The introduction of the Social Safety Net Programme in The Bahamas will allow the Government to comprehensively address poverty by combining the assets of the Ministry of Social Services and Community Development and the Department of Social Services, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the Ministry of Health.

The Social Safety Net Programme is designed to give families receiving assistance from the Department of Social Services “a fighting chance to rise out of poverty.”

“It is our conclusion therefore that the best way to break the cycle of poverty on generations of Bahamian families is to improve the education level of the family and of course, to provide better healthcare,” Minister of Social Services and Community Development, the Hon. Melanie Sharon Griffin said.

Minister Griffin said the 2013 Bahamas Household Expenditure Survey, conducted by officials of the Department of Statistics, revealed that in The Bahamas – like many other countries -- there is a direct correlation between poverty and the level of education and access to healthcare.

Officials at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology have already identified that lack of school attendance, rising drop-out rates, low grades and low graduation rates from secondary schools all need to be further addressed in order to fully address poverty levels, while the Ministry of Health has identified child obesity as a problem.

“Our conditions therefore, are based on education and health,” Minister Griffin said.

Mrs. Griffin said the intent of the Social Safety Net Proramme is to provide all families - who must qualify for the Conditional Cash Transfer Programme (CCT) through a Proxy Means Test – with a base amount to be used for their households. In order to achieve “add-on amounts”, however, parents must ensure that their children attend school at least 90 per cent of school days. Bonus amounts will also be given to every child on the Programme who graduates from Secondary School. Where they are failing in school, children must attend remedial classes.

The Proxy Means Test is a computerized assessment of persons seeking assistance who are given a score based on a number of variables that are used to identify poor persons. Social Services officials say the Proxy Means Test is a more Objective way of determining assistance as opposed to the way it was done previously which made it more Subjective. Add-ons are bonus amounts given to persons meeting the requirements of the Conditional Cash Transfer Programme.

With regards to health condition, families on the Programme must ensure that their children receive the required healthcare they need while living healthier lifestyles. Another component of the Programme requires pregnant women to attend the relevant clinics to ensure healthy babies.

Minister Griffin said implementation of the Social Safety Net Programme and the accompanying Conditional Cash Transfer Programme will mean that Social Services will no longer be doling out assistance without any responsibility on the family to change behaviours “in order for them to give themselves a fighting chance to rise out of poverty.” “This reform of the social safety net is intended to modernize the entire social assistance delivery machinery [and] it is designed to modify human behaviour based on certain conditions which the family must meet,” Mrs. Griffin added.