former prison warden said he is yet to receive an update on the status of his application.

[RichD]

This is crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

people i know who collecting NIS have not shared that experience.

[j-kid]

I realise yuh don't know di details of him case, but if yuh were to speculate. What yuh tink him problem could bi?

[RichD]

I realise yuh don't know di details of him case, but if yuh were to speculate. What yuh tink him problem could bi?

from the ppl i talk to who go thru the process the key is to make sure all you paperwork and records are in place...and follow up to mek sure dem have what dem need. dont jus wai month den go an her sey sumtin was missing and dem never get round to contacting you yet or dem sen letter and it nuh reach so you waiting on dem and dem waiting on you.