Barbadians are being warned that the recent run on the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) due to the precipitous fall in the employment numbers as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic could result in people having to pay more in contributions within the next five years.
Additionally, head of the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Dr Don Marshall, is putting citizens on notice that the setback from the health crisis, coupled with the country’s anaemic population growth rate, would also likely result in the national retirement age moving from 67 to 70 years old.
“It would likely result in a combination of us having to pay more money in NIS contributions, a turn to private pensions plans to prop up the national social security system, and working until you are 70 years old. These are things that are staring us in the future, although there are dynamic counter-movements to the notion of work until you drop. Subscribe now to our eNATION edition.
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