Part of the children’s allowance should be deposited into an account, accessible once the child turns 14, and the money used for travelling abroad for study or leisure, the Malta Employers’ Association is proposing.
“In this manner there is a better likelihood that the funds distributed in children’s allowance will be used to improve the children’s welfare (rather than, as happens in some cases, being spent by parents on cigarettes and nail technicians),” the association wrote in its proposals for Budget 2015.
This fund would allow children from poorer families to travel and open their mind, increasing the chances of weaning them off social benefits, said MEA director general Joe Farrugia.
The association also suggested that all absenteeism from school, even if less than three days, should be certified to address the problem of truancy. Doctors who certify children who are not sick should risk having their warrant withdrawn.
Doctors who certify children who are not sick should risk having their warrant withdrawn
The association issued the proposals yesterday, the day after the government published the pre-budget document for consultation.
Its proposals, entitled ‘Curtailing a Culture of Entitlement’ mirrored the government’s stated objective to create opportunities instead of dependencies.
The association warned against spreading a culture of entitlement.
It said: “The prevailing welfare-shopping mentality among a good cross-section of our society has to be stamped out.”
On Wednesday, Finance Minister Edward Scicluna said the Budget 2015 would stress on targeting welfare dependency – a point welcomed by Mr Farrugia who said the association, however, disagreed with some pro-posed measures.
The government’s proposal to taper off social benefits for people who started working, as well as the proposal to increase the minimum wage, could backfire and promote dependency, Mr Farrugia explained. The MEA also spoke about curtailing public sector employment that rose by 2,000 this year “inflating the payroll of the public sector.” Instead, jobs should be shifted into productive jobs in the private sector.
In its 24-point document, the MEA stressed the importance of controlling the national deficit and reiterated its position against the introduction of second-pillar pensions.
The association also spoke about the need to address benefit fraud and proposed the introduction of tax incentives for working people who were paying for private services inelderly care.
It suggested having measures to accommodate the needs of working people such as incentives for companies to organise transport to alleviate traffic congestion, making outpatients’ clinics and polyclinics available outside normal working hours and extending opening hours of childcare centres for evening shift workers.
Other proposals included reducing commercial energy rates, the revision of VAT thresholds (introduced in 1995) to reflect current values and introducing a range of initiatives to support small businesses.