Suppose you had to live off your pension alone. Not a bad thing if you had worked a job that you were able to save a lot from and at the same time contribute a substantial amount to a pension fund.

But if you are like Louise Morgan, who served Glenmuir High as an auxiliary worker for a number of years, the little money coming in by way of pension is merely a drop in the bucket.

"You have to be very good to survive on it," remarked her care-giver Joan Nembhard. 

In March, the Government announced an increase in pension benefits for people who have contributed to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS). The announcement meant that Old Age benefit moved from $900 to $1,500 per fortnight. 

Ms. Morgan is among the approximately 56,000 Jamaicans who receive a $1,500 per fortnight pension from the NIS. She also receives $8,800 monthly from the school's pension fund. But when one considers the fact that she is bedridden, and that she has to pay a substantial portion for helper care, not much is left for food and medication. 

Like Ms. Morgan, Martha Thorpe is a pensioner. She is older though - sitting in an elite club of centenarians. In her brighter days, Nana, as Ms. Thorpe is called, cut and tied sugar cane for a living. She retired in the 1970s and today, she is at home in Flankers, Montego Bay, St. James, doing her best to live off her pension. 

Her grandson, Collin controls her finances and he says that if she were to depend on the pension alone life would be uncomfortable. "The money is not enough. Whenever she has to go to the doctor you have to pay taxi fare, buy medication and at home you have to buy food, cooking gas and pay bills," he relates. 

A MERE DROP IN THE BUCKET 

Collin collects a pension book on behalf of Ms. Thorpe. The book, he says, has nine vouchers all valued at $900 each. Although the money is a marked improvement from the $200 she first got in 1992, Collin has described it as a mere drop in the bucket. On average it takes $3,600 per month to buy food and medication for Nana. 

No wonder Cedric Daley, a 50-year-old postal worker in Kingston is not enthused about retirement. 

"I have not saved enough as yet to take care of myself when I am retired. And from what I hear, a government pension is not something to look forward to after retirement," he said.