The data on exposure to poverty has been given its due prominence in the media, this daily newspaper included. However, it is not quite clear what the exact, practical value of the Eurostat figures for determining who actually lives in poverty is.
The World Bank has tackled this problem by introducing its global definition of poverty as surviving on less than $2 per day. Although the threshold reveals the number of the poorest of the poor, this is not exclusively the least-developed countries club.
In fact, Kathryn Edin and Luke Sheafer estimated that in the US, around three million children lived in 1.5 million households in 2011 on less than $2 a day. Their book $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America, published this September, is a testament to the $2-a-day destiny.
It was only when the incomes in kind and income under-reporting were factored in that these figures were reduced by half. It was evident that the causes for each household’s predicament were idiosyncratic, exactly as Tolstoy wrote: “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”
In other words, these are individuals and families who end up in shelters, or at the mercy of unsupportive family or suddenly unearthed friends and chained to charity meals, or they are simply persons having nowhere to go, on less than $2 a day. That is absolute poverty, absolute loss of dignity and hope.
The uncertainty of the future is eternal, as it brings along good as well as bad. One is always one’s own best guarantee
It is no wonder in our case, the starting point in understanding the plea of the poorest among us is positioned much higher than the World Bank level. The Caritas minimum essential budget for decent living was a harbinger of the local minimum expenditure measurement.
Through an internal analysis, a rough estimate shows that a single adult required around €407 a month, taking housing at €197 a year, admittedly a rather unrealistically low level, difficult to match in real life (November 2015 data). This required amount and more is already squarely guaranteed to each Maltese person (with no dependants) either through work, a retirement pension or the system of benefits, in addition to free health and education services.
The definition of core poor, targeting persons who are simultaneously income poor, necessities or deprivation poor and subjectively poor asks for a positive answer to the question: “Do you think you could genuinely say you are poor now?” before one can be considered to be core poor.
In 2015, there were around 9,000 persons in Malta, who were at risk of poverty, experienced material deprivation and for whom adult members of the household did not work at all, or worked on average less than eight hours a week. By Eurostat’s definition, households comprising retired persons are excluded from this count.
However, the problem is precisely at this point on the life cycle, when adults cannot increase their income through work because of their age. The household of two married adults who rely on a pension (a non-contributory benefit of around €590 every four weeks, which will increase to €613 in 2017) is one such example.
This group, which for various reasons never worked enough to secure guaranteed retirement pension income, as well as the national minimum pensioners with dependants, will be exposed to a frugal modus vivendi.
Yes indeed, local surveys show that one in four persons in Malta eats out once a week or more, and in addition, they evidence a positive 13-percentage-point decline in the share of those who rarely or never afford this leisure treat (Malta Today, September 4, 2016). Regrettably, such a joy is not for all to enjoy.
The uncertainty of the future is eternal, as it brings along good as well as bad. One is always one’s own best guarantee, and the same goes for poverty risks. An increase in work intensity through the acceptance of full-time jobs by all able adults ensures not only their escape from the risk of poverty but increases the good lifetime outcome for their children, too.
Who can deliberately remain passive to that proposition?
Maja Miljanic Brinkworth lectures at the University of Malta.