Anyone who had business at any of the post offices around the country today, Thursday, May 2, 2024, would have encountered them; throngs of pensioners trying to cash their National Insurance Scheme (NIS) and Old Age (OA) vouchers. The doubling up in payment on the first working day of the month began in July last year, possibly as a means of killing two birds with one stone. It had been mandated by President Irfaan Ali in June 2023 as part of the government’s agenda to advance and upgrade its delivery of services to senior citizens. However, since its implementation, there has been grumbling from pensioners about the longer wait times they encounter when in queue behind people completing both transactions. They have also pointed out that there has been no increase in the number of tellers available to handle these transactions.
The payment of NIS and OA pensions has always bristled with hiccups, some of which still exist: like post offices running out of money and having to turn away pensioners, asking them to return the next day. There have been heists at post offices around the country, where bandits snatched entire payrolls and fled causing untold delays in payments – the biggest one being the $42 million grab in 2015 at the Bourda Post Office. In addition, pensioners have been robbed of the cash they were paid while on their way or after they returned home. The option to have their funds made available through the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company’s Mobile Money app has not been bought into by many pensioners, hence the monthly crush continues at post offices.
More likely than not, there is some amount of distrust among older folks with regard to the technology involved with telephone applications which would explain their wariness with and the low uptake of the Mobile Money app option. Another solid reason, unfortunately, is the fact that a lot of pensioners are either broke or down to their last dollar by the first of the month. Adversely affected by the high cost of living, as often articulated in this newspaper’s weekly column, they need immediate cash to pay bills, eat and purchase medication. The paltry sums they receive, the current government’s claim of generosity notwithstanding, means that they are unable to get off the merry-go-round.
On a global scale, the elderly population is defined as people aged 65 and over. However, in Guyana, the age of retirement for public servants is set at 55. People quite capable of continuing to work and give of their vast experience and knowledge have been put out to pasture once they attain that age. Incongruously, NIS pensions kick in at age 60, which means retired public sector workers have to wait another five years. This can be a long time if their previous employment offers no pension or a very low one, as is often the case. OA pension can be applied for at age 65, another five years. The reason for these gaps has never been fully explained, but they say a lot about how this society values its silver population.
According to the United Nations Population Division, global life expectancy at birth for both sexes was 71.7 years in 2022 and is expected to rise to 77.3 by 2050. (It is to be noted that these are global averages. Many countries have a plethora of people aged 80 and over who still live alone and fend for themselves quite easily.) In addition, women tend to live longer than men – five years more on average. Global decreases in births over the last few decades point to an ageing population. In fact, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has estimated that by the end of next year, people aged 60 and above will represent 20 percent of the world’s population.
To this end, there is now a sector or market that targets products and services catering specifically for people over 50 years old and it has been dubbed ‘the silver economy’. There are entire companies, in the healthcare, transport, banking, leisure (tourism) and construction industries, among others, including several large ones in the first world, built just to service the silver economy.
According to the UNFPA, this economy is estimated at $15 trillion globally and growing. It thrives in societies where older people or silvers (the term hints at their hair colour) are able to actively exercise their right to continue to participate in the development of their countries. Some choose to keep working and are free to do so. Others volunteer in their communities, often in education and mentorship roles for which they are avidly sought by both the private and public sectors.
Their contributions, studies have found, redound to the benefit of both the seniors and the children/young people with whom they interact. The healthy bonds formed alleviate loneliness and actually improve the physical health of silvers. Youths involved have been found to have fewer or no mental health issues and many tend to develop deeper empathy.
The unfortunate stereotyping of older people as vulnerable is typically attached to those with low or no means. However, when their dearth of financial resources is as a result of poor government policy, particularly regarding retirement and pensions, as is the case in this country, then the finger needs to be pointed in a different direction.
It is incomprehensible that a government in which several of its senior cabinet members, including Prime Minister Mark Phillips and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, are 60 and older, fails to see the merit in really engaging with and catering for its silver population. Is the citizen who builds the dam any less valuable than the one who gives the instruction? It is a sad state of affairs and akin to viewing life through a two-way mirror.
