WILLEMSTAD - More than 7,000 people in Curaçao receive social assistance benefits. The average age of this group is fifty years, according to a letter from the Minister of Social Development and Labor, Mrs. Ruthmilda Larmonie-Cecilia, to parliament. 

In the letter, the minister presents her vision for people receiving social assistance benefits. She aims to make this group and other citizens in disadvantaged positions more resilient so that they can support themselves in the future and recover well after experiencing a severe or traumatic event. For all beneficiaries who are able to work, the goal is to transition from benefits to employment. 

In response to a question about the number of people currently receiving benefits, the minister stated that as of the fifteenth of November last year, 7,127 people were receiving assistance. This group is divided into age groups: 524 people between the ages of eighteen and thirty, 999 people between thirty-one and forty, 1,143 people between forty-one and fifty, and 4,017 people aged fifty-one and older. 

In response to the question of how long it takes for a person to be eligible for benefits, Minister Larmonie-Cecilia stated that a person is entitled to benefits as long as they do not have the means to meet their basic needs, make efforts to improve their situation, and comply with the prescribed rules in the welfare law. 

Until November 2022, SOAW (Ministry of Social Development and Labor) paid a total of 30.9 million guilders in benefits. Considering that no benefits were paid in December and the government pays an average of 2.6 million per month, it can be concluded that more than 33 million guilders was paid in benefits in 2022. For the current year 2023, it is not expected that the situation will change significantly.