by Kristen Ku

BELIZE CITY, Tues. Mar. 5, 2024

The Belize Cabinet has officially announced its approval for key amendments to the Social Security (Benefit) regulations.

In a briefing on Friday, February 29, the government expressed its commitment to amending regulations 32 and 54, aimed at addressing disparities in spousal entitlements to survivor’s benefits and death benefits within the Social Security Scheme.

These amendments, proposed by the Social Security Board (SSB), are designed to ensure that widows and widowers are treated with equal fairness regarding their eligibility for benefits.

This move seeks to fix the currently skewed criteria, which allow for broader eligibility conditions for widows as compared to their male counterparts.

Under the existing framework, four distinct situations can qualify a woman for a widow’s pension or death benefit, whereas only one condition applies for men to receive similar widower’s benefits.

The need for reform gained further traction following a high-profile case involving a pastor who was reportedly denied survivor’s benefit, highlighting the discriminatory nature of the current legislation.

Vanessa Vellos, SSB Communications & Public Relations Officer, clarified that the Board had been reviewing the regulations for potential amendments since last year. The case of the pastor coincidentally came to light amid these reviews.

“I believe it was from last year going into this year that the Social Security Board has been looking at different regulations that they feel might need to be amended. So, it came out of that process and then, coincidentally, what had happened was that news story about Pastor Dosie, and I’m not sure of the full name or pronunciation, but in his situation, he was denied, I think, survivor’s benefit. And so, it was just coincidental that that issue was publicized, because we had already been looking at amendments to these regulations,” she told us.

Clarifying recent misconceptions, the release stressed that the amendments would only affect the eligibility criteria for spousal benefits, without altering the other benefits structure under the Social Security Substantive Act.

The Act’s stipulations concerning the rates and conditions for benefits, including the definition of a registered beneficiary in the context of traditional marital relationships, will remain unchanged.

The process for enacting these changes involves drafting the amendments by the Attorney General, followed by the minister’s sign-off and official publication in the Gazette, at which point the amendments will become law.