Families on social assistance and who are also living in rented dwellings are the most likely to experience poverty, new research shows.

The study by the Anti-Poverty Forum, a grouping of activists in the social field, found that a family of two adults and two children living on social benefits and in rented property experienced a shortfall of more than €5,000 per year.

The study took into account all the non-contributory benefits a family was entitled to, such as children’s allowance and unemployment benefits, and compared this to the minimum essential budget required to ensure a decent standard of living.

The picture was also grim for single, unmarried parents with two dependent children who live in a rented home. The shortfall between income from social assistance and the minimum essential budget was of more than €3,500.

Leonid McKay, the lead researcher, said families bridged the gap either through charitable donations or “undeclared sources of income”.

He noted that while social benefits were an effective tool against absolute poverty they fell short of ensuring a decent standard of living.

The minimum essential budget was based on the benchmark established by Caritas, a social organisation of the Church, two years ago when it compiled a list of essential expenses for a study on minimum decent incomes.

Mr McKay said the essential budget was very frugal and excluded expenses such as mobile phones.

“The research shows that families paying commercial rents faced a higher risk of poverty, which partly explains why there are concentrations of poverty in certain localities that have a high number of dwellings for rent,” he said.

Mr McKay lauded the government’s drive to wean people off social benefits and encourage them to find a job but noted this strategy also had its pitfalls.

“Job opportunities have to be stable and provide adequate income because it would be useless reducing the number of unemployed poor only to increase the number of working poor,” he said.

‘Working poor’ is the term coined by social activists and unions to define people who have a job but whose income is not enough to ensure a minimum standard of living. Mr McKay said some of those on social benefits intentionally chose to remain dependent on them because they felt work did not pay adequately enough to make the shift worthwhile.

He said more research was needed on the social conditions of beneficiaries to understand the often very complex situations.

“Some people have been on benefits for years on end… in some areas where there is a concentration of poverty it becomes a way of life,” he said.

The key findings were presented yesterday during a half-day seminar for social activists and policy makers.

The research forms part of a pan-European study undertaken by the European Minimum Income Network and is financed by the EU.

Welfare cheats siphon off €3.5m

Cheats are defrauding the welfare system to the tune of €3.5 million per year, according to a top official at the Social Solidarity Ministry.

Mark Musu, permanent secretary at the ministry, yesterday said the fraud amounted to two per cent of the €165 million that the State forked out in non-contributory social assistance.

“The amount of fraud represents beneficiaries that we caught,” he said, implying there may be others benefiting from assistance they were not entitled to.

Non-contributory benefits are a fraction of the country’s social outlay that tops €700 million, which also includes contributory benefits.

Mr Musu spoke at a half-day seminar organised by the Anti-Poverty Forum during which research findings on the adequacy of minimum incomes were presented.

Researcher Leonid McKay said welfare fraud was a reality that had to be tackled but noted emphasis also had to be placed on tax evasion, which starved the State of the funds it needed to finance its operations.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com

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