WILLEMSTAD.-Yesterday morning in the Parliament of Curacao, Mr. Francois ‘Michel’ Simon, from the management of the Social Insurance Bank (SVB), gave a presentation on the current situation of the fund. He began by stating that this fund is based on intergenerational solidarity. As is known, those who are currently part of the workforce contribute to the fund so that those who retire can receive the AOV (pension). According to Mr. Simon, without going into many details about the problem of aging, when the AOV was introduced, the population of Curacao had a life expectancy of about 65 years. However, due to developments in the field of health and medical science, people’s life expectancy is longer and averages 79 years, with an indication that it may continue to increase.
According to Mr. Simon, this basically means that people live longer after retiring. In addition to this, the population itself is not producing enough children for the next generations. According to a graph from the SVB, in the past life expectancy was 60 years, but currently, it is 79 years. Now, regarding the relationship between aging and compensation (payment of the AOV), it can be noted that the problem of aging in Curacao is more serious than in Aruba and St. Maarten, and consequently, the total sum in payments is much higher, even compared to the percentage of our national gross domestic product.
Furthermore, Mr. Simon explained that the number of people currently receiving the AOV is close to 50,000. It is known that in 2013 there were possibilities to reduce the age to receive the AOV, which decreased the total amount. But now that that effect has passed, since 2021 it can be noted that the number of pensioners is increasing again. Projections indicate that it will continue to increase as well.
Where do they live?
According to Mr. Simon, out of the 50,000 AOV beneficiaries, around 32,500 live in Curacao itself, 15,000 are in the Netherlands, and the rest are in the BES Islands, Aruba, and other parts of the world.
