Archives: Services

The National Insurance Fund (NIF) was formed pursuant to Section 39 of the National Insurance Act.

The NIF is funded by National Insurance contributions and is the source from which pensions and other benefits under the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) are paid.

The National Insurance Board an investment advisory board, came into existence in 1990. The then Minister of Labour welfare and Sport, Honourable Portia Simpson-Miller, thought that the diversification of the investments of the National Insurance Fund needed careful management.

The Early Stimulation Programme (ESP) is an early intervention programme for young children (0-6 years) with various types of developmental disabilities. The Programme commenced operation in 1975 as a project, but subsequently became integrated into one of the Ministry’s social programmes. Since its inception in 1975, the Programme has benefited well over twenty thousand children with various types of disabilities across the island.

The Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH) is a conditional cash transfer (CCT) programme funded by the Government of Jamaica and the World Bank and is aimed at delivering benefits by way of cash grants to the most needy and vulnerable in the society. PATH was introduced islandwide in 2002. It seeks to rationalize the operations of three (3) then existing income transfer programmes in order to eliminate duplication, reduce administrative costs, streamline the use of resources, and increase the effectiveness of programme delivery to the poor.

The National Insurance Scheme (NIS) is a compulsory contributory funded social security scheme covering all employed persons in Jamaica. It is administered under the National Insurance Act and offers some financial protection to the worker and his or her family against the loss of income arising from injury on the job, sickness, retirement and/or death of the breadwinner.