Policy Positions
COST OF LIVING
Barbados is facing a marked escalation in cost-of-living pressures that are straining household budgets and challenging socio-economic stability. While housing costs remain moderate compared to some international benchmarks, food, transportation, utilities, and imported goods are disproportionately expensive. For example, a single person in the capital area typically spends approximately BDS $5,933 per month on basic living costs. Grocery and fuel prices are notably high—groceries in Barbados cost more than in the U.S. by an estimated 42% and gasoline by over 50%—placing a heavier burden on lower-income households. In response, policy must focus on keeping essential goods affordable (especially for vulnerable groups), strengthening domestic food and energy production, encouraging wage growth and targeted subsidies, and expanding social protection programmes to ease cost-of-living pressures while maintaining Barbados’ competitiveness for investment and tourism.
CRIME
Barbados continues to face serious public-safety challenges despite its reputation for relative stability in the region. Recent data show a significant uptick in violent crime, with reported homicides rising sharply to around 50 cases in 2024, up from roughly 21 the prior year—a 138% increase. Additionally, early 2025 figures indicate that vehicle thefts and firearms-related murders are climbing, indicating a return to levels seen in more troubling years. Emerging spikes in criminal activity, particularly among youth, with firearms involved in roughly two-thirds of recent murders, signal an urgent need for a comprehensive strategy. Policy must therefore prioritise enhanced intelligence-led law enforcement, strengthened community-based prevention (with special focus on youth employment), improved controls on firearms and vehicle theft, and the bolstering of social support infrastructures to intervene early in at-risk neighbourhoods. In addition, significant attention needs to be paid to education reform, as discussed below.
EDUCATION REFORM
Barbados stands at a pivotal juncture in its education system, confronting persistent challenges including under-performance, student disengagement, a curriculum detached from the demands of the 21st-century economy, and a legacy of early high-stakes-testing through the Common Entrances exam that stratifies learners, and often sets under-performers on a life-long path of failure and mediocrity. To address these, policy must pivot toward a comprehensive transformation: revising the curriculum to emphasise foundational literacy, numeracy, social and emotional learning, and adaptable technical/vocational skills; phasing out the singular selective examination model in favour of continuous assessment and community-based secondary schools with broader pathways to success; empowering teachers as central change-agents through professional development, better resources and inclusive decision-making structures; strengthening system governance and accountability frameworks; and ensuring that educational opportunities are accessible and meaningful for all students, including those with special educational needs. This comprehensive reform agenda seeks to align Barbados’s education system with national development goals, economic transformation and the evolving global labour market—fostering an education system that equips every learner to thrive and contribute. Success in reforming our education system will also reap benefits for years to come with respect to falling crime rates.
INTEGRITY IN PUBLIC LIFE
The current Prime Minister of Barbados campaigned ahead of her 2018 election victory on a firm promise to enact comprehensive integrity legislation to restore public trust and strengthen accountability in governance. In what would appear at first glance to be a promise kept, the Integrity in Public Life Bill, 2023 was successfully passed, with first reading in the House in February 2023 and final passage in the Senate in August 2023, marking an important milestone in the country’s governance reform agenda. However, the Bill has not yet been proclaimed into law, meaning that its critical provisions, such as the creation of an independent Integrity Commission, mandatory asset declarations for public officials, a code of conduct, and mechanisms for investigation and sanctions, remain dormant. The absence of proclamation has delayed the operationalisation of a key pillar of Barbados’s anti-corruption framework. Policy must therefore prioritise the immediate proclamation and implementation of the Act, ensure sufficient institutional capacity and funding for the new Integrity Commission, promote transparency through public access to declarations, and conduct civic education to reinforce public confidence in the integrity system. This will fulfil a long-standing national pledge and consolidate Barbados’s reputation for good governance and democratic accountability.
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