From the 1st of October, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment will increase the social relief for single persons who live independently and the widows’ and orphans’ pension (AWW) in Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius. This will increase all minimum social benefit levels for the old age pension (AOV), social relief and the widows’ and orphans’ pension to the social minimum reference point.
The social relief allowance for single persons who live independently will increase by 32% in Bonaire, by 25.1% in Saba and by 9.4% in St. Eustatius. Following this increase, single recipients with (full) entitlement to social relief who live independently, will receive social benefit payments equal to the social minimum reference point. Because social relief is paid once every two weeks, this means single persons who live independently in Bonaire will receive 63 dollars more every two weeks. The fortnightly social benefit payment for single persons who live independently will increase by 58 dollars in Saba and by 22 dollars in St. Eustatius.
The AWW will also increase to the level of the social minimum reference point from the 1st of October. This means that, for example, the AWW level for widows from 58 years will increase by 111 dollars in Bonaire, by 98 dollars in Saba and by around 19 dollars in St. Eustatius, to a total of 1.030 dollars per month in Bonaire, 1.171 dollars per month in Saba and 1.101 dollars per month in St. Eustatius.