NASSAU, The Bahamas – The
introduction of the Social Safety Net Programme in The Bahamas will allow the
Government to comprehensively address poverty by combining the assets of the
Ministry of Social Services and Community Development and the Department of
Social Services, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the
Ministry of Health.
The Social Safety Net Programme is designed to give families
receiving assistance from the Department of Social Services “a fighting chance
to rise out of poverty.”
“It is our conclusion therefore that the best way to break
the cycle of poverty on generations of Bahamian families is to improve the
education level of the family and of course, to provide better healthcare,”
Minister of Social Services and Community Development, the Hon. Melanie Sharon
Griffin said.
Minister Griffin said the 2013 Bahamas Household Expenditure
Survey, conducted by officials of the Department of Statistics, revealed that
in The Bahamas – like many other countries -- there is a direct correlation
between poverty and the level of education and access to healthcare.
Officials at the Ministry of Education, Science and
Technology have already identified that lack of school attendance, rising
drop-out rates, low grades and low graduation rates from secondary schools all
need to be further addressed in order to fully address poverty levels, while the
Ministry of Health has identified child obesity as a problem.
“Our conditions therefore, are based on education and
health,” Minister Griffin said.
Mrs. Griffin said the intent of the Social Safety Net
Proramme is to provide all families - who must qualify for the Conditional Cash
Transfer Programme (CCT) through a Proxy Means Test – with a base amount to be
used for their households. In order to achieve “add-on amounts”, however,
parents must ensure that their children attend school at least 90 per cent of
school days. Bonus amounts will also be given to every child on the Programme
who graduates from Secondary School. Where they are failing in school, children
must attend remedial classes.
The Proxy Means Test is a computerized assessment of persons
seeking assistance who are given a score based on a number of variables that
are used to identify poor persons. Social Services officials say the Proxy
Means Test is a more Objective way of determining assistance as opposed to the
way it was done previously which made it more Subjective. Add-ons are bonus amounts given to persons
meeting the requirements of the Conditional Cash Transfer Programme.
With regards to health condition, families on the Programme
must ensure that their children receive the required healthcare they need while
living healthier lifestyles. Another component of the Programme requires
pregnant women to attend the relevant clinics to ensure healthy babies.
Minister Griffin said implementation of the Social Safety
Net Programme and the accompanying Conditional Cash Transfer Programme will
mean that Social Services will no longer be doling out assistance without any
responsibility on the family to change behaviours “in order for them to give
themselves a fighting chance to rise out of poverty.”
“This reform of the social safety net is intended to
modernize the entire social assistance delivery machinery [and] it is designed
to modify human behaviour based on certain conditions which the family must
meet,” Mrs. Griffin added.