Caritas director Victor Grech recently announced that Caritas, the Cana Movement, the Faculty of Economics and the Centre for Family Studies at the University were working on a project that could help Maltese families live an economically sustainable lifestyle. This is a commendable, ambitious project that is sorely needed to alleviate the misery of those families who do not know how to budget correctly for their family needs.

It is true that in Malta, no one suffers hunger, sleeps outside or goes begging. At least, we rarely hear of people who do not have a roof over their heads. But this does not mean there are no families who live below the poverty line. As recent surveys have shown, we certainly do!

There are many reasons for this. Some are made poor because of their bad practices; drugs, gambling, living beyond their means and other bad habits that could push a family into the spiral of poverty. Another cause of being rendered without the bare necessities is when a member of the family has been hit by a serious illness.

While we enjoy free hospital treatment, often enough there is the need to visit a specialist which would normally cost no less than €50 a time, plus medicines which are not necessarily freely prescribed. As everyone knows, an appointment at Mater Dei Hospital could sometimes take months if not years to come about!

But, apart from all this, a labourer’s family living on the minimum wage can hardly be said to be living decently. Surely, they have to do without many needs which render them well below the poverty line. One can say the same for those pensioners who barely manage to eke out a living on their miserly pension. They can hardly eat well and pay their numerous bills, let alone buy medicines and visit specialists for regular tests.

Joseph Muscat had come out with the suggestion of a living wage introduced on a voluntary basis. What’s wrong with discussing this concept and seeing if it can be developed into something fruitful? If I’m right, some time ago Mgr Grech had suggested that the minimum wage be raised. Everyone knows that families on the minimum wage cannot make ends meet. They are suffering in poverty.

The government raised the supplementary allowance for pensioners in the recent budget. It is a step in the right direction. But why not study thoroughly the situation of the most vulnerable i.e. the low-wage earners and the pensioners, and find out how they are coping and what their real needs are? I once suggested that the parish priest and his helpers team up with the local council to make a list of the most needy families in their locality and their problems. One may well find those who gamble away their wages or pension. But there will surely be others who try to live decently and still don’t get by on their meagre earnings. Perhaps the local church and council could do something for these miserable people. Together, they could at least organise an annual collection to help those who are really in need.

Mgr Grech said that while the standard of living in Malta was better than that of other countries, and social benefits and other measures helped to avoid absolute poverty, studies had shown that some families did not have enough income to lead a decent life. Should not then the government see who these families are and do something to alleviate their poverty?

Mgr Grech believes in the capability of the Maltese to look after the common good and that both the government and the Church should shoulder their responsibility to eradicate poverty. In the light of the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion, the situation in Malta has been pointed out: 15 per cent of the population - 60,000 people - are living the crisis of poverty. Such a situation is not something that should let those responsible in authority sleep soundly without a pricking of their conscience!