Malta has miserly record in spending on family policy

Malta has one of the lowest rates of expenditure on family policies in the European Union, according to a new report issued in Brussels.

The report, by the Institute for Family Policies, an NGO aimed at making family policies a priority for the EU, says that last year Malta dedicated only one per cent of its GDP towards family policy.

Among the 26 other member states, only Poland and Spain spent less. The average investment in the EU reached 2.1 per cent of GDP. Going back to 2004 for more precise figures, the report says Malta spent €105 (Lm46) per person on family policies in contrast with €2,219 (Lm965) in Luxembourg, the most generous member state in this matter.

The only other EU member states which spent less than Malta in 2004 were Latvia (€62/Lm27), Lithuania (€60/Lm26) and Poland (€48/ Lm21). This figure mainly includes benefits dedicated to children, childcare and spending on other familyoriented services such as family reconciliation.

The institute names Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden and Ireland as EU champions for family policy, investing an average of €1,400 (Lm609) per person every year or three times the EU average.

The report also investigates the benefits given to families to encourage them to have more children.

According to the study, based on 2006 figures, a family with two children in Luxembourg would be entitled to €687 (Lm299) a month benefit, in Germany €308 (Lm134) a month, in Ireland €283 (Lm123) a month and in Austria €271 (Lm118) a month. These benefits are given independently from the overall income of the household.

By contrast, in Malta, the same family would qualify for €99 (Lm43) a month but only if its overall income does not surpass the €23,926 (Lm 10,403) mark.

Apart from Malta, only Slovenia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Portugal, Italy and Spain impose an income limit for the granting of children's allowances.

The institute's report also deals with other factors concerning the evolution of families in Europe and points particularly at the decreasing number of successful marriages.

From 1980 to 2005 the number of marriages in Europe decreased by 22.3 per cent, while divorces rose by 55 per cent in the same period.

Spain presents the most radical case study, as the number of divorces there has increased by 183 per cent in the last 25 years.

Currently, a couple divorces every 30 seconds in Europe and over 13.5 million marriages affecting more than 21 million children ended between 1990 and 2005 in the enlarged EU, according to the document.

In 2005, on a per capita basis, Belgium had the highest rate of marital breakdown. No figures are given for Malta.