Jobless and hopeless

Over the last four years the Maltese economy has grown by a nominal 4.1 per cent per annum, though real GDP has sputtered along at a mere 1.4 per cent. This disappointing growth rate no doubt explains why the number of unemployed people, which reached a peak of 8,306 in December 1999, remained obstinately high by December 2003, when it was a mere 130 lower.

The average four-year unemployment rate of 5.2 per cent is a measure of the country's inability to operate at its potential rate of growth. We have singularly failed to exploit the opportunities which a more open global economy offers. OECD real GDP rose 2.2 per cent over the same period but this has passed Malta by.

The Nationalist Party which, when it was in opposition, described an unemployment tally of 8,000 as "disastrous", now gloats at its success when unemployment falls by a miserly 162, like it did in June this year. That is pathetic. Even more so when July unemployment rose again by 189 over June.

Moreover, that 8,000 figure hides a nasty fact that is rarely mentioned, even in the hot air generated by the debate between the government and the opposition over the parlous state of the employment market. And this is that those jobless people live in households where they would normally be expected to support other people.

In fact, according to figures released by the NSO last April, in December 2003 the mean size of a jobless household was 2.3 persons. It is estimated that there were just under 44,500 persons living in jobless households. That is over 11 per cent of the population and the percentage has barely changed over four years.

Some weeks ago I wrote about the issue of poverty in Malta and I remarked about how this can be particularly damaging to children in their formative years. How many realise the psychological trauma which poverty inflicts on children? Are we aware of the obstacles it creates to their educational prospects and attainments?

Perhaps it helps us recognise the extent of the problem if we consider that, according to the NSO, a full 18.5 per cent of the persons in jobless households are children under the age of 15. That's 8,220 children whose first impressions in life are going to be conditioned by the frustration, if not despair, of living in a household where work is not a dignified achievement but an elusive goal.

If that has not yet gripped your attention, consider another fact. A full 10 per cent of the population aged 0-17 years live in a jobless household. That dry statistic relates to just over 9,500 children and adolescents. In 2003, it was the highest-ever tally in the last four years.

And if that has not made you thank your lucky stars for living in a more fortunate household, try to imagine what it might be like for you and your loved ones if you were to live in the typical jobless household. The NSO tells us that those under-15s (18.5 per cent) must somehow be supported by the unemployed persons in the household (9.9 per cent of the total) and the economically inactive (71.6 per cent).

Earlier on I mentioned the negative impact joblessness may have on the educational performance of young persons. But the cause and effect may also be working the other way round. Lack of educational qualifications surely contributes to joblessness. The NSO survey reveals that a full 51.3 per cent of those in such households either have no schooling or have not gone beyond their primary level.

Poor schooling appears to be a constant factor in the joblessness equation. Of course, it is no coincidence. In a world where good educational standards, indeed life-long learning, are considered essential for survival on the employment treadmill, it is telling that more than half (51.3 per cent) of the persons in jobless households either have had no schooling or only have a primary level of education. But even education is not necessarily a guarantee of success. In fact, a significant 48.7 per cent of the persons concerned had had a secondary or post-secondary education. What is even more worrying is that the percentage of persons who live in jobless households in spite of a better education has increased by eight percentage points over four years.

In Malta we used to pride ourselves on our high level of education. When we sell Malta abroad, education and our skilled manpower are always touted as key factors favouring foreign direct investment. But do the statistics bear this out? Increasingly, it seems, an educational system on which we spend millions every year is failing to deliver the goods. There is a growing gap between the resources being put in and the results being produced. Surely, the employment plan that the government has just launched needs to address this sad reality.

Joblessness and hopelessness also seem to have combined together in a geographical context. Just over 57 per cent of the persons in jobless households live around the harbour area and if one throws in the southeast of Malta that percentage rises to over 68 per cent. This is surely a condemnation of the social policies pursued by successive governments who have failed to break the cycle of poor education, dismal employment prospects and effort-sapping poverty that trap over 30,000 citizens in their self-defeating grip. The grave social problems that beset the harbour area undoubtedly owe much of their origin to this cycle.

Poor education and lack of preparedness for good-paying jobs show up in yet another facet of the unemployment statistics. Almost 59 per cent of the unemployed are machine operators who can only carry out elementary operations. Yet another 11 per cent are service workers who tend to have a low level of education. Only some six per cent of the unemployed hail from the professional classes.

It figures. All the statistics prove one point. Education and good jobs are two sides of the same coin. Joblessness and hopelessness are definitely not a toss of the coin.