School absenteeism and children allowance are among issues that should be addressed in the Budget. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Plans to target welfare dependency must include an institutional shift so that government departments cooperate to address the individual needs of everyone seeking social benefits, according to the Foundation for Social Welfare Services chairman.

“There is no one solution to change a culture [of reliance on social benefits] – it comes from different directions such as changes in laws to ensure benefits do not lead to dependency,” Joe Gerada said.

“Education is key in teaching people to reach their potential and that work improves their life.”

But a shift is also needed at an institutional level as various institutions have to look at the client’s overall needs and communicate with other institutions, Mr Gerada told Times of Malta.

On Wednesday, Finance Minister Edward Scicluna said the Budget 2015 would seek to target welfare dependency.

He said benefits would not be cut but measures would incentivise people to support themselves.

According to Mr Gerada, this attitude is an important shift for social welfare, which is there to assist people in times of crisis, such as illness and unemployment.

But it should not stop there. The next step – which had not been given much attention over the years – was to create strategies to help people out of their crisis.

“The welfare state is like a net. It will back you up when you need it but it’s not there to be depended on,” he said, adding that leading people to independence also meant more contributing to the economy and more money available to strengthen the welfare sector.

They must start doing something and not depend on the charity of others as we will soon have people begging

Economist Stephanie Cutajar said that, while social welfare contributed towards social and economic development, abuse continued to strain an already burdened financial system.

The government spent millions per year to maintain these systems. For example, she said, between January and June this year, unemployment benefits cost the government €1.3 million: more than €7,000 a day.

To secure future economic and social growth, it was important to reduce the inefficiencies while maintaining a healthy social fabric.

“Measures that would reduce social welfare dependency include more investment in education and training, tailored services to help people find work, measures that encourage entrepreneurship with particular focus on youth entrepreneurship and creating more opportunities for everyone through continued economic diversification,” she said.

€7,000

­– the daily cost of unemployment benefits

Malta Employers’ Association director general Joe Farrugia said that while he agreed with the need to reduce social welfare dependency, he disagreed with the government’s proposals to raise the minimum wage and taper off benefits for those who started working.

This could increase, rather than reduce, the culture of dependency, he said.

The association proposed measures such as curbing public sector employment, addressing school absenteeism and limiting the ways children’s allowance could be spent.

Harsh measures such as striking people off the register if they did not take jobs offered to them were also required, he said.

Leonid McKay, from Caritas Malta, agreed with encouraging people to avoid becoming excessively dependent on benefits “since dependency tends to be associated with a myriad of social and psychological problems”.

However, he stressed, it was important that job opportunities were adequate, stable and provided an income that gave workers a decent standard of living.

“It is pointless improving the rate of the unemployed poor if, at the same time, the rate of working poor increases,” he said.

He cautioned that there would always be a segment of the population who genuinely could not work for reasons including sickness, disability and mental health problems, while others were full-time carers.

“Such people and families deserve to have an appropriate level of income that would, at least, enable them to afford to buy the goods and services necessary for daily living.

“The State is obliged to ensure that every family has a decent income,” he said, reiterating Caritas’s stand in favour of increasing the minimum wage.

Recent figures published by the National Statistics Office showed that people at risk of poverty last year increased by 3,277 over 2012 and reached 64,966: 15.7 per cent of the population.

Fr Hilary Tagliaferro, founder of the Millennium Chapel in Paceville that helps support the poor, was not surprised by the statistics as he had families turning up every day for help to pay utility bills and rent.

“Some of these people need to be employed. These are running from one NGO to another when their rent is up or have a bill to pay.

“They must start doing something and not depend on the charity of others as we will soon have people begging in the streets… it’s increasing day after day,” he said.