WILLEMSTAD – The Social Economic Council (SER) says the Curaçao government has not sufficiently justified its proposed increases in AWW benefits for widows, widowers and orphans and is also questioning the mechanism proposed for automatically adjusting AOV and AWW payments when consumer prices rise.
The concerns form part of the SER’s assessment of broader changes to Curaçao’s social security legislation, which also includes the increase of the full AOV old-age pension from XCG 862 to XCG 1,000 per month.
While the SER supports retaining the higher AOV, it believes other elements of the government’s proposal require additional work before they are implemented.
One of those areas involves AWW survivor benefits.
According to the SER, the government has not sufficiently explained why it selected the proposed new benefit amounts or why different age groups would receive different amounts.
The council wants the government to conduct additional research into how much income surviving family members actually require, the financial consequences of the proposed increases and whether the system can be administered fairly.
Concerns About Inflation Adjustment
The SER is also critical of the proposed system for automatically adjusting AOV and AWW benefits in response to inflation.
Under the government’s proposal, beneficiaries would not necessarily receive compensation for the full increase in consumer prices. In certain circumstances, only 60 percent of inflation would be reflected in the adjustment.
The SER warns that such a system could still result in pensioners and other beneficiaries losing purchasing power.
The government also wants increases to depend partly on economic growth. The SER considers this problematic because inflation and economic growth do not necessarily move together.
Prices, for example, can continue rising during a year in which Curaçao’s economy records little or no growth. Under such circumstances, recipients could face higher living expenses without receiving a corresponding increase in their benefits.
The council therefore wants a clearer and more predictable system so that AOV and AWW recipients can understand in advance under what circumstances their benefits will — or will not — increase.
At the same time, the SER says the government must examine the broader financial consequences of its social security plans.
The increase of the AOV alone requires approximately XCG 48 million in additional funding in 2026, with the annual amount expected to rise to more than XCG 51 million by 2030.
The council is therefore calling for a long-term approach that takes into account not only the government's social objectives but also Curaçao’s ability to finance those commitments sustainably.
For the SER, the central challenge is to protect the purchasing power and income security of pensioners and surviving relatives while ensuring that the promises made through the social security system can continue to be financed in the years ahead.