Every administration aims to reduce the impact of poverty on society. However, despite the great technological progress that was achieved in the last decades, many still live in poverty. Some would argue that, in some areas, more people are falling into the poverty trap.
The EU has made it its mission to address endemic poverty in different countries by launching the Leap Project, an initiative specifically aimed at improving the lives of people living in poverty in the different member states.
Social Solidarity Minister Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca rightly described poverty as “the scourge of our society”. She is confident that, through the EU-funded Leap Project, 900 local people will improve their lives through training and support. Two hundred of those targeted by this initiative will be “followed more closely”, presumably because such individuals would be more vulnerable.
There are different definitions of poverty. One undeniable characteristic is that people who have insufficient income to live a decent life are ‘poor’.
In an interview with Times of Malta, the Government’s consultant on poverty, Yana Mintoff Bland, said “that the bottom 10 per cent of the community is earning less than €5,700 a year”. She was quick to add that “It’s impossible to live on that and they hardly have any chance to get out of the situation. Only one in seven are upwardly mobile. The lack of social mobility is not acceptable.”
Adults who fall into the poverty trap find it hard to prevent their children being caught up in the vicious circle that seems to condemn certain families to living in a perpetual state of poverty.
The causes of poverty have been well researched and identified. The main causes include illiteracy, domestic violence and abuse and inequality.
Of more concern is that many sociologists today acknowledge that the definition of illiteracy has become more extensive to include young people who have low numeric and technology skills. Such young people often have difficulty finding adequate employment. They drift in and out of the labour force as they become victims of precarious work practices.
If the Leap Project is to be successful it has therefore to embrace all NGOs that are in some way involved in addressing the different forms of poverty in our society.
NGOs are often more equipped to identify the hot spots of poverty in our society. They are more able to utilise any funds granted to them in a cost effective way with more cents from each euro granted going to actually helping their clients rather than financing administrative processes.
In most cases the most effective tool in the fight against poverty is education. Although we have an educational system that is free for all, many families still do not give sufficient importance to the education of their children. This is not, as many may think, a question of carelessness but more likely an inability to cope with the urgent priorities of life.
For many families, putting food on the table means that all resources are directed to achieve this aim. Unfortunately, this may mean that children are allowed by their parents to miss school in order to earn some money in low paid activities.
It may also mean that young children start to fatalistically believe that their destiny is to be like their parents: live for today and hope that someone will eventually provide them with the assistance they need to survive.
The Leap Project should help to break the vicious circle of poverty.