A decent life in pounds, shillings and pence
Caritas has just published a detailed study to determine the minimum budget for three types of vulnerable families to have a decent life. Kurt Sansone reports.
When Caritas director Mgr Victor Grech two years ago said that poverty was rising and suggested increasing the minimum wage to address the problem, his proposal was greeted with apprehension.
The Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry warned that such a course of action would threaten competitiveness and the Prime Minister had gone on record saying that increasing the minimum wage did not necessarily address the social problems faced by poor families.
At the time, Mgr Grech’s proposal was based on the hands-on experience Caritas, a Church organisation providing social services, had working with poor people.
Today, Mgr Grech is reiterating the appeal for the minimum wage to rise to €180 weekly from €158 but this time around his proposal is backed by a detailed study undertaken by Caritas.
The year-long study, A Minimum Budget For A Decent Living, drawn up by a team of experts, focused on three low-income household categories and established a minimum budget for a decent living based on a basket of essential items.
The researchers found that the minimum essential budget required for a household of two adults and two children to have a decent life amounted to €10,634 per year.
A single parent household with two children needs a minimum yearly budget of €8,581.
An elderly couple – 65 years and over – would need €6,328.
The study assumes the selected households benefit from a range of social assistance measures such as free medicine under the Pink Card scheme, free food received under the EU food aid scheme, living in a government property at subsidised rent and receiving energy vouchers.
Mgr Grech said the research was based on the important premise that social assistance was fully available and accessible.
Issues such as out of stock medicines at the government dispensary or inaccessibility to EU food aid because the local parish did not distribute it, obviously upped family expenses, he noted.
Mgr Grech insisted the study focused on the most vulnerable in society, arguing poverty had to be exposed to be addressed.
According to the survey on income and living conditions conducted by the National Statistics Office in 2010, at least 3.3 per cent of households with two adults and two children – 2,363 people – had income that was lower than the minimal essential benchmark.
The figure was more dramatic for lone parent households with two children, where more than half, or 2,418 individuals, had income lower than the benchmark.
The NSO study had found that 8.1 per cent of elderly couple households – 1,535 people – went below the minimal benchmark established by Caritas.
Mgr Grech said Caritas had “a mission and a mandate” to expose the reality of poverty.
“We speak about the wounds not only to expose them but to heal them.”
Confirming the conservative calculations undertaken by the research team, lead author Leonid McKay, a sociologist, emphasised the study was based on “a frugal basket of essential goods”.
Car ownership and use, mobile telephony, appliances such as dehumidifiers and air conditioners and eating out at restaurants are some of the items excluded from the study.
It defines a minimum essential standard of living as “one which meets a person’s physical, mental, moral, spiritual and social well-being”.
“By minimum, we mean an adequate benchmark to measure what should constitute an acceptable and decent standard of living beyond the level of survival for simply food, clothing and shelter,” the report said.
The basic basket of essential items determined by consensus between the research team members was split in eight categories: food, clothing, personal care, health, household goods and maintenance, education & leisure, transport & housing.
Nutritionist Suzanne Piscopo even drew up a seven-day simple menu that provided for healthy eating on which the food cost calculation was based. The report includes a number of recommendations, including increasing the minimum wage by 13.8 per cent to €180 per week.
Economist Karm Farrugia, a member of the research team, said there was a clear economic case for the increase, adding the current minimum wage still reflected the social concept of decency prevailing in 1971 when first introduced.
He said increasing the minimum wage should not and must not lead to an escalation in overall wage levels and the report urged the government to even legislate to prohibit any wage increase demands based solely on relativity with the statutory minimum wage.
“This prohibition, which should exclude claims from pensioners, could persist for, say, a period of three years, unless eventually extended,” the report says.
The study recommends policymakers “address with urgency” the financial situation of lone parent families as Malta registers the highest share in the EU of single parents with children who have disposable income below the at-risk-of poverty threshold.
Social security benefits for people who earn less than the minimum essential budget for their household type should be strengthened.
The state must also ensure entitlement to free medication through the public health system is reviewed regularly to reflect a just and accessible system. It urges investment in community level projects for more sustainable and adequate consumption patterns and lifestyles by raising awareness on issues such as energy and water.
In this respect, engineer Marco Cremona, who was involved in drawing up water and electricity calculations, urged the authorities to keep in mind low-income families when issuing schemes to encourage people to buy energy-efficient appliances.
“Although various appliances were excluded from the study, in low-income families it is very likely to find old inefficient essential appliances. These families would not afford the capital outlay to buy new energy-efficient models and this is what government schemes should focus on.”
The study also urges school subjects such as home economics to be taught to all students so that they would become responsible citizens who make informed decisions and take action to promote and safeguard personal, family and community well-being.
Mgr Grech insisted money should not be seen as a handicap to improving the situation of the poor. “Just like the government found millions of euros to invest in various capital projects, with goodwill, the financial means to help the most vulnerable could be found as well.”
The elderly are among the vulnerable identified in a Caritas study, with a couple aged 65 and over needing a minimum of €6,328 per year to enjoy a decent frugal life. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier
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Joe Morana
Mar 17th 2012, 19:33
Readers may wish to learn what Prof Joseph Falzon said two years ago.... .
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090719/local/price-to-wage-levels-in-malta-77-higher-than-eu-average.265678
Medidate....!!!
B. Cachia
Mar 17th 2012, 16:14
Unfortunately, raising the minimum wage would simply increase unemployment, making the problem even worse. What needs to be done is to address the underlying issue by ensuring that young people do not leave school without a good education and marketable skills, and that they then get sustained support in keeping those skills up to date as the economy changes. Also, employers should be helped by more business-friendly taxation and by other measures. Everyone knows this is the basic formula but politicians are more concerned with short-term, popular measures that will win them some votes in the next election.
Carmel Camilleri
Mar 17th 2012, 15:17
I want to know who are the owners of all these cars on our roads, TV sets, mobile phones, internets, etc etc. Statistic and everyday facts of life do not support Caritias findings.
Again Caritas must now tell us from where to get the money and the consequences of such handouts on our economy when we are struggling not to fall into real misery like what is happening in Greece, Portugal other European Countries.
Joseph Meli
Mar 17th 2012, 17:12
I do agree that due to these facts and the present world situation of funds it would mean a disaster to the maltese ecconomy. Therefore, one can discuss this late on when the world fund situation had improved
Who ever came up with this was only aiming to disrupt the govenment good performance, in the bad light situation of the maltese island !!!
A Spiteri
Mar 17th 2012, 14:13
raising the minimum wage won't solve the problem, it actually might even make it worse as employers would opt to not employ at all, especially for low jobs that the return in production is much lower than the minimum wage.
we must address to other important issue...inflation and over taxation!
if you get a pay raise and let say gasoline is going up, you already lost that raise in one single month!
J.C. Borg
Mar 17th 2012, 12:37
Apart from the fact that it is not the appropriate time to give such increase, because you will be robbing Peter (may be his job) to pay Paul and extra few euros.
But I do not agree that raising the minimum wage will solve the problem. By increasing the minimum wage you will also be increasing it to, say, pensioners who have enough pension to live with, and have found a job 'on minimum wage' to have something to do. There are also others that do not need working for some reason or other and are working on minimum wage to pass the time. We heard many such stories.
joe briffa
Mar 17th 2012, 13:13
And you trying to feed me that pensioneers work just to have something to do????? That is super daft,as if a married woman goes to work because she wants a career rather than stay with her kids and acre for the family. Well but at this rate it is unavoidable not to work,because one wage is a MISERY,let alone one pension. Soon all companies will own a private burial ground,so that all worker will work and be buried within the comapanies grounds.
M. Mifsud
Mar 17th 2012, 14:03
@J.C.Borg
Are you being seroius? Do you really believe that pensioners continue working after retiring because they want to have something to do? Are you really serious? So you have never heard of those thousands of elderly couples who stuggle to make ends meet. You have never heard of those thousands of elderly couples who find itv impossible to pay their utility bills. You probably never heard of the thousands of elderly couples who find it difficult to buy the medicines that they need each month (not all medicines are provided free of chage by the state and at times even that is not available because it is out of stock). Mr. Borg I think that your statement is just propaganda. I believe that you have a hidden agenda.
What irks me is that you have not declared your hidden agenda.
J.C. Borg
Mar 17th 2012, 16:26
@ Joe Briffa & M Mifsud - I reiterate what I have written and Mr Spteri has expanded on what I wrote. Had i not listened to many stories I wouldn't have written it.
My only agenda is to be realistic and not scaremongering.
Joseph E Briffa
Mar 17th 2012, 12:04
Bridging the gap would in my opinion be better achieved by raising children's allowances rather than increasing wages. Financial requirements are obviously tied to the number of people in the household; and assuming the same lifestyle, would be higher in the case of two adults and two children than for two adults and one child. Similarly, the needs of two adults and three children are higher than for two adults and two children, while two adults on their own require less and a working adult with no dependants needs even less... One cannot pay a working adult according to the number of his dependants. Wages are related to the work one carries out irrespective of the number of his dependants. If it weren't, it would mean that a worker with a child or two children would be paid more than a single worker who is doing the same work. Raising children's allowances to bridge the gap would in my opinion address the problem in a far better way. Apart from the issue of competitiveness, raising children's allowances would better meet the requirements of the household as it would be directly related to the number of children.
joe briffa
Mar 17th 2012, 12:31
Mr Briffa, I think you are right about wages and dependents,but that is not the point,who carries out what is irrelevant, but the reward for carrying your work out carefully but good is not enough,more or less we are on the same situation as an ex-eastern block country after the cold curtain was pulled away, we are not doing much better than them financially....
Raymond Cutajar
Mar 17th 2012, 12:00
A rather disturbing confirmed ( or there will be some who says -this is not true ? ) well ultra overdue revelation -sick-
It is so evident that the adage -Iz Zaqq il Mimlijja tigi Tixxejjer mill Vojta !!!
-a stuffed stomach ,would not care about an ampty one
Intrinsically there are many varied reasons -still not justifiabile
Practically the whole countries political elite should be ASHAMED after all the Old Genaration Deserves the Country's Fullest Respect as it is Still riding on the Huge Sacrefises and the Immense good sound economic qualities that past generations endured with such good unfaltering Faith !
joe briffa
Mar 17th 2012, 12:27
Very true Mr.Cutajar and what I really get angry about is when they compare Malta with other countries,FEJN JAQBILLHOM MHUX HEKK!!!
Luciano Mule Stagno
Mar 17th 2012, 11:48
Well done. Suggestions backed by numbers carry a lot more weight. People may disagree with the methodology or the exact results reached - but it serves to highlight the problem and propose a solution
Another option that could be considered, rather than an increase in the minimum wage, is direct aid to make up the gap for groups who fall below these thresholds.
Albert Farrugia
Mar 17th 2012, 11:39
This is a golden opportunity for the Labour Party to show its mettle in what should be its forte: social affairs.
joe briffa
Mar 17th 2012, 12:24
Shall we just discuss without a WHO??? We are talking about a present situation,not an IF situation.
j brincat
Mar 17th 2012, 11:02
Who was he that said that poverty in Malta is just a perception?
This detailed study says it all!
More kitchen visits are recommended.
(jb)
joe briffa
Mar 17th 2012, 09:54
I am sorry to say that I do not agree on the statistics,they should be done very carefully and reasonable,you think a family with a monthly income of 820 euros would be living a reasonable and decent life? And is this sum net or gross? Because a net income for a family of 3,2 adults and a kid,should be at least 250 euros net,and still they barely make it if they have mortgage,school expenses,hospital and medical fees,food,bills,...weigh the things and suggestions good please before you say them....
Mr ALBERT LEONE GANADO
Mar 17th 2012, 09:52
An important quantitative study which clearly indicates that there is a segment of our population which is suffering social poverty , needs immediate help and which problem if not tackled will have serious consequences on the future of children in such disadvantaged families. We must help these families although I do not personally think that increasing the minimum wage is the best solution forward. Personally I would prefer direct monetary and benefits transfer to raising the minimum wage as this could have a very negative effect on full time jobs creation. What I find strange in the survey is that over 15% of the miserable income of such poor households is going into education. As a country we pride ourselves of having free education and indeed spend more prorata than other EU countries on education. I am sure that in other European countries disadvantaged families spend much less on their childrens' education as a percentage of income. I feel the our whole education system needs to be revisited with the objective of eliminating the current highly discriminatory three tier system of government, church and private schools leading to gross inefficiencies and wastage of resources and now we also discover from this study putting an unbearable burden on the worst off in our society.
Anthony Schembri adami
Mar 17th 2012, 12:28
I agree totally. Why should an honest workman noy have a decennt retirement. ?
Mr Michael Debono
Mar 17th 2012, 09:41
Going to see a consultant in a private clinic amounts from Euros33 to 60 each time, and this for a less tan ten minutes .
MALCOLM SEYCHELL
Mar 17th 2012, 09:40
and why pay experts thousands to do these surveys. i think the fitures are very realistic. However social services should be dimished so we can increase minimum wage. People need to work and not depend on government.
joe briffa
Mar 17th 2012, 11:00
Mr.Seychell I agree totally ,as there are many who are actually defrauding the government off benefits,by boarding out on an unknown sickness,whilst travelling around on thier benefits,good actors I assume,or otherwise blind eyes. But anyway, Malta should rid of private schools and private hospitals in the first place,and add a reasonable medical insurance that covers any hospital or medical use,not like the so called medical insurances we pay for and they cover you only when you are about to die.They should cover dentist control fees,GP fees,and medcine.
And Private schools are a total nonsense....I am sorry to say...always depends on the pupil/student involved,not all doctors,lawyers,intellectuals came out of private schools,and not all criminals came out of state schools....
Lets not complicate the subject.......honestly looking at Malta irrelevant of any political point of view,has no fruit to offer to the young generations,and ceratinly no future whatsoever,and our poor economy is hiding behind a greedy and egositic grin.
Nobody realises what is happening,how many hotels and jobs are ended, how filthy our island is getting,how our space is decreasing,how people are getting on each other nerves,and much more....and what can we do? Certainly open our eyes a little bit and look around us....and not ignore!!!!
Michael Grech
Mar 17th 2012, 13:57
And what about those who cannot work/do not find work? Assuming that everyone is willing to work and given that within a capitalist economy the full employment of all able bodied adults is considered an impossibility by many economists, social services have to remain and indeed be strengthened. I agree that wages should increase, but this addresses only part of the problem.
joe briffa
Mar 17th 2012, 15:02
@ m.grech, I agree but they should also strengthen the screening when they board somebody who NOT want to work,who are also many.....
Please choose the reason of your report below: