Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1994, published 81st ILC session (1994)

Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102) - Barbados (Ratification: 1972)

1. Part X (Survivors' benefit), Article 60, paragraph 1. In reply to the Committee's previous comments, the Government indicates that upon expiry of the one year period provided for in Regulation 37(1)(c) of the National Insurance and Social Security Regulations of 1967, widows of under 50 years of age may apply to the Welfare Department for assistance if they are unemployed and the children continue to receive benefits. The Committee notes this information with interest.

Insofar as the benefits paid to the children of the deceased breadwinner do not appear to be sufficient, on their own, to attain the level of benefit provided for in the Convention (40 per cent of the reference wage for a widow with two children), the Committee refers to Article 60, paragraph 1, of the Convention and again asks the Government to indicate whether the present economic, social and cultural conditions in Barbados are such that widows of under 50 years of age with dependent children are likely to be capable to self-support. It also asks the Government to indicate the nature and amount of the assistance provided by the Welfare Department and the requirements for eligibility for such assistance.

2. Part XI (Standards to be complied with by periodical payments), Article 66 of the Convention (in conjunction with Article 62). In its previous comments the Committee recalled that under Regulation 40 of the above-mentioned Regulations, the amount of the survivors' benefit paid to a widow with two dependent children attains 37.5 per cent of the breadwinner's average wage that is subject to contributions where the breadwinner has completed the qualifying period of 15 years of contribution provided for in Article 63, paragraph 1(a), of the Convention. Calculated in accordance with Article 65 of the Convention in conjunction with the schedule annexed to Part XI, the amount of survivors' benefit does not therefore attain, for a standard beneficiary, the level laid down in the Convention which provides that the rate of benefit for the above period of contribution should attain 40 per cent of the breadwinner's previous earnings. The Committee none the less considered that, insofar as Barbados has a minimum survivors' benefit, the Government could also avail itself of Article 66 of the Convention.

In this connection, the Committee notes with interest the minimum survivors' benefit paid to a standard beneficiary (widow with two children) communicated by the Government. It notes, however, that the Government's report does not specify the amount of the wage of the ordinary adult male labourer. The Committee is, therefore, unable to ascertain the extent to which effect is given to the provisions of Article 66 of the Convention. Accordingly, it asks the Government to state in its next report the amount of the wage of an ordinary adult male labourer selected in accordance with paragraph 4 or 5 of Article 66 of the Convention, as well as the minimum amount of survivors' benefit for the same reference period (see also the report form adopted by the Governing Body, Titles I and IV, Article 66).