Editorial

The front-page item that was carried on the June 18 edition of The Times must have shocked a lot of people. According to the latest Health Behaviour of School-Aged Children Study, Malta has the highest rate of secondary schoolchildren who live with just one parent. Thirty seven per cent of schoolchildren aged 11, 13 and 15 live with one biological parent. The WHO-sponsored study reveals that the situation in Malta during 2005/6 (when the study was held) was worse than it had been in 2002. This had shown that eight per cent of children lived with just one biological parent.

The glaring reality is that, in a period of four years, the number of children living with a single parent increased almost five times. This implies a drastic increase in one of the following situations: parents divorced, parents legally separated, parents not living together, one of the parents living abroad or one of the parents died. On the other hand, not all available figures about the state of the family are that alarming. Writing in Malta Today (June 1), Archbishop Paul Cremona referred to the 2005 census, which shows that, out of a total population of over 18-year-olds, given at 317,925, the married totalled 196,323 and 13,354 were reported as being separated or divorced. Separated persons thus represent 4.2 per cent of the population and 6.8 per cent of those married. Faced by these prima facie contrasting figures a three-pronged strategy would not be amiss.

First of all there needs to be a realistic picture of the situation of Maltese families. This should not just include statistics. There must be updated qualitative studies giving a relationships map of families, especially vulnerable families and a serious study outlining reasons why so many families are breaking down. Secondly, these studies should provide the basis for mature discussion about the future of the family in our country. The pros and cons of introducing divorce will have to be discussed, possibly sooner rather than later, but, first and foremost, the country should formulate and execute a pro-active and holistic social policy to promote and help marriage and the family.

There is no doubt that healthy marriages and strong families are a must for society. Every broken marriage and every separated family means a lot of pain to all concerned, especially the children. It also involves an enormous economic burden for the state. A study published this April in the US by the Institute for American Values, the Georgia Family Council, the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy and Families Northwest shows that family breakdown in the US costs taxpayers $112 billion annually. The rhetorical question is: Are we being creative and pro-active enough to safeguard marriage and the family and lessen the great emotional pain and the enormous social and financial implications of family breakdown?

Thirdly, and work on this can start immediately, the country must address the legal status of people living together, independently of the reason why they do so. It can be that their co-habitation is the result of a heterosexual or homosexual relationship. It can be some other reason. Such a move will regulate thousands of relationships which today are virtually in a legal limbo.

It would be opportune for the country to squarely but prudently face all challenges but it needs to accept that the most important challenge lies in the prevention of marital breakdown and the strengthening of family ties.