Poverty in Malta is on the rise and the island is moving away from reaching its targets for the reduction of poverty and social exclusion, according to a new EU report.
Malta is committed to reducing the number of people at risk of poverty to 6,560 by 2020.
But according to the National Statistics Office, “the figure at the time of writing stands at over 63,000, or one in every five individuals,” the report points out.
The high risk of poverty among the unemployed and the elderly suggests that welfare benefits and pensions are not sufficient
Recent NSO statistics show that, while in 2008 the number of those considered to be at risk of poverty or social exclusion stood at 19.7 per cent of the population, the figure rose to 23.1 per cent this year.
The report, dealing with every EU country, was drawn up by experts as part of the Sustainable Governance Indicators 2014 project being done by the German-based Bertelsmann Stiftung Foundation.
It notes that Malta has a consolidated social benefit system that supports those with low incomes while health care and education for everyone is available free of charge.
“However, the high risk of poverty among the unemployed and the elderly suggests that welfare benefits and pensions are not sufficient.”
In 2009, expenditure on social protection benefits amounted to a fifth of Malta’s gross domestic product, a figure considerably lower than the EU average.
However, Malta has been trying to catch up in recent years, since benefits increased by 22.3 per cent between 2005 and 2008 as against 9.5 per cent growth in the EU.
Though the most recent poverty statistics show Malta faring well in comparison to the EU average when it comes to poverty among children and adults, poverty among 65 year olds is one percentage point higher, reaching 21.5 per cent this year.
Disabled people also remain relatively marginalised, the report says. Of the 3,000 individuals of working-age registered with the National Commission for persons with disability, only 28.1 per cent were in employment.
Unemployed disabled persons receive only 55 per cent of the minimum wage, “a situation that reinforces their exclusion and their risk of poverty”.
With regard to other social policies, the report notes that Malta is still in need of major reforms.
Education attainments are comparatively low, particularly at the post-secondary level.
“The free basic health care system is largely of high quality, but some treatments require payment.”
The report casts doubts on the sustainability of the present healthcare system calling it “a problem” and states that family policy is still underdeveloped, producing a low employment rate for women.
“The public pension system is expensive and probably unsustainable, lacking private supplements.”
On other social aspects, the report says “there is no formal integration policy, and naturalisation is very difficult”.