Payments under the Social Security Board’s Temporary Unemployment/ Underemployment Assistance Benefit (UAB) programme approached the $2 million dollar mark this week. The programme of temporary benefits was created by the Government of Anguilla and the Social Security Board with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant shutdown of the island at the end of March 2020. Many employed persons suddenly found themselves out of work with the closure of businesses, particularly in the tourism sector; additionally, many self-employed persons lost their revenue streams. The UAB programme pays up to $1,000 a month to qualified persons, i.e. persons who have paid at least 50 contributions to the Social Security System, and who have become temporarily unemployed or underemployed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As of Tuesday 12th May, some 2,540 persons have submitted claims to the Social Security Office through its UAB website www.uassistance.ai. A total of 1,616 persons have been paid the temporary assistance benefit amounting to EC$1,603,486.03, and a further 270 persons have been approved for payment this week. Benefits pending to those persons amount to $251,275.56, which would bring payments to date to $1,854,761.59 to 1,886 persons.
The Social Security Office is still processing applications and making payments for the month of April, and will continue to make the UAB payments to the banks in batches. Applicants can now check the status of their applications by visiting the UAB website www.uassistance.ai and click on the ‘Check Application Status’ tab. In order to check their application status, applicants are required to input their Social Security Number – and the Application Number provided when they successfully submitted their application online.
The electronic system for the COVID-19 Temporary UAB was launched and began receiving online applications on 20th April 2020. The Social Security Board is proud of, and commends the hardworking efforts of its IT personnel, in particular, for the design and development of an effective online platform in a very short time, and its staff in general for the speed and efficiency of administering the UAB programme and serving the public. Details regarding re-application with respect to unemployment/ underemployment for the months of May and June will be forthcoming.
The Social Security Board provided a similar benefit in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma which hit Anguilla with devastating impact on September 6th 2017. On that occasion, just under $2 million in Temporary Unemployment/Underemployment Assistance Benefit was paid in three 6-weekly tranches which were equivalent to $1,000 per month. Director of Social Security, Mr. Timothy Hodge, credits the successful management of that earlier programme with the rapid and successful implementation of the COVID-19 UAB programme. He has stated that its success has made it a model for temporary unemployment programmes under many Caribbean Social Security Systems, which have drawn on the Anguilla legislation and the Anguilla Social Security System’s expertise in designing their own temporary unemployment benefits as a COVID-189 response. The St. Kitts-Nevis Social Security System, for example, also pays up to $1,000 a month to successful claimants.
Mr. Hodge has further stated that while the programme is set to run for the months of April, May and June in the first instance, actuarial approval exists for an extension for a further three months, if necessary, from the Social Security Fund. This is to the credit of the Anguilla Social Security System, especially since no contributions are received for unemployment benefits in the System’s design. However, he continued, events such as Hurricane Irma and the COVID-19 pandemic have proven beyond any doubt the absolute necessity of instituting a permanent Unemployment Benefit within the Social Security System. Such a benefit would be funded by an element of contributions from employers and employees as are all the existing benefits. He also stated that this has also demonstrated to many persons the need to ensure that their contributions are paid in to the System by their employers wherever and whenever they work, or that they pay in respect of themselves if they are self-employed. He stressed that the UAB is a benefit paid under the laws of Anguilla to qualified contributors to the Social Security System – it is not a government economic stimulus, and it is not a loan that has to be repaid by recipients. Finally, the Director of Social Security has stated that the payment of this benefit in no way undermines the financial strength of the Social Security Fund, which has assets approaching $400 million – and has consistently outperformed its actuarial model (i.e. its ability to provide for future liabilities).
- Press Release
