Valletta citizens on most state benefits

The Malta Independent On line

by Scott Grech

http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=98890

Of the 68 localities in Malta and Gozo, Valletta stands out for having almost one out of every two of its inhabitants claiming a form of social security benefit or other. On the other hand, the locality with the least number of people claiming social security benefits is Swieqi.

For the first time ever, the National Statistics Office (NSO) yesterday published an analysis of social security benefits of inhabitants of each locality, entitled ‘Social Security Benefits: A Locality Perspective 2009’, the first of its kind.

Valletta, as a locality, had the highest ratio of beneficiaries compared to its population – 47.8 per cent, in comparison with the national average of 35 per cent.

On the other hand, Swieqi had the lowest rate of beneficiaries – 22.9 per cent.

Up to 2008, almost 35.4 per cent of the total population received some form of social security benefit, with the Southern Harbour region (encompassing the Cottonera localities, Fgura and Kalkara) together with Gozo and Comino having a higher percentage of the share of total beneficiaries when compared in ratio to the total population.

According to Director General Michael Pace Ross, the purpose of the publication “is not to introduce some sort of competitive sense among localities, but to bring to the fore realities which exist in our cities, towns and villages. One objective is to provide a useful tool to planners and decision makers, at both local and national levels, that they may be enabled to devise ways of addressing these realities and to design measures for dealing with them.”

Nevertheless, the publication certainly brings closer to home the division which exists between the Northern regions of Malta and the Southern regions.

Statistician Clyde Caruana said that the studies, which have been going on for the past nine months, have taken into account the number of citizens on benefits for the years 2000, 2004 and 2008, with a four-year gap between each year needed in order to observe the necessary trends. Furthermore, calculations for all localities were based on the assumption that the population of every locality stands at 1,000 persons, making sure that every locality is on the same playing field.

Using this methodology, for every 1,000 persons living in Cospicua, 24.2 are single unmarried parents claiming benefits, followed by Senglea with 21, Xghajra (20.7), Valletta (20.1) and Floriana (13.5).

On the other hand, in Gozo, the localities of Xewkija, with an average of one single unmarried person per 1,000 claiming benefits, Qala (1.2), Xaghra (1.5), Mgarr (1.6) and San Lawrenz (1.7), find themselves in the bottom five beneficiaries in this regard.

Moreover, the localities of Xghajra (17.7), Cospicua (11.7), Pembroke (10.9), Mgarr, Malta (9.5) and Mellieha (9.2) are the ones with the most mothers on state maternity benefits, which normally run for a period of 14 weeks after a mother gives birth.

On the other hand, the locality with the lowest rate of mothers on maternity benefits is Gudja (1.7), closely followed by Ta’ Xbiex, with 2.1.

Gozitans account for the highest number of persons who have been boarded out and currently benefit from invalidity pensions. Ghasri (51.2) tops the list, followed by Xewkija (49.8), Fontana (43.4), Xaghra (39.7) and Kercem (39.4). The least number of beneficiaries on invalidity pensions live in Swieqi (6.3), followed by people living in Mtarfa (6.5), Attard (9.2), Ta’ Xbiex (11.2) and Sliema (12.3).

Citizens residing in localities within the Southern Harbour district claim more unemployment benefits than other regions, with Xghajra, Cospicua, Senglea, Vittoriosa and Zejtun the top five beneficiaries of unemployment benefits.

The bottom five beneficiaries with regard to unemployment benefits are the localities of Swieqi, San Lawrenz, Mgarr, Xaghra and Balzan.

On the other hand, the localities of Attard, Swieqi, Mosta, Lija and Mgarr (Malta) are least affected by unemployment, whereas Valletta, Cospicua, Zebbug (Gozo), Xghajra and Floriana are the ones with the highest number of citizens claiming unemployment assistance benefits.

The localities with the highest number of persons on retirement pensions are Mdina, with a rate of 308 of every 1,000 persons having a retirement pension, Sliema (181.8), Floriana (176.4), Luqa (162.8) and Hamrun (160.3), while the localities with the least number of persons on retirement pension benefits are Mtarfa (43.4), Iklin (58.8), Marsascala (62.3), Xghajra (67.5) and Swieqi (69.6).

With Budget 2008 laying the foundations for the introduction of the Children’s Allowance Flat Rate scheme (which set future children’s allowances according to those families which exceed the means-test limit on income), the families which gained most from this scheme were Xghajra (178.1), Pembroke (177.9) and Marsascala (146.4). The lowest number of beneficiaries within this category was reported in the localities of Sliema (59.6), Mdina (64) and Ta’ Xbiex (66.4).

In terms of expenditure, Sliema beneficiaries were the most costly, with the average standing at around E5,796 per annum, while Pembroke beneficiaries were the most economical at E2,816 per beneficiary. The expenditure on beneficiaries residing in the Northern Harbour and Southern Harbour region was higher than national average expenditure per beneficiary, by E414 and E406 respectively.

The statistics also shed light into Malta and Gozo’s increasingly aging population. In the year 2000, the islands’ population stood at 391,415 while in the year 2004, the islands saw an increase in population, which stood at 402,668. However, four years later, in 2008, the population stood at 413,609, with around 31,000 of the citizens living in Gozo