Self-employed people in Barbados now have a unit within the National Insurance and Social Security Service (NISSS) catering specifically to their needs, in a bid to boost the numbers in that sector contributing to the social security net.
The Self-Employed Unit was officially launched yesterday at Radley Court, Collymore Rock, St Michael, with Minister of Labour and Social Security Colin Jordan hailing it as a milestone in extending social protection to thousands who work for themselves but remain outside the NISSS.
He said the initiative was a direct response to a worrying trend that had long placed the scheme and the wider economy at risk. He revealed that as recently as 2023, less than 15 per cent of self-employed people were registered and contributing regularly to the scheme.
“That is a challenge for the scheme. It is also a broader challenge for the country,” he said. “Lack of social protection speaks to insecure work, what some of us in these circles would call precarious employment. Anytime you don’t have the benefit of social protection, there is a certain level of precarity involved in your existence.”
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