Historic low poverty rate is ‘the best news’ of the week, year, decade – Williams

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Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Fayval Williams. (file photo)

Finance and the Public Service Minister, Fayval Williams, has described the island’s historic low poverty rate as “the best news of the week, of the year, (and) of the decade”.

The Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) on Wednesday announced that poverty rates have declined from 16.7 per cent in 2021, to a record low of 8.2 per cent in 2023, the lowest figure ever recorded since poverty rates were first measured on the island in 1989.

In reacting to the news at Thursday’s post-Cabinet press briefing, Williams said the decline was “massive”, and should be celebrated.

“The increase in the minimum wage has had a significant impact in reducing the prevalence of poverty,” Williams declared.

During his budget presentation in March, Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced that the National Minimum Wage will be increased from $15,000 to $16,000 per 40-hour work week, effective June 1, 2025, representing a 6.7 per cent increase.

Holness said then that the Administration has increased the minimum wage by 158 per cent over nine years, raising it gradually from 6,200 per 40-hour work week in 2016.

Williams noted on Thursday that the PIOJ also pointed to the significant reduction in poverty being attributed to the improvement in the employed labour force.

“And when you look at 2021, and you compared that with what happened for 2023, we saw a net increase of 85,600 persons being employed; that is something to celebrate as well,” Williams stated.

She recalled that the unemployment rate remains historically low at 3.7 per cent.

“We continue to include more persons in the labour force, businesses continue to need persons, and you know, we are seeing people become gainfully employed,” Williams indicated.

The minister said the rate of extreme food poverty at the national level has also declined, moving from 5.8 per cent in 2021 to 2.8 per cent in 2023.

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