Anti-Poverty Platform calls for poverty to be a 2026 budget priority through amendment

GREAT BAY--The St. Maarten Anti-Poverty Platform has called on the Government and Parliament to amend the 2026 Country Budget so that reducing poverty becomes a measurable budget priority supported by clear targets, verified household data and regular reporting.

In an open letter dated July 18 (which can be downloaded at the end of this article), platform coordinators Drs. Raymond Jessurun and Claire Elshot-Aventurin argued that a national budget should not be judged solely by whether income and expenditure are balanced. They said it should also be assessed by whether residents can afford food, housing, electricity, water, healthcare, transportation, education, communication and other basic needs.

The platform said the proposed 2026 budget, which includes approximately XCG 635.9 million in ordinary expenditure and XCG 647.1 million in ordinary income, does not clearly establish an official social minimum or basic-needs income. It also does not identify how many households fall below such a standard or calculate the total income gap affecting those households.

Three basic-needs scenarios proposed

To guide the 2026 budget debate, the platform proposed a three-scenario framework based on household income data from the 2022 Census.

Under the Low scenario, the platform used an inflation-adjusted version of a 1974 basic-needs basket, resulting in a provisional reference income of XCG 4,102 per month for a one-person household. It estimated that approximately 9,290 households would fall below that amount, with a combined annual income gap of approximately XCG 236 million.

The Central scenario adds approximately XCG 250 per month for modern necessities that were not required in the same form in 1974, including internet access, mobile communication and basic digital access. This produces a provisional monthly reference of XCG 4,352.

Using that amount, the platform estimated that approximately 9,725 households fall below the provisional reference, creating an estimated combined basic-needs income gap of XCG 264.5 million annually.

The platform stressed that the XCG 264.5 million figure should not be interpreted as a proposal for Government to distribute that amount directly in cash. It represents the estimated economic shortfall that should be progressively reduced through a combination of wages, tax relief, social security reform, lower essential costs and targeted income support.

A third Full Adequacy scenario would be calculated once household-specific reference budgets being developed by the Netherlands-based National Institute for Family Finance Information, known as Nibud, become available. Those figures are expected to account for differences among single-person households, pensioners, single parents, couples, families with children and larger households.

Existing social spending does not close estimated gap

The platform identified approximately XCG 36 million in the budget as existing social provisions. Even if that full amount were assumed to directly reduce the income deficits of low-income households, the platform calculated that an estimated XCG 228.5 million annual gap would remain under the Central scenario.

It called on Government to provide a program-by-program explanation showing how much existing social spending reaches households in need, how many households benefit and the measurable reduction achieved in the basic-needs gap.

The platform proposed an illustrative mixed-financing approach to the estimated XCG 228.5 million residual gap. Under the model, approximately 40 per cent, or XCG 91.4 million, would be addressed through improved wages and employer compensation.

Tax relief and refundable credits for low-income households would account for 15 per cent, or XCG 34.3 million, while another XCG 34.3 million would be addressed through social security, pensions, social assistance and income-replacement reforms.

Measures to reduce the costs of electricity, water, housing, transportation, healthcare and communication would account for 10 per cent, or XCG 22.8 million. The remaining 20 per cent, approximately XCG 45.7 million, would come through targeted direct support from the national budget.

Platform submits 12 requests

The Anti-Poverty Platform called on Government and Parliament to formally recognize and publish the three-scenario framework, while using the XCG 4,352 Central scenario as a provisional planning benchmark rather than a final poverty line.

It also requested independent verification of the number of households below each reference amount, the total household-income gap and the extent to which current social spending is already reducing that gap.

The platform called for an integrated Basic Needs and Poverty Eradication Plan combining wage policy, tax reform, social security measures, lower utility and housing costs, and targeted income support.

It also proposed that the 2026 budget include a Basic Needs Gap and Human Rights Annex detailing the applicable household references, the number of affected households, existing support, the remaining gap, annual targets and measurable indicators.

Other requests include quarterly reporting to Parliament on poverty reduction and budget execution, and formal requests for Kingdom and Dutch co-financing where St. Maarten’s available resources are shown to be insufficient.

The platform said the forthcoming Nibud household-specific reference budgets should become formal benchmarks for reviewing the minimum wage, pensions, social assistance, tax policy and broader poverty-reduction measures.

It based its appeal partly on Article 2 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which requires states to work progressively toward securing social and economic rights using their available resources. The platform also referred to Article 43 of the Charter for the Kingdom, which places primary responsibility for fundamental rights on each country while making the safeguarding of those rights a Kingdom responsibility.

The organization concluded that poverty cannot be eradicated through policy declarations alone and called on every minister and Member of Parliament to require clear answers about the number of households unable to meet their basic needs, the amount of the income gap, the measures planned for 2026 and the results Government expects to achieve by the end of the year.

(Download the letter below)