Caritas director proposes revision of social benefits, minimum wage

The Malta Independent online
18 March 2010

by Francesca Vella


Caritas director Monsignor Victor Grech has proposed the redefinition of the poverty threshold and a revision of the social benefits, particularly for people with disability.

Mgr Grech was addressing a forum organised to mark the beginning of Caritas’s year-long campaign to raise awareness of poverty and social exclusion and to work to address these issues. This year is the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion.

The EU is one of the richest areas in the world, but still 17 per cent of EU citizens have such limited resources that they cannot afford the basics.

Mgr Grech called for a more adequate minimum wage and schemes for the unemployed. According to data that the National Statistics Office (NSO) published in 2007, 14 per cent of the Maltese population are at risk of poverty.

Anyone earning less than €5,477 is considered to be at risk in Malta and this is equivalent to about 57,444 persons. The problem is most rampant among people under 17 and over 65.

Mgr Grech said he fears that because of the high cost of living and the new utility tariffs, a number of people who were at risk of poverty in 2007 may now have fallen into real poverty.

He mentioned people who live in substandard homes, others who cannot afford to buy new household appliances if their current ones break down, and people who simply cannot afford to pay their utility bills.

The monsignor went on to quote statistics that revealed that about 42 per cent of school leavers end up on the streets, not wanting to do anything.

He said the government, the Church and voluntary organisations must mobilise their resources and act collectively.

Caritas has set up a task force that is organising a number of activities throughout this year in a bid to raise awareness of poverty and social exclusion.

The campaign, entitled ‘Ilqa’ l-isfida, gib il-faqar fix-xejn’ (Take up the challenge, stop poverty), includes a pilot project running in three parishes – St Sebastian’s and St George’s in Qormi, and St Augustine’s in Valletta – which is aimed at identifying the needs and priorities of people suffering poverty or experiencing some form of social exclusion.

Caritas will also be running an awareness project in schools, and a music event for youths, among other events.

Caritas Europe secretary general Marius Wanders was one of the guests who addressed yesterday’s forum. He said Caritas is not about charity, but about walking side-by-side by people who are facing difficulties.

“Sometimes we don’t see poverty because we don’t want to. The face of poverty is changing; people fall into poverty despite having a job. This European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion must be noticed by as many European citizens as possible.”

Nationalist MP Edwin Vassallo, the chairman of Parliament’s social affairs committee, on his part, stressed the need to focus on children’s welfare and education.

“Children living at risk of relative poverty could be candidates of absolute poverty in the future. We need to strengthen the family structure,” he said.

Closing yesterday’s event, Archbishop Paul Cremona, OP, made a proposal, saying that one way of fighting poverty in a concrete way is to encourage families to help each other in their needs.
http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=103207