Minister of People Empowerment Kirk Humphrey has reiterated that welfare support from the Government is intended as a temporary measure rather than a long-term dependency.
Humphrey made that point during yesterday’s debate on the Appropriation Bill, 2025, in the House of Assembly, emphasising that not all applicants would be successful in receiving assistance from the Government.
He said, “Not everyone who applies for welfare is going to get it. Of course, for persons who have disabilities and are otherwise able to work, it is also automatic (that they will receive welfare). Part of the assessment has to consider if a person is capable of working and if they have actually been looking for work. I think, in addition to us being able to help people who come forward, we also have to make sure that persons understand that the welfare support was meant to help persons who cannot help themselves or because of some transient, temporary dislocation may need support to go on.”
He stressed that the Ministry’s current direction is focused on empowerment rather than indefinite financial assistance. “Welfare was never meant to be and should not be a permanent position. Therefore, the empowerment focus that we now have in the Ministry is going to be the essential difference between what currently exists and what it is that we are going to do going forward,” Humphrey added.
The Member of Parliament for St Michael South also addressed issues within his Ministry, which he believes are outdated.
“There are also some policies in the Welfare Department that need to change. I do not like the review system where people fell off every six months, and we have put in place a position where, in the new entity going forward, that has to stop. If a person has not been assessed, you leave them on until you are able to assess them. This idea of cutting off people every six months and then taking six months to assess people has to stop. It doesn’t work. Similarly, the arbitrary determination that a person can only get support for two children rather than three or four… those things have to stop so that we can treat people with dignity.”
Humphrey concluded his time in the well of Parliament by taking aim at members of society who think that they are entitled to continued welfare support even after their financial situation changes.
“If you have gotten a job and it takes you out of a certain circumstance, perhaps you might get welfare support for a few months to allow you to adjust, but eventually that support has to go onto someone else. A state, any state around the world, has to operate with limited resources. We have to be able to bring a balance so that people are treated with dignity, but nobody should be allowed to exploit the system.”
The Appropriation Bill, 2025, provides the grant of a sum of money out of the Consolidated Fund and the appropriation of the same for the service of Barbados for the year ending 31st March 2026. (JC)
