Barbados Aging Population and Increased Dependents: Implications for Caregivers and Policy Initiatives

Barbados’ aging population will result in more dependents, leading to more paid and unpaid caregivers.

And that is why, said Minister in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Investment, Senator Chad Blackman, that Government had established a National Population Commission.

He was addressing the opening session of a high-level policy dialogue on Gender Equality and the Care Economy yesterday at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, Two Mile Hill, St Michael.

“Government has established [the commission] to examine the population trends, identifying potential implications and proposed actions to be taken to address these issues.

“Over the next 30 years, the dependency ratio will grow to nearly two dependents per person of working age with a higher presence of elderly dependents by the year 2050. Also, the care of the elderly, which currently accounts for just under 20 per cent of total health expenditure, is expected to nearly double its demand for financing,” he said.

Growth rates

Blackman said Barbados not only had an ageing demographic but also recorded one of the lowest population growth rates in the Caribbean, which had “major implications” for things like growth, development and social cohesion.

“If you don’t have a population size [that can] nurture and continue to fill our National Insurance, that is a problem [and] for foreign investment, it has implications because one of the things that investors look for is return on investment “Therefore, it is critical at the regional level that we look to see where there are low populations of particularly low growth rates and try to help move labour across the region so as to meet the gaps that may exist in that regard,” he said.

He added that even if every Barbadian capable of having children did so now, it would still take too long to see tangible results.

However, the senator said the quality of labour was also important, as the global economy had changed.

“If our population is to meet the demands of Barbados’ interests, the exposure of our labour force to what is taking place at the international level is going to be key and therefore I believe that there has to be constant exposure of our people to the best rudiments of new skills. “The truth is the skills necessary for Barbados and CARICOM to maintain and advance its prosperity and social cohesion will require us to think in different ways than we have over the last 30 to 40 years because the global economy has shifted and the global tensions require us to move in a different way and therefore our education system has to respond,” he said.

Gender gap

Blackman also challenged the audience not to simply create “a lovely framework

and a lovely document” which looked good on social media and in press releases but to create something that would affect the “tangible realities” of people’s lives.

Tonni Brodber, the representative of the United Nations Women Multi-Country Office – Caribbean, in an address via video recording said there was a major disproportion between female unpaid caregivers and male ones.

“The gender gap in unpaid care work is one of the most glaring manifestations of inequality between women and men across the world,” she said.

“Data says that women perform 75 per cent of unpaid care work globally, dedicating on average four hours and 25 minutes daily to unpaid care work, more than three times the men’s average of one hour and 23 minutes per day.

“This is not necessarily a burden, the responsibility of care is often an honour. However, when it is only shouldered upon one person, then we start to see an effect in terms of their ability to earn within the formal economy, the ability to support their livelihoods – those that they are caring for as well as those who may be indirectly benefiting from their care – and also it could lead to an imbalance in terms of their relationships.”

Other speakers included UN Resident Coordinator for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean Simon Springett. (CA)