Government has announced a drive to review the benefits for single mothers. But is it likely to yield substantial cost savings or could it threaten the already poor standard of living of this vulnerable group?
There are more than 8,000 single parent households but only 2,250 individuals receive social assistance, sharing between them just over €8 million in single parent benefits.
Despite the widespread impression that there are many single parents on welfare, official statistics show otherwise, and the number of people on social assistance is a mere half percentage point of the country's total population.
The €8 million in welfare payments to single parents pale in insignificance when compared with the €21 million the country is expected to have paid in student stipends by the end of the year, or the €100 million the government expects to forego in fines and interest because of the latest income tax amnesty.
When the finance minister earlier this week said the government would be reviewing social benefits, singling out single mothers, he did not quantify the savings expected to be made from the exercise.
Figures presented to parliament by the social policy minister last year showed that there were 8,187 single parent households, but these included single unmarried parents, separated people, widows and divorced individuals.
The statistics showed that a total of 11,689 children lived with a single parent. The overwhelming majority of them, 10,104, shared a home with their mother.
However, the ministry had also indicated in another parliamentary reply the number of people receiving the benefit for single parents broken down per town or village.
It transpires that the largest number of single parents can be found in the southern harbour area, particularly Cottonera, Valletta, Xgħajra, Floriana and Marsa.
However, despite the concentration of single parents on welfare that live in this region, they still amount to less than one per cent of the population for the district.
An exercise carried out by The Sunday Times shows that a single parent with two children, living in a rented house, would be entitled to €103 per week.
However, if the single parent is unmarried and lives with another family, the assistance is reduced by 25 per cent and the rent allowance of €1.16 per week is deducted.
A single parent can earn up to €48.12 per week and still receive the full allowance. However, a 2007 study entitled 'Lone Mothers on Benefits: Their Work Aspirations and Experiences', conducted by the Employment and Training Corporation, found that many single parents with a low level of education preferred not to work because the benefits provided them with security, which a job did not.
Most single mothers interviewed for the study did not expect to earn much more than they received in benefits, and insisted it was still not enough to cater for any new expenses they incurred for childcare because of their new job.
The European Commission has designated 2010 as the European Year for Combating, Poverty and Social Exclusion and one of the vulnerable groups identified as being at risk of poverty is single parent households.
Government's national report, 'Strategies for Social Protection and Social Inclusion 2008-2010', among others identifies children in single parent households as being at greater risk of poverty.
The report also says allowances to these families should seek to "adequately sustain" them while providing an incentive so beneficiaries participate further in the economy.
As expected, the finance minister's declaration last week drew diverse reactions.
While applauded by many for cracking down on abuse, the government also received flak for targeting this vulnerable group. Alternattiva Demokratika criticised government for targeting single mothers.
Social Affairs spokesman Michael Briguglio insisted that making single mothers "scapegoats for government austerity measures, will only help increase poverty, social exclusion and social stigma".
Income for single parents
A single mother with two children receiving the benefit for single parents and living in a rented place receives a weekly payment of €103.21. On a yearly basis, including a six-monthly bonus of €135.10, a single parent would be receiving €5,637 per year in social assistance.
This excludes children's allowance, which they would be entitled to in any case.
ksansone@timesofmalta.com