Children’s allowance payments would be given to parents three weeks in advance to help them buy their children’s stationery and school uniforms, Social Solidarity Minister Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca said.

She said children’s, disability, foster care and supplementary allowances would be paid on Saturday, instead of in October.

Excluding the supplementary allowance, which is given to families facing financial difficulties, the grants total €5.9 million, benefiting 17,500 families and 25,000 children.

Another 23,000 families will benefit from the supplementary allowance, which works out at €1.6 million.

Payment of children’s allowance, which used to be in January, April, July and October, will now happen in December, March, June and September.

It was four mothers who first suggested moving the payment forward to before the start of the scholastic year to cover the additional costs, Ms Coleiro Preca said during a press conference outside the Birkirkara Primary School yesterday.

It is a small change that will make a big difference- Social Solidarity Minister

“There are children who, for weeks, cannot go to school in uniform or take their stationery with them and this decision will address social exclusion.

“It is a small change that will make a big difference,” she said, adding the move tied in with initiatives to battle poverty.

It would also impact businesses positively because families would have more money to spend on their children’s needs, Ms Coleiro Preca noted.

The minister thanked the Social Security Department for its work to hasten the process. The Social Solidarity Ministry was open to more suggestions on the timing of payments.

Members of the public, especially parents, can air their views via e-mail to marie-louise.coleiro@gov.mt.