Prime Minister of Jamaica, Dr. Andrew Holness, says the Government is committed to pursuing policies that will directly impact Jamaicans’ lives and push the country closer to eradicating absolute poverty.
Addressing the media during Wednesday’s post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House, the Prime Minister pointed to Jamaica’s poverty prevalence rate falling to 8.2 percent in 2023 — down from 16.7 percent in 2021 — the lowest level recorded since poverty data collection began in 1989.
“That massive reduction in Jamaica’s poverty prevalence is a big deal for all Jamaicans,” Holness said. “At eight per cent, we are within striking distance of that. We can end absolute poverty… we want to ensure that we push this poverty prevalence number way, way down and then at that point, we can revise what is the new threshold for somebody to be considered living at or below the poverty line.”
He stressed that the achievement is possible with sustained strategic policies. “We must continue the training of our young people so that they can continue to work and earn from their labour and talent. We must continue to improve the social services, the access to amenities and we must continue to ensure that our marginalised population is protected by a very effective social safety net.”
A revision of the Government’s flagship social protection initiative, the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH), is underway to ensure it is more responsive. PATH currently serves more than 284,000 vulnerable Jamaicans.
In addition, Dr. Holness announced the imminent rollout of the Solidarity Programme, designed to reach Jamaicans who are currently not covered by any government assistance.
“The programme is designed to treat with those persons who have not gotten any of the social benefits. They are not on the social pension; they’re not registered on any of the programmes of PATH; they are not in HEART/NSTA Trust, so we are going to find them and they will get their cash grant,” he said. “We will assist in bringing them into the formal system, and that will have another major impact on addressing poverty by dealing with the exclusion element.”
The Prime Minister also highlighted measures already taken to boost income levels across the board, including increases to the national minimum wage, improved earning capacity for low-wage workers, and significant adjustments to public-sector salaries. He noted that these, combined with Jamaica’s historically low unemployment rate, have put more income into households.
“This Administration has been the most focused on treating with the microeconomic elements of poverty, dealing with the social safety net, putting in place things like the social pension… we are now looking at unemployment insurance… giving access to training at HEART and all the programmes that have enabled households to access employment,” Dr. Holness said.
“We have been very instrumental, and I think that has been a critical part of the success of our programme in alleviating and addressing poverty. So, what it means is that there are less persons in Jamaica who could be considered absolutely poor,” he added.
