Unlike in most other countries Maldives had its baby boom during the late 60s, 70s and early 80s. With our life expectancies almost reaching levels which are comparable to much of the developed world, in another 20 -30 years time we would have a relatively large number of people in their 60s and 70s. Is anybody thinking about this? (I bolg about this because I feel the pain!)
The non-contributory pension scheme that we have for our govt staff which pays 50% of the basic salary after every 20 years (keekey dhen bunaanee? Maldives in the only country I know that pays ‘double pensions’ and ‘triple pensions’) of service regardless of age. The pensions are not indexed meaning the ‘handoo, hakuru, fuh and mas’ we can buy with it are decreasing every day. As we don’t have a mandatory retirement age govt continues paying ‘pensions’ to a number of civil servants until they die. This practice is clearly unsustainable (World Bank report on Maldives’ pension reform). Many govt employees even in their thirties are already earning pensions and with our life expectancies at its present level, they have clearly at least another 30-40 years to live during which they could earn another one or two ‘pensions’ - a huge fiscal burden in another 5-10 years time.
The other major problem is that we have no safety net for this burgeoning elderly population. With increased incidence of major health ailments such as heart diseases together with the increased life expectancy, our people remain extremely vulnerable as most people in the country does not have any safeguard such a pension plan, retirement plan, health insurance plan etc against any unforeseen circumstances.
Our govt probably finds the ‘political cost’ of attempting to overhaul the existing ‘seemingly generous pension scheme’ to be devastating. After all, who in the govt would want to do away with a plan that pays ‘pension every 20 years’ without ever having to contribute anything towards financing it, during their working life? Procrastinating decisions that one finds painful doesn’t provide a solution to the problem – it only aggravates it. Our pension and social security is one goddamned ugly hydra that’s about to surface in less than 10 years!
The non-contributory pension scheme that we have for our govt staff which pays 50% of the basic salary after every 20 years (keekey dhen bunaanee? Maldives in the only country I know that pays ‘double pensions’ and ‘triple pensions’) of service regardless of age. The pensions are not indexed meaning the ‘handoo, hakuru, fuh and mas’ we can buy with it are decreasing every day. As we don’t have a mandatory retirement age govt continues paying ‘pensions’ to a number of civil servants until they die. This practice is clearly unsustainable (World Bank report on Maldives’ pension reform). Many govt employees even in their thirties are already earning pensions and with our life expectancies at its present level, they have clearly at least another 30-40 years to live during which they could earn another one or two ‘pensions’ - a huge fiscal burden in another 5-10 years time.
The other major problem is that we have no safety net for this burgeoning elderly population. With increased incidence of major health ailments such as heart diseases together with the increased life expectancy, our people remain extremely vulnerable as most people in the country does not have any safeguard such a pension plan, retirement plan, health insurance plan etc against any unforeseen circumstances.
Our govt probably finds the ‘political cost’ of attempting to overhaul the existing ‘seemingly generous pension scheme’ to be devastating. After all, who in the govt would want to do away with a plan that pays ‘pension every 20 years’ without ever having to contribute anything towards financing it, during their working life? Procrastinating decisions that one finds painful doesn’t provide a solution to the problem – it only aggravates it. Our pension and social security is one goddamned ugly hydra that’s about to surface in less than 10 years!
4 comments:
I never thought of this problem. You should write this in more detail and send it out for publication in a broadsheet or online news site.
Thanks, Simon. But I think I need to improve my writing before I can start thinking about mainstream media.
you mean like CNN? anyway what's the point in writing for an audience that can't read? what might work is reciting the Koran teary-eyed in a weepy tone and saying some prayers for the sorry state of Maldives and its islanders.
by mainstream media I mean those that are owned by former and current cabinet ministers in low-lying small island developing states that are vulnerable to sea-level rise. Did I get it right?
Post a Comment