GOVERNMENT Senator Kavan Gayle, charging that many senior citizens are still active members of the labour force in critical posts, has called for continuous review of policies – particularly those addressing income security – to ease the financial burden of retirement.

“It is often said that retirement is a time for rest and relaxation but this is, in fact, a myth. In reality, many of our senior citizens remain active contributors within their families and, indeed, to our country’s economy. Just imagine if, for example, our farmers or judges all retired at 60 or 65. We would face difficulties finding enough food to feed the nation, and many of our courts would have to suspend their operations,” Gayle said in a motion raised on adjournment during the sitting of the Senate on Friday.

According to Gayle, while the Administration is, “committed to safeguarding our senior citizens… there is more work to be done”.

This, he said, “includes promoting and encouraging the expansion of private pension and retirement schemes in the workplace”.

“This is critical. We have moved into an era where pension schemes and retirement schemes seem to be something of the past, and in order to ensure security and the livelihood of senior citizens we encourage the promotion of pension schemes in the workplace. These schemes provide an essential supplement to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) and can significantly ease the financial burden of retirement,” Gayle told the Upper House.

Gayle, who heads Bustamante Industrial Trade Union, also called for health insurance support to be made readily available after retirement, enabling senior citizens to access the care they need without financial strain.

“Senior citizens require that health support up to and beyond retirement – and that’s a serious protection that we must provide for our senior citizens,” Gayle stated.

In the meantime, he said National Insurance Scheme (NIS) must be sustained.

“To secure the future of the NIS we must explore innovative solutions such as adjusting contribution rates or revisiting the retirement age threshold to ensure that contributions continue for a longer period.

“There are people who reach that retirement age and still want to fulfill the need of continuous employment. We must also make sure that there are more contributors, where more workers in the labour force can become contributors as soon as they join the labour force. Most importantly, we must continue to invest strategically in the NIS fund, ensuring its long-term viability so that it can support future generations of retirees,” Gayle said further.

The National Policy for Senior Citizens, first established in 1977, was revised in 2021 and is the springboard for programmes designed to meet the needs of individuals aged 60 or 65 and older.