A one-off adjustment of the minimum wage would only be a short-term measure and would not necessarily help low-income families, Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin CEO Josef Vella said yesterday.

Addressing a press conference, Mr Vella urged the government to publish the 2014 household budgetary survey in order to allow for an informed discussion on the minimum wage and poverty in Malta. “Even if the survey is published tomorrow it will already be too late, because the data is outdated. We already need another one,” Mr Vella said.

The survey is supposed to take place every five years.

According to the last survey, which was published in 2008, households with incomes of between €8,000 and €10,000 spent an average of €11,109.

Mr Vella questioned if households were today better off or worse, again emphasising the need for the government to publish the last survey. Without it, it was impossible to determine the necessary minimum income for households to meet their basic needs, he said.

UĦM urged the government to publish the 2014 household survey to allow for an informed discussion on the minimum wage and poverty

He noted how the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) mechanism was ineffective, because it was “clearly” not keeping up with the increase in prices.

Mr Vella said the UĦM would await the results of the last household budgetary survey before deciding at what level the minimum wage should be set or whether a living wage should be set instead.

In a presentation, Prof. Philip Von Brockdorff spoke ofCaritas’s recommendation for a minimum wage commissioner who would closely observe movements and any necessary action which would need tobe taken.

The Church NGO Caritas called for the statutory minimum wage to be raised slightly but annually for a period of three years (in addition to COLA).

Caritas also called upon the government to address the financial situation of low-income earners who were renting private dwellings and not benefiting from any subsidies.

Further assistance and incentives should also be developed to facilitate access to healthier, fresh food by low-income households, Caritas said.

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