TCI Gov’t Findings Reveal 35% of Turks & Caicos Islanders were below NEW Minimum Wage

By Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

#TurksandCaicos, February 11, 2023 – An enduring concern for Turks and Caicos Islanders in the weeks following the announcement of a new and revised $8 minimum wage, is who will really benefit from the increase to basic salaries.

Magnetic media has the breakdown, exposing which group the Government – in a report – says will be most affected by the extra injection of cash.

During the minimum wage review, the government collected statistics on the number of people making minimum wage as well as their nationalities; that information was shared in the Report compiled after the Review.

The majority of workers in the country currently earn over  $8 an hour, which is what the government is proposing for the new minimum wage.  As for the rest: “The data indicated that among the respondents 7.3 per cent of the workers made between $6.25 and $6.49 an hour; 7.7 percent of the workers made between $6.50 and $6.99 an hour; 17.6 percent of the workers made between $7 and $7.49 an hour; and  2.4 percent of the workers made between $7.50 and $7.49 an hour.”

For context, only 10 percent of Turks and Caicos Islanders were earning at the old minimum wage, at $6.25 and $6.49, but while many believe the proposed minimum wage will not benefit  islanders much, the government’s data illustrates that 35.6 percent of Turks and Caicos Islanders made less than $8 an hour (the new proposed minimum wage), overall.

What the government-provided data indicates is that in reality Turks and Caicos Islanders would be the main group to benefit the most from the minimum wage increase as they are the ones with the highest number of respondents earning below $8 an hour.

The report did not specify whether consideration was given to the vast amounts of undocumented migrants living and working in the Turks and Caicos; but for the statistics of those who are currently legitimately employed, the findings support that the minimum $320 per week will help a significant number of those in the native working population.

As for other nationalities in the TCI, the government said: “27.5 percent of the Haitians made less than $8 an hour and four percent of the Jamaicans made less than $8 an hour.  Dominicans account for 12.1 percent making less than $8 an hour.  Filipinos recorded 48.4 percent of those in TCI working and living made less than $8 an hour and 25 percent of the Bahamians made less than $8 an hour.”

Other than the TC Islanders making more than $8 an hour, most of the respondents were in the $7.00 – $7.49 range for hourly wages.

It has been 29 days since the new minimum wage was announced and the 28-day window for comments and concerns to be lodged by residents is now officially closed.