Securing the necessary

The recent decision of the Social Security Corporation to raise pensions as of May by 5.6 per cent, to match the 2013 inflation rate, must be welcome news to all pensioners.

The principle of indexation, linking salaries and pensions to the cost of living, is a worldwide standard abided by and implemented by most countries.

It took the SSC quite some time to come to the conclusion that pensioners also need sufficient incomes to secure, for them and their families, an adequate standard of living, but as they say, better late than never.

Jordan is also treaty obligated to respect this rule by virtue of the fact that it is a state party to several international conventions both at ILO and human rights treaties levels.

Article 9 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights stipulates that citizens and their families are entitled to an “adequate standard” of living, which has been interpreted by the CESCR to mean that incomes and pensions must be adjusted periodically in order to make sure that citizens and their families have sufficient means to live satisfactorily.

Article 7 of the same covenant stipulates that workers are entitled to wages that secure a “decent standard” of life for them and their families.

When parliamentarians debated the new SSC legislation last year, the Upper House voiced opposition to linking pensions and salaries to the cost of living.

Senators, it seems, live in a different world, apparently unaware of Jordan’s treaty obligations when they should be at the forefront of all government branches in honouring treaty commitments.

The SSC decision to adjust pensions is not, however, without a flaw. It put a lid on pension increases at JD20.

Knowing that most pensions are low, and knowing that JD20 can buy precious little nowadays, one hopes that the corporation would look again at pensions and adjust them, and its opinion, in order to provide pensioners with an adequate standard of living.