Poverty in Malta is decreasing but the government will not rest on its laurels, the Family Minister pledged on Thursday.
The ministry launched a report about the national strategy policy for poverty reduction and social inclusion, which shows a drop from 24% to 20% in the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion between 2013 and 2016.
The data also shows a decrease in the number of people who suffer from severe material deprivation in Malta: from 39,000 to 19,000. As things stand, this makes up 4.4% of the local population, which is below the EU average of 7.5%.
But while the percentage decreased among children and youths at risk of poverty, it increased among the elderly.
The data shows that the number of those aged over 65 who are at risk of poverty or social exclusion increased from 21% to 26%.
Permanent secretary Mark Musù noted that the strategy was split among six sectors: financial income, employment, education, health, social security and culture. In all, 94 policy actions (some 276 measures and projects) were pledged when the strategy was launched in 2014, 86 of which have already been addressed. The strategy is being implemented by the health, education, justice and family ministries.
Mr Musù insisted that the latest European statistics published in this report, were based on 2015 income patterns and, therefore, did not reflect the most recent government initiatives.
“However, beyond addressing poverty, we need to continue working to prevent poverty. We need to continue fighting inter-generational poverty, support those who genuinely cannot work and improve pensioners’ financial situation, among others,” Mr Musù added.
Addressing the same conference, Maja Miljanic Brinkworth, from the Family Ministry provided a more detailed picture of the data.
She noted that half of all people who are exposed to risk of poverty in Malta received only 16% lower income than the threshold - a “significant achievement” that was not often covered by the media and European reports, she said.
Where could Malta improve?
Dr Miljanic Brinkworth focused on two groups: migrants born outside of the EU aged over 18 and single parents with dependent children.
Referring to social housing, she noted that some 1,300 single parents were on the social housing list – more than 1,000 of whom relied on social benefits. This meant that 80 per cent of single parents on the social housing list needed some form of social rehabilitation. Some 70% of them were aged under 35 – this was alarming as they had another 30 years during which they could work and were already relying on social benefits.
Meanwhile, Family Minister Michael Falzon expressed concern at the increase in the number of those aged over 65 who were at risk of poverty, adding that this meant more needed to be done.
“This strategy is still work-in-progress and let’s hope it remains so… the social sector is a top priority for the government,” Dr Falzon said, adding that a third of the government’s expenditure (€1.6 billion) had been invested in the social sector.
Most importantly, however, "is that we do not rest on our laurels, and if there are 19,000 people who suffer from severe material deprivation in Malta, this is still 19,000 too many," he added.