Social safety nets

Steps must be taken to address the elder crisis before the situation spirals further out of control.

A story published in this newspaper on June 6 highlighted the penurious plight of pensioners. The focus of the story is a retired class-IV who receives Rs14,000 a month and his complaint, as of many others, is that it is simply not enough. A 10 per cent rise in pensions has been announced by the federal government which is all very well, but with an increasing elderly demographic the pressing needs of the elderly are moving up the agenda.

In an ideal world there would be a ‘safety net’ for those who have ended their working lives and are in their twilight years. Many states have aspired to that idea post-World War II but few have achieved it and those that have are primarily the European states. No state in the subcontinent has achieved it. Pensions, which along with primary health care free at the point of need, are funded by lifetime personal contributions, which are matched by a contribution from the state. The state portion is derived from taxation — and what does Pakistan not have amongst many other things? An equitable system of taxation that all contribute to.

State entities — the railways, for instance — carry a substantial burden of pensions and lack the revenue to support them. The military pension budget is stratospheric. Wages and salaries per capita are so low that most people cannot afford to either save for their old age or contribute to a pension fund. Every rupee they earn feeds themselves and their families. The population of elderly who do not work is on the rise alongside a shift in family structures. More and more women are working out of necessity; the joint family system is adapting to urban environments and increasing numbers of elderly people, pensionless and with family carers far away, eke out unhappy lives in villages everywhere. Social safety nets are expensive to set up and require trans-generational commitment. The elder crisis is only going to get bigger and steps must be taken to address it before the situation spirals further out of control.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2014.

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