You Will Always Have the Poor Among You

8/9/2019 You Will Always Have the Poor Among You

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Youwillalways

havethepooramongyouJohn12v8

AREPORTABOUTPOVERTYINMALTA

MarioCardona

JesuitCentrefortheFaithandJustice

Malta

2010


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IwouldliketothankmyfriendsStephenBonniciandKirbyCaruanafor

theirinvaluablemeticulousandusefulfeedback,andtheirwholeheartedsupport.IwouldalsoliketothankthecoreteamoftheJesuitCentrefor

FaithandJusticefortheirfeedback.SpecialthanksgotoEdgarBusuttil

sjforconceivingthisprojectandbringingittofruition,andtoShadrack

Freebornforhiscooperationandgreathelp.Iwouldliketothankall

those professional people and volunteers from various entities for

participatinginthisproject.Finally,Iwouldliketothankthepoorpeople

whohavetakenusintotheircon0idenceandletusintotheirworld.Ihope

toreciprocatetheirnoblejesturebypublishingthisbook,inthehopethat

itwillcontributetowardsmoresocialjusticeforall.

Acknowledgements


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Part1

1.1 Introduction........................................................................................................071.2 AimsoftheResearch.......................................................................................09

1.3 TheResearchMethod......................................................................................15

Part2

2.1 De0iningPovertyinNumbers......................................................................21

2.2 WhoarethepoorinMalta?..........................................................................40

2.3 SwimmingUpstream:

Factorsthataggravatetheplightofthepoor........................................71

Part3

3.1 Handingoverthemicrophonetothepoorthemselves................. 119

References.....................................................................................................................157

ListofAbbreviations

Appo StatesocialWelfareAgency

CBO Comm unityBasedOraganisatio n

DSS DepartmentforSocialSecurity,thestateagency

administeringsocial welfarebene0itsandassistance

ETC EmploymentandTrainingCorporation,theState

employmentserviceagency

HA HousingAuthority,thestateagencyadministeringsocial

housingprogrammes

MCAST MaltaCollegeofArts,ScienceandTechnology

NSO NationalStatisticsOf 0ice,Malta

NGO NonGovernmentalOrganisation

OIWAS OrganisationfortheIntegrationandWelfare

ofAsylumSeekers

UNHCR UnitedNationsHighCommissionforRefugees

Contents


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AREPORTABOUTPOVERTYINMALTA|7

1.1Introduction

Becauseitisadistortionofbeingmorefullyhuman,soonerorlater

beingless human leadsthe oppressed tostruggleagainstthosewho

madethemso.Inorderforthisstruggletohavemeaning,theoppressed

mustnot,inseekingtoregaintheirhumanity(whichisawaytocreate

it),becometheoppressorsoftheoppressors,butratherrestorersofthe

humanityofboth.

PauloFreire(1990),p.21.

Then,whileteaching,Ilearntmanythings.Forexample,Ilearntthatthe

problemsofotherswerethesameasmine.Gettingoutofthemtogether

ispolitics.Gettingoutofthemonourownisavarice.

DonLorenzoMilaniinBorg,CardonaandCaruana,(2009),p.37.

InFebruary2008,theNationalFamilyCommissionpublishedastudy

entitled FamilyPovertyandSocialExclusionwithaspecialemphasison

Children.Inthesameyear,theEuropeanDocumentationandResearch

CentreoftheUniversityofMaltaandtheJeanMonnetEuropeanCentre

ofExcellencepublishedtheCivilSocietyProjectReport:TheFightagainst

poverty.Inthefollowingyear,inMarch2009,thePermanentCommittee

for Social Affairs ofthe Maltese Parliament publisheda reportabout

povertyin Maltaentitled Il-idmalejn l-inklujonisojalit4isseridma

kontral-faqar:It-tfall-aktarlijbatu.1Also,fromtimetotime,theNational

StatisticsOf0ice publishesnumericaldata regardingpoverty inMalta.2

1 Theactiontowardssocialinclusionmeansactionagainstpoverty:Childrenaretheoneswhosuf-fermost.

2 SeeforexampleNSONewsRelease09.06.2003.PovertyandSocialInequality.NSONewsRelease09.05.2007SurveyonIncomeandLivingConditions.NSONewsRelease15.05.2007InternationalDayofFamilies.


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8|AREPORTABOUTPOVERTYINMALTA AREPORTABOUTPOVERTYINMALTA|9

Inspiredby thesevarious publications,we atthe Centre forFaithand

Justiceaskedourselves:WhoarethepoorinMalta?Whatdoesitmean

tobeintheirranks?Wheredotheylive?Whatkindoflifedotheylead?

Howdotheybehave?Whatisthelookontheirfacelike?Whoishelping

thesepeopletofacetheirproblemsandpossiblytoworktheirwayout

ofthem?Facedwiththesequestions,statisticaldataoftenprovidesvery

littleinformation.Sowe decidedtofollowuponthe previousresearch

byconductingaqualitativeresearchwhichwouldhelpusanswermore

adequatelythesequestions.Ourresearchisthus meanttocomplimenttheexcellentresearchdonesofarandtocontributetotheprocessofthe

eradicationofpovertyitself.Theresultofthisresearchisbeingpublished

inthisbookintheEuropeanYearfortheEradicationofPoverty.

1.2Aimsoftheresearch

NewsReleasenumber84/2009publishedonthe14thofMay2009bythe

NationalStatisticsOf0iceofMaltastatedthat,TheatriskofpovertyratefromSILC(EuropeanSurveyonIncomeandLivingCoditions)2007was

estimatedat14percent.Thisratestoodat13percentamongpersons

livinginhouseholdswithoutdependantchildrenand15percentamongst

thoselivingin households withdependant children.Personsliving in

single parent households were found to be most atriskofpoverty.1

Thesenumbersalready say much.Butwe wanted toknowmore and

soweembarkeduponaqualitativeresearchthatwouldhelpusanswer

someofourquestions.InthewordsofMaxineGreen,

Qualitative researchis concernedwithmeanings asthey appear

to,orareachievedby,personsinlivedsocialsituations...Thoseof

us in search of educational understanding are concerned, then,

with interpretations of particular kinds of human action in an

intersubjectiveworld.Whetherwearelookingthroughthelensesof

history,orsociology,orpsychology,weareattendingtobeingswho

areforeverincomplete,reachingouttomakesenseoftheactualities

oftheirlives.Wecancatchsomeof thatincompletenessthrough

participantobservation,orthroughcertainmodesoflistening,orthe

readingoffreewriting,orbypayingheedtothewaysinwhichpeople

moveandcreateimagesandplay.Theyallinvolveinterpretationbytheresearcherorstudent,fromparticularstandpointsandagainst

thebackgroundofaccumulatedmeanings.(Greene1997,p.175)

Ouraimwasthustointerviewpeoplewhocomeincontactwithpoor

peopleduringtheirfulltime,professionalorvoluntarywork.Wealso

wantedto interviewpoorpeoplethemselves. Theseinterviews would

1 NSONewsReleaseNo.84/2009.p.1


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helpustolookatpovertyfromvariouspointsofview.Wefeltthatwe

hadtogivespecialtreatmenttothe voiceofthe poorthemselvessince

thiswouldgiveusaninklingofwhatitmeanstoliveinpovertyfrom0irst

handexperience.

InMalta,atleastas far asweknow,wedo not seebeggarsinthe

streets.Wedonotcomeacrosspeoplesleepingonthewalkwaysunder

airconditioningventilatorsinWinterorongardenbenchesintheSummer.

Wedonthavesoupkitchens.Wedonotknowofanychildrenlivingin

cardboardboxesandsnif0ingglueinsidewastewaterundergroundducts.SowhoarethepeoplethattheNSOstatisticsinNewsRelease84/2009

aretalkingabout?Wewantedtomeetthepeoplewhomakeupthe14%

ofpeoplelivingatriskofpoverty.Wewantedtoseetheirface,lookin

theireyes,heartheirvoices.Wewantedtolistento theirvoices,their

vocabulary,theiranalysisofthesociety wearelivinginandofthesituation

theyareputtingupwith.

Andifthesepeopleweresohardto0ind,wherecouldwelookfor

them?Inthiswewereprimarilyhelpedbyparishpriests,headsofschool,

of0icialsfromgovernmentagenciesandof0icersorvolunteersfromNGOs

whichprovideservicestothepoor.Ultimatelywemanagedtospeakto

somepoorpeopleaswell.Throughaseriesofinterviewswithallofthese

generouspeoplewetriedtoanswerthefundamentalquestion:Whoare

thepoorinMaltatoday?

Andwhy didwe wantto know? TheItalian priest Lorenzo Milani

arguedthatobeyingthelawswasnotenough,neitherforhimnorforhis

studentsinhisschoolatBarbiana.

Asfor theirlivesassovereign young menand women tomorrow, I

cannottellmypupilsthattheonlywaytoreverethelawistoobeyit.I

canonlytellthemthattheyshouldholdmankindslawsinsuchesteem

astoobservethemwhentheyarefair(thatis,whentheyupholdthe

weak).Whentheyseethattheyarenotfair(thatis,whenthelaws

sanctionabuseofpowerbythestrong)theyshould0ighttochangethem.... tohavethe courageto tellthe youththatthey themselves

areallsovereignsthusobedienceisnolongeravirtuebutthemostdeceptiveoftemptationsthattheyshouldnotbelievetheycanuseitasashieldbeforemenorGod,thateachoneofthemneedstofeel

asthoughtheyaloneareresponsibleforall.Onthisunderstanding

humanitycouldsaythatinthiscenturyithasseenmoralprogress

sidebysidewithandcomparabletoitstechnicalprogress. (Milani

n.d.,pp.3738,p.51)2

Thus,ifthelawsthatgovernoursocietystillpermitthatpeoplelive

ininhumanecircumstances,wecannotjustshieldourselvesbyclaiming

thatwepaytaxestofundawelfarestate.Wheneverstatisticslaybare

thefactthatpovertyisarealityinourcountry,wecannotjustpointour

0ingerstotheadministratorsofthesocialwelfaresystem,orworsestill,

blamethepoorthemselves.Somehow,ashumanbeingsandasChristians,

wemustfeelresponsibleforthewellbeingofothers.Again,DonMilani

writesabouthisstudents,

Ihadtoteachthemwellhowacitizenreactstoinjustice.Howhehas

freedomofspeechandofthepress.HowaChristianreactsalsoto

thepriestandeventhebishopwhoerrs.Howeachonehastofeel

responsibleforeveryoneelse.

OnonewalloftheschoolwritteninlargelettersthereisICARE.ItisthemottoofprincipledyoungAmericans,anddif0iculttotranslateinourlanguage.ItistheexactoppositeofthefascistmottoIcouldntgiveatoss.(Milanin.d.,p.34)3

Untilevenonepersonislivingincircumstanceswhichdonot0ithis

orherhumandignity,somewhereaninjusticeisbeingperpetrated.Every

2 Englishtranslationtakenfromhttp://www.semisottolaneve.org/ssn/a/26987.htmlretrievedon04.01.10

3 Ibid .


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singlepersonlivinginpoverty,thatisincircumstanceswhichdonot0it

hisorherhumandignity,isanotherreasonwhyweshouldbemovedinto

action.Everybodyisresponsibleforeveryone.Indifferencetotheplight

ofthoseinneedissymptomaticofasocietywhichisitselfinhumanand

farfromreachingitshumanful0illment.InMilanisterms,indifferenceis

afascistattitude.

The problem with the poor in Malta is that very often they do

not have thetenacity tovoice theirneeds orto speakout aboutthe

injusticestheysuffer.WerememberedthatpassageintheGospelwheretheSyrophoenicianwomancameuptoJesus,pleadinghimtohealher

daughterwhowaspossessedbyanevilspirit.JesusansweredherthatI

wassentonlytothelostsheepofIsrael.Shegoesonpleadinginsistently,

annoyingalsothedisciples.Jesusagainanswers,Itisnotrighttotake

thechildrensbreadandtossittotheirdogs.Buteventhisreplydidnot

disheartenthewoman.Shekeptinsistingsaying,Yes,Lord,buteventhe

dogseatthecrumbsthatfallfromtheirmasterstable.Facedwiththis

callforjusticeJesusismovedandreplies,Woman,youhavegreatfaith!

Yourrequestisgranted.Matthewwindsuptheepisodewritingthat

herdaughterwashealedfromthatveryhour.(Matthew15:2128)We

wantedtohelpthepoor,notbyspeakingupforthem,butbyhelpingthem

tospeakupandtomaketheirvoiceheard.Wewantedtoofferourreaders

atextaboutpovertyinMaltawritteninthelanguageandvoiceofthepoor

themselves.Wewish thatthis bookenablesthe reader tounderstand

thatthereispovertyinMalta,thatthepoortooareentitledtohuman

ful0ilment,andthateverybodyisresponsibleinsomewayoranotherto

makehumanful0ilmentforallapossibility.Notonlyisthehumanisation

ofalltheonusofeveryoneinsociety,butuntilonepersonsuffersatthe

handsofothers,allareinsomewaydetractingourselvesfromobtaining

humanful0ilment.AsPauloFreirearguesinhisseminalworkPedagogyof

theOppressed,

Dehumanization,whichmarks notonlythose whosehumanity has

beenstolen,butalso(thoughinadifferentway)thosewhohavestolen

it,isadistortionofthevocationofbecomingmorefullyhuman.This

distortionoccurswithinhistory;butitis notanhistoricalvocation.

Indeed,toacceptdehumanizationasanhistoricalvocationwouldlead

eithertocynicismortotaldespair.Thestruggleforhumanization,for

theemancipationoflabour,fortheovercomingofalienation,forthe

af0irmationofmenaspersonswouldbemeaningless.Thisstruggleispossibleonlybecausedehumanization,althoughaconcretehistorical

fact, isnot agiven destiny but the resultof anunjust orderthat

engendersviolenceintheoppressors,whichinturndehumanizesthe

oppressed.(Freire199,pp.221)

In his last days in this world, Jesus was sitting at table with his

apostleswhenMary,oneofhishosts,broughtapintofexpensiveperfume

andpoureditonhisfeet.JudasIscariotcommented,Whywasntthis

perfumesoldandthemoneygiventothepoor?Itwasworthayears

wages.JohntheEvangelistisquicktoclarifythatJudasdidnotsaythis

becausehecaredaboutthepoorbutbecausehewasathief;askeeper

ofthemoneybag,heusedtohelphimselftowhatwasputintoit.Jesus

thenanswersJudasbysaying,Leaveheralone.Itwasmeantthatshe

shouldsavethisperfumeforthedayofmyburial.Youwillalwayshave

thepooramongyou,butyouwillnotalwayshaveme.(John12:18)

ThisremarkbyJesusaboutthepermanentpresenceofthepooramong

uschallengesourcomplacencyinthefaceofthesufferingofothers.It

remindsusthatourcommitmenttowardsthehumanisationofall,and

thustowardstheeradicationofpoverty,isanendlesstaskwhichwehave

totakeup.Aftertwothousandyears,Jesussremarkisamessageofhope

rather thandespair:we willattain our ownhumanisation by helping

othersobtainingtheirs.Itisourveryownbusinesstoworktobringabout

thosechangesinthesocial,politicalandeconomicorderwhichwilllead


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tomoresocialjusticeforall.Ourvocationashumanbeingsisnottogive

occasionalcharitytoquietenourconsciencebuttomakepossibleanew

socialorderthatwouldleadtothehumanisationofall.Thechallengeis

tocreatethepossibilityforeverybodytoliveadecentlife,contributing

tolifeinsocietyandobtainingsatisfactionandful0illmentfromit.Inthe

wordsofPauloFreire,

Truegenerosityconsistspreciselyin0ightingtodestroythecauses

whichnourishfalsecharity.Falsecharityconstrainsthefearfulandsubdued,the rejectsof life, to extend theirtrembling hands. Real

generosityliesinstrivingsothatthosehandswhetherofindividuals

orentirepeoplesneedbeextendedlessandlessinsupplication,so

thatmoreandmoretheybecomehumanhandswhichworkand,by

workingtransformtheworld.(Freire199,pp.2122)

ThusthestatementbyJesus,Youwillalwayshavethepooramong

you,isnotacynicalremarkbutachallengingstatement,thelayingdown

ofa lifelongmission:humaniseyourselves,eradicatepoverty!Wehope

thatthispublicationwillbeacontributiontowardsthatend.

1.3Theresearchmethod

Westartedoutourresearchbyinterviewingpeoplewhocomeinto

contactwiththepoor.Wechosetwolocalitiesfromtwodifferentregions

ontheislandofMalta.Onelocalityistraditionallyassociatedwithsocial

exclusionandpoverty.Theotherlocalityisa relativelynewurbanarea

whichlatelyhasstartedtoexperienceformsofsocialexclusionandpoverty

aswellbuthassofarescapedtheattentionofthemedia.Wedecidednot

todisclosethelocalities.Wewillsimplycallthembythepseudonyms

nuberandFiddien.Thisdecisionwasinspiredbythecommentsmadeby

acommunityworkerfromanNGOandbyavolunteerfromanotherNGO.

Bothtoldusthatthepeoplelivinginthelocalitywheretheirorganisation

isactive, suffer fromthe stigmawhichsocietyhasmarkedthem with.

Theyalsoarguedthatthemediaisreproducingthatsigmaevenfurther.

Wedonotwanttoperpetuatetheviciouscycle.Ouraimistomakepeople

awarethatpovertyinMaltaisareality.Wewantourreaderstolookat

thisphonomenonthroughtheeyesofthosegivingaservicetothepoor

andthroughtheeyesofthepoorthemselves.Disclosingthelocalitieswill

notcontributeanythinginthisregard.

The report of the Permanent Committee for Social Affairs of the

Maltese Parliamentpublished inMarch2009 stated verycategorically

that,InMaltawedonothaveabsolutepovertywherepeoplearedying

ofhungerordonothaveanymoney.Butfromscienti0iccalculationsweknowthatthereare57,38peoplelivinginrelativepoverty.(p.4)As

TaboneandAbela explain,thisassertionis based onthe premisethat

povertyisbasedmainlyonthenotionofNationalEquivalizedIncome,

whichisusedbytheNSOtocalculatewhoisaboveandwhoisbelowthe

povertyline.(AbelaandTabone2008,p.8)Westartedoutourresearch

with the premise that theassertion ofthe Permanent Committeefor

SocialAffairswastrue.However,astheresearchprogressedwebecame


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awarethatvariouscategoriesofMaltesepeople,aswellasanewcategory

ofpeoplemadeupmainlyofAfricanimmigrants,weresometimesliving

onthevergeofabsolutepoverty.Furthermorewebecameawarethatthe

mostextremeformsofpovertyamongtheMaltesepopulationarealsothe

mostinvisible.AsfortheAfricanimmigrants,weengagedtheservicesof

anAfricanimmigrantwhohelpedustocontactimmigrantsandinterview

them.Thus,ourinterviewsledusto

volunteersandprofessionalpeoplefrom two particularareaswho

workwithpoorpeople, volunteers and professional people who work with African

immigrants,

poorMaltesepeoplewholiveinthetwolocalitieswechoseforour

research,and

anumberofAfricanimmigrants.

Ourmainresearchtoolwassemistructuredinterviews.Inthewordsof

Marton,

Quiteobviouslytherearedifferentsourcesofinformationbymeansofwhichwemaygainanunderstandingofhowpeopleconceiveof

variousaspectsoftheirworld...Interviewinghasbeentheprimary

method of phenomenographicdata collection.What questions are

askedandhow weask questions, ofcourse,are highly importantaspects ofthemethod. For presentpurposes itwillsuf0ice tosaythatweusequestionsthatareasopenendedaspossibleinordertoletthesubjectschoosethedimensionsofthequestiontheywant

toanswer.Thedimensionstheychooseareanimportantsourceof

data because they reveal an aspect of the individuals relevance

structure.Furthermore,thoughwehaveasetofquestionsatthestart

oftheinterview,differentinterviewsmayfollowsomewhatdifferent

courses.(Marton1997,p.154)

We triedto geta good mix ofinterviewees from the two chosen

localitiesinordertogetasmanydifferentpointsofview,andas many

voicesaspossible.Thusweinterviewedfourparishpriests,

twoheadsofstateschools,

amayor,alocalcouncillor,andalocalcouncilexecutivesecretary,

acommunityworkeremployedbyanNGO,

acommunityworkeremployedbythestate,

threevolunteersfromthreedifferentCommunityBasedOrganisations

(CBOs)involvedmainlywithchildren, a parentvolunteer from an NGO for parents of children with a

disability,

twotradeunionists,

an of0icer from Appo thenational social welfare agency for

childrenandfamiliesinneed,1

anof0icerfromtheDepartmentforSocialSecurity,

twoof0icersfromtheEmploymentandTrainingCorporationMaltas

PublicEmploymentService,2

aspokespersonfromtheHousingAuthority,thestateagencywhich

buildsandmanagessocialhousingandpromoteshomeownership,

andalso

avolunteerandtwoprofessionalworkersfromthreedifferentNGOs

whichgive a service to African immigrantsboth during andafter

detention.

Finally,weinterviewed

sixAfricanimmigrantsfromfourdifferentAfricancountries,and

eightMaltesepeoplewhowereexpriencingdifferentformsofpoverty,

foureachfrombothlocalitieschosenfortheresearch.

1 www.appogg.gov.mtretrievedon04.01.2010

2 www.etc.gov.mtretrievedon04.01.2010


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Weidenti0iedtheAfricanimmigrantswiththehelpofanotherAfrican

immigrantwhowashelpingusintheresearchproject.TheMaltesepoor

inthetwolocalitieswereidenti0iedthroughhelpgivenbyheadsofschool,

parishpriestsandCBOs.Thesampleisvariedinitselfbutdoesnotclaim

toberepresentativeofallthepoorinMalta,orofthevariousformsand

extremesofpovertyontheisland.Particularlywehavetopointoutthat

ithasbeenverydif0icultforustocontactpoorpeoplewhowerereadyto

beinterviewed.Haditnotbeenforthehelpgivenbyaparishpriestand

hisstaffinonelocality,andvariousCBOsinthe otherlocality,itwouldhavebeenalmostimpossible.Wealsothinkthatthoughtheinterviews

inPartThreegiveagoodglimpseintotheworldofthepoor,theydonot

gofarenoughtopicturetheextremeformsofpovertywhichweknowdo

exist,ascanbecon0irmedbyprofessionalsandvoluteersactiveinNGOs,

CBOsandstateagencies.Thus,wethinkwehavebeenonlypartlyable

togiveavoicetothoseexperiencingtheworstformsofpovertyonthe

island.Hadwebeenabletodoso,wewouldhavebeeninapositionto

challengetheclaimmadebythePermanentCommitteeforSocialAffairs

oftheMalteseParliament,thatinMaltaweonlyhaverelativepoverty.We

wanttoclarifythis,notbecausewewouldbehappyifpeopleinMalta

werelivinginabsolutepoverty,butratherbecauseweknowitexistsand

sowantoursocietytodosomethingaboutitratherthanliveindenialor

becomplacentaboutit.

Weexplainedtoourinterviewees,boththosehelpingthepoorand

alsothepoorthemselves,thatweweregoingtousethedatainorderto

publishareportaimedathelpingpeoplerealisethatpovertyinMaltaisa

realityandthatwehavetodosomethingaboutit.Withgreatgenerosity,

mostpeopleacceptedtobeinterviewed.Mostoftheinterviewswiththe

poorwerecarriedoutafteraroundofinterviewswiththosewhowork

withpeopleexperiencingpoverty.Whilethe0irstroundofinterviews

helpedustolookattheworldofthepoorfromthepointofviewofthose

whocomeincontactwithpovertyduringtheirprofessionalorvoluntary

work,thesecondroundofinterviewshelpedustolookatpovertyfrom

thepointofviewofthepoorthemselves.

Puncharguesthat

Peoplecreatetheirworldsbymeansoflanguage,whichisbothcarrierandcreatorofaculturesepistemologicalcodes.Theinnocentviewof

languageasamediumforthetransparentrepresentationofexternalrealityisreplacedbyaviewoflanguageascentrallyimplicatedinthe

constructionofknowledgeinitsinevitablypoliticalcontext.(Punch1998,p.146)

Thusfromourinterviews,wetriedtoworkourwaytowardsasubjective

realityconstructedthroughthelanguageofthoserubbingshoulderswith

thepoorandofthepoorthemselves.Wededicatedthe0irstpartofthe

reporttoanalysethediscourseofpublicof0icials,peoplefromNGOsand

CBOs,parishpriestsandpeoplefromlocalcouncilsinordertotrytocome

upwithaviewofwhatmightpossiblybethesituationofthepoorinMalta.

Whatemergesisapicturethatcontainsobjectiveandsubjectivetruths

framedina languagethatissometimessympatheticto,andsometimes

prejudicedagainst thepoor andthoseat riskof poverty.Although we

stronglybelieveweshouldnotblamethepoorfortheirownplight,wedecidedthat unsympathetic judgementsfrom thoseworkingwith the

poorweretofeatureinourreportbecausesuchattitudesareanintegral

partofthewholepicture,andarethemselvesapartoftheproblem.Inthe

secondpartofthereport,weselectedpartsofourinterviewswiththe

poorinordertojuxtaposetheirworldviewswiththoseofthe0irstgroup

ofinterviewees.The0irstbatchofinterviewsrequiredalotofdatasorting,

codingandmemoinginordertoconstructdifferentpicturesofpoverty

inMaltaas experiencedby differentprofessionalsandvolunteers.The


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secondbatchofinterviewswastreatedverydifferently.Whilethedata

wasanalysed,wedecidedtoselectexcerptsfromthedifferentinterviews

inordertohaveaswideavarietyaspossibleofpersonalexperiences

of poverty. We refrained from commenting about them and decided

to publish the excerpts with minimal editing. The handling of these

interviewsinvolved thetranslation fromMalteseinto English of most

ofthemandtheselectionofwhatwethoughtwerethemostimportant

passagesineachinterview.Thetranslatedpassageswerethenpublished

asrawdatahopingthattheywouldrepresentasfaithfullyaspossibletheopinionsandworldvisionsoftheinterviewees.Greenstatesthat,

Research of this kind cannot be carried out by people who seethemselvesasdetached,neutralobserversconcernedwiththekinds

ofobservation,measurement,andpredictionthatarepresumedtobe

unbiased,unaffectedbytheinquirersvantagepointorlocationinthe

world.(Greene1997,p.175)

Thus,inevitably, ourselectionand ourchoice ofwords during the

translationworkwasin0luencedbythewayweexperiencedourcontact

withbothprofessionalandvolunteerworkersandalsoourcontactwith

thepoorthemselves;especiallythelatterwhichattimesamountedtoa

culturalshock.Ouranalysis,translationandselectionwasalsoin0luenced

byour own valuesas Christiancommitted toa kind ofsocial justiceingrainedin the Gospels. Theresult is hopefully a publication thatis

inevitablyin0luencedbyourownconsciousorunconsciousexperiences,

reactionsandvaluesbutwhichisalsoafaithfulchannelforthevoicesof

thoseinterviewed.

2.1De'iningpovertyinnumbers

1.Introduction

WhilequotingtheNSOsHouseholdBudgetarySurvey2000,thereport

publishedbythePermanentCommitteeforSocialAffairsoftheHouse

ofRepresentativesinMarch29statescategoricallythat,InMaltawe

donthaveabsolutepoverty,wherepersonsaredyingofhungerordont

haveanymoney,butitisscienti0icallyproventhat57,38personsarelivinginrelativepoverty.1TheNSOgoesintosomedetailastowhatit

meanstosaythatacertainamountofpeoplearelivingbelowthepoverty

line.AnNSOpublicationof27statesthat,Thedisposableincomewas

usedinordertomeasuretheequivalisedincomeofeverypersonwithin

ahousehold.Thepovertylinewasestablishedbycalculating60%ofthe

median equivalised income. Allpersonswhoseequivalisedincomefell

underthisthresholdwereconsideredtobeatriskofpoverty.2Thisisthe

samemethodologyusedbyEurostat,thoughinamethodologicalnoteina

Eurostatpublicationof29,theauthorstatesthatGiventheessentially

arbitrarynatureoftheretainedthreshold,andthefactthathavingan

income below this treshhold is neither a necessary nor a suf0icient

conditionofhavingalowstandardofliving,thisindicatorisreferredtoas

ameasureofpovertyrisk.Tooffsetthismarginofunreliability,Eurostat

hasaddedanewindicatorcalledmaterialdeprivation,whichshouldbe

followedbyindicatorsdescribingthehousingconditions.3

1 KumitatPermanentiDwarlAffarijietSojali.(29)Il-idmalejnl-inklujonisojalit4isseridmakontral-faqar:It-tfall-aktarlijbatu.Malta:KamratadDeputati.p.1

2 NSONewsRelease09.05.200775/2007SurveyonIncomeandLivingConditions,p.1

3 Eurostat,Statisticsinfocus46/2009(2009)Populationandsocialconditions.p.11


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2.The at-risk-of-poverty group: The view atthe turn ofthe new

millenniumandhalfwaythroughthe'irstdecade.

Withintheseparametersitisapttodrawastatisticalpictureofthe

Maltesesituation,howeverskeletalandasepticthatpicturemaybe.The

situationin 2wassuch thatNearly15.% of personsresidingin

privatehouseholdsarebelowtheatriskofpovertyline.4Abreakdown

ofthis0igurewillgiveusaclearerpictureofwhoarethepeoplewhoat

theturnofthemillenniummadeupMaltasatriskofpovertypopulation

segment.Proceedingbyage,thelargestcohortwasmadeupofpeoplewithintheto19yearsbracket,standingat35.7%withintheatriskof

povertysegment.Inrelationtothetotalpopulationoftheislands,this

translatesinto18%ofallpeoplewithinthe0to19yearsbracketfalling

withintheatriskofpovertygroup.5

As expected, poverty is intertwinedwith other variables and can

hardly beanalysed on its own. The same document relates poverty

to educational attainmentas well as to location. Unsurprisingly, The

povertyratewasfoundtodecreasewithanincreasingeducationlevel.In

fact,whiletheatriskofpovertyrateforpeoplewhoonlycompletedtheir

primaryschoolingstoodat17.5%and11.4%forthosewhocompleted

theirsecondaryeducation, therate fallsmarkedlyfor individualswho

hadcompletedpostsecondaryeducation,standingat3.9%,and1.6%for

individualswhohadcompletedtertiaryeducation.6

Followingacceptedpopularperceptions, thehighestrateof people

livingatriskofpovertywasfoundwithintheSouthernHarbourdistrict,

comprisingValletta,Floriana,Cottoneraandthetownsintheirimmediate

surroundings,withapercentageof20.7.Thiscanbeputinrelationtothe

4 NSONewsRelease09.06.200384/2003PovertyandSocialInequality,p.1



nexthighestpercentage,15.9%intheSouthEasterndistrict,andtothe

lowestpercentage,8.7%intheWesterndistrict.7

Table1:PovertyinMaltain2000

DistrictSouthernHarbour

DistrictSouthEastern

DistrictWesternDistrict

Percentageofthetotalpopulationlivingatrisk

ofpoverty20.7% 15.9% 8.7%

Source:NSONewsRelease09.06.20038/2003PovertyandSocialInequality,p.2,8

Whenrelatedtothevariableofdwellingtype,almost65%ofthose

atriskofpovertylivedinrentedhouses.Infact,35.6%ofthoseliving

in rented, furnished dwellings and 28.8% of those living in rented,

unfurnisheddwellingswereatriskofpoverty.

Themost shockingpercentagesare, however,relatedto household

type, uncovering a malaise that is af0licting Maltese contemporary

society.TheNSONewsReleasestatesthat18.5%ofhouseholdswithtwo

adultsandchildrenwereatriskofpoverty.Instarkcomparison,55%

ofsingleparenthouseholdswithatleastonedependentchildwereat

riskofpoverty. 8Atthispointonehastoclarifythefactthatthesingle

parentcategoryincludes separatedas wellas unmarriedparents. The

lattermightfallwithinanagerangethatincludes,butisnotexclusivelymadeupof,teenagemothersorfathers.Thus,thispercentagehastobe

interpretednotonlyinrelationtotheincidenceofteenagepregnancies,

butverymuchmoresoinrelationtothesituationoftheinstitutionofthe

familyunitincontemporaryMaltesesociety,aswellas tothechanging

scenariooffamilyvaluesinMalta.

7 NSONewsRelease09.06.200384/2003PovertyandSocialInequality,pp.2,8



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TheSurveyofIncomeandLivingConditions(SILC)of2005revealed

that14.9%ofallpersonslivinginhouseholdsfellunderthepovertyline.

Whilethe percentage wasof 14.2for males, itwas slightlyhigher for

femalesandstoodat15.5%. 9Childrenwerethemostvulnerablegroup.

21.9%ofchildrenfrom0to16werelivingbelowthepovertyline.These

werefollowedbythecohortofpeopleaged65andover,16.3%ofwhom

wereatriskofpoverty. 10Thesamestudyrevealsthatthepercentageof

singleparenthouseholdswithatleastonedependentchildandfalling

belowthe povertyline stoodat 47.9%. Furthermore, 75.2% of thoseliving on socialbene0itslivedbelow thepovertyline.11Thisshowsa

slightimprovementonthe0iguresof2.However,ifweconsiderwork

intensity(WI),we0indthat47.8%ofhouseholdswithaWIequalto12

fellbelowthepovertyline.

Table2:PovertyinMaltain2005bycategory

CategoriesPercentagewithinthecategorylivingatriskofpoverty

Thegeneralpopulation 14.9%

Males 14.2%

Females 15.5%

Children16 21.9%

Theelderly65+ 16.3%

Singleparenthouseholdswithatleast1dependentchild

47.9%

Thoselivingonsocialbene0its 75.2%



11 NSONewsRelease15.05.200780/2007InternationalDayofFamilies,p.4

12 Thismeansthatnobodyinthatparticularhouseholdhadworkedduringtheyearunderconsideration.NSO News Release 15.05.2007 80/2007 International Day of Families, p.5

3.Theat-risk-of-povertygroup:Thepicturein2007

Eurostatdatafor the years2005, 2006 and 2007 showsthat the

percentageofpersonslivingbelowthepovertylinestoodataconstant

14%.13ThiscanbecomparedtotheEU27averageof16%forthesame

period.FemalesinMaltahada1%morechanceoffallingintheatrisk

ofpovertycategorythanmales,asagainstahigherrateof2%inthe

EU27group.Whilein2000,18.8%oftheMaltesepopulationaged0to19

waslivingbelowthepovertyline,intheyears2005,2006and2007,the

percentageofpeoplefromto15atriskofpovertystoodat18%.ThiswasequaltotheEU25averagefor2005and2006and1%lessthanthe

EUaveragefor2007.14Atthesametime,21%ofMaltesepeopleaged65

andoverwerelivingbelowthepovertylineinthethreeyearsfrom2005

to2007.Thiswas2%morethantheEU25andtheEU27averageforthe

samethreeyears.

4.Employment

AbelaandTabone(28)claimthatUnemploymentisperhapsthe

numberoneindicatorofpovertyandsocialexclusion.(Abela&Tabone,

2008,p.13)Asmightbeexpected,thereisastrongcorrelationbetween

the occurrence of poverty, sources of income and employment. The

2000 Household Budgetary Survey reveals that79.1% of thoseliving

in households whosemain source of income wasderivedfrom social

bene0itswerelivingbelowthepovertyline.Atthesametime,39.6%ofhouseholdswherenoonewasworkingfellwithintheatriskofpoverty

group.15However,itseemsthatinMalta,beinginemploymentoffersa

greatersecurityagainstthedangeroffallingbelowthepovertyline.While

13Eurostat.http://eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/refreshTableAction.do?tab=table&plugin=1&init=1&pcode=tsisc3&language=enretrievedon25.05.2009.

14 Eurostat.http://eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/refreshTableAction.do?tab=table&plugin=1&init=1&pcode=tsdsc23&language=enretrievedon25.05.2009.

15 NSONewsRelease09.06.200384/2003PovertyandSocialInequality,p.3.


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intheEU25group,thepercentageofpeopleinemploymentwhofellbelow

thepovertylinein2005,2006and2007was8%,inMaltathepercentage

was5in2005,and4in2006and2007. 16Atthesametime,thepercentage

ofunemployedpeopleintheEU27groupwhowereatriskofpovertyin

2007was42%.InthesameyearinMalta,itwas39%.17Thisseemsto

givecredencetoastatementmadebyanETChighof0icialduringoneof

ourinterviewsthatthebestwayoutofbene0its[andthereforeoutofthe

riskofpoverty]isto0indajob.Onewillhavetoenquireaboutthepeople

who,despitebeinginemployment,stilldonotmanagetoearnadecentliving.Thisquestionwillbediscussedbelow.

Statistics for the three years running from December 2000 to

December 2003 show that the average number of persons living in

jobless households amounted to 11%of the population.18 Across this

spanoftime,thenumberoffemaleslivinginhouseholdswherenobody

wasinemploymenthasbeeninvariablyhigherthanthenumberofmales.

Whileanaverageof10%ofmaleslivedinjoblesshouseholds,therewas

acorrespondingpercentageof12pointsforfemaleslivinginthe same

conditions. Childrenand adults inthe 45to 64age bracketwere also

theworsthit.Childrenaged0to14amountedto15%ofthoselivingin

joblesshouseholdsinDecember2000.Thepercentageroseto18.5%in

December2003.Similarly,while8.2%ofallchildrenaged0to17were

livinginjoblesshouseholdsinDecember2000,thenumberroseto10%

bythe endof 2003. Theother vulnerablegroup seemed toconsistof

thosewithinthe45to64agebracket.InDecember2000thisagegroup

madeup 47.7% of thoselivingin jobless households.The percentage

fell slightlyby December2003to 42.2%. Jobless householdsare not

evenlydistributedovertheMalteseterritory.In2003,31.9%ofjobless

16Eurostat.http://eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=en&pcode=tsdsc32&plugin=1retrievedon25.05.2009.

17 Eurostat,Statisticsinfocus46/2009(2009)Populationandsocialconditions.p.5

18 NSONewsRelease14.04.200461/2004JoblessHouseholdsinMalta.p.1

householdswerefoundintheNorthernHarbourDistrict,comprisingof

themostdenselypopulatedtownsoftheMalteseislands,includingQormi,

SliemaandBirkirkara.The second largestcohort ofjoblesshouseholds,

withapercentageof25.4%,wasfoundintheSouthernHarbourDistrict,

comprising,amongothers,Valletta,Cottonera,Paola,FguraandTarxien.

NSO statistics, basedon the Labour Force Surveys,provideus with

rawstatisticsrelatedtopeopleinemployment(15+)inMalta. 19Whilethe

numberofmalesinemploymentinthesecondquarterof2000was99,905,

thenumberroseto104,133inthesecondquarterof2005,risingslightlyto14,894inthesecondquarterof28,justbeforetheworld0inancial

crisisstartedhittinghard.Moresubstantialchangesoccurredwithregards

tofemalesinemployment.Whileinthesecondquarterof2000therewere

43,552womenaged0ifteenandoverwhowereingainfulemployment,the

numberroseto47,082inthesecondquarterof2005andagainto54,981

inthesecondquarterof2008.However,itisquitestrikingtonotethatin

thesecondquarterof2008thenumberofinactivewomenwasroughly

doubletheamountofinactivemen.The0irstnumbered116,251whilethe

secondstoodat58,368.Thenumberofinactivepeopleincludespeopleof

employmentage,andthe2:1ratiostronglysuggeststhatthenumberof

womenwhoeitherchoosetostayathometolookaftertheirchildrenor

elsearecompelledbythefamilysituationtostayathomeandlookafter

theirfamilyis stillveryhigh.At thesame time,theunemployedinthe

secondquarterof2008were6690menand3564women,totalling10,254

persons.In the fourth quarter of2008 the number ofthe unemployed

increasedto 10,790 persons, with an unemployment rateof 6.3%.20 It

transpiresthatinthesameperiod,morethanhalfoftheunemployedmales

hadbeenregisteringforworkformorethanayear,comparedto36%of

19 NSOstatisticsdatabase.www.nso.gov.mtretrievedon22.06.2009

20 NSONewsRelease20.05.200988/2009LabourForceSurvey:Q/2008,p.1,2


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womenwhowereinthesamesituation. 21Besides,itseemsthatwomen

seekingmore0lexibilityatworktocopewithfamilycommitmentswere

0indingithardertosettleforafulltimejob.Infact,0iguresrevealthat

inthesamequarterof2008,whilealmost96%ofmeninemployment

hadafulltimejob,only73.5%ofemployedwomenwereworkingon

afulltimebasis.Onthecontrary,whenitcomestofulltimejobswith

reducedhoursandparttimejobsastheirmainoccupation,womenwere

muchmore,bothinrawnumbersandpercentagewise.Infact,whileonly

about.3%ofmenwereworkingonafulltimejobwithreducedhours,therewere5.2%ofemployedwomeninthiscategory.Similarly,while

only3.8%ofemployedmenhadaparttimejobastheirmainoccupation,

totalling4,084males,therewere11,083womenwhosemainjobwason

aparttimebasis,amountingto21.3%ofemployedwomen.22Thisshows

thatMaltastillhasalongwaytogotowardsofferingwomen,enoughjob

0lexibilitythatwouldenablethemtotakeupfulltimejobs.Parttimejobs

beingmoreprecariousandunstablemakeswomenamorevulnerable

categoryofworkers.

InMay2009,thenumberofregisteredunemployedtotalled7266,up

by21%onMayofthepreviousyear.23

In 2003, 4716 persons availed themselves of contributory

unemploymentbene0itsamountingto 2,839,851. The following year

the number of unemployed who bene0ited from unemployment aid

spiralledto612,nettingatotalof3,213,299.Numbersstartdecreasingasfrom2005.Intheyear2007therewere4,481personswhoreceived

unemploymentbene0its,amountingto2,323,37.Similarly,thenumber

ofpersonswhoavailedthemselvesofnoncontributoryunemployment

bene0its in 23 amounted to 671, netting between them the sum

21 NSONewsRelease20.05.200988/2009LabourForceSurvey:Q/2008,p.9

22 NSONewsRelease20.05.200988/2009LabourForceSurvey:Q/2008,p.8

23 www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/29624/local/unemploymentplaguesgozoandthesouth.Retrievedon25.06.2009

of 16,962,613. The number spiralled to 6755 in 24, resulting in

noncontributory unemployment bene0its amounting to 18,86,89.

Numbers started dwindling the following year, reaching a total of

5854personsin27whoamongthembene0itedfrom17,342,647.24

Unemploymentdidnotseemtoprecludeeitherfrommarryingorhaving

children. However, the number of males who either married or had

childrenwhileinunemploymentwasverylimited.In2007,therewere

46unemployedmaleswhogotmarried,totalling1.9%ofallmaleswho

gotmarriedinthatyear.Thelargestgroupwithinthiscohortconsistedof19malesaged25to29.Inthesameyear209outof3871livebirthswere

borntounemployedfathers.Thismeansthat5.4%ofbabiesin2007were

borntounemployedfathers.25

Table3:Peoplereceivingcontributoryandnoncontributoryunemploymentbene'itsin2003,2004and2007

Personsreceiving

contributoryunemployment

bene0its

Amountofcontributorybene0itspaid

Personsreceivingnoncontributory

unemploymentbene0its

Amountofnoncontributory

unemploymentbene0its

2003 4716 2,839,851 6071 16,962,613

2004 6102 3,213,299 6755 18,86,89

2005 4995 2,544,87 6611 17,333,523

2006 5277 2,769,581 6200 17,915,5192007 4481 2,323,37 5854 17,342,647

Source:NSO(2008)SocialProtection:MaltaandtheEU2008.Data2003-2007.Malta:NSO.pp.3,5.

24NSO(2008)SocialProtection:MaltaandtheEU2008.Data2003-2007.Malta:NSO.pp.3,5.

25NSO(2008)DemographicReview2007.Malta:NSO.pp.29,53.


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5.Employment,EducationandHousing

The causes of poverty are often a complex combination of

circumstances.Employmentisjustone.Aswehavealreadyseen,asmall

percentageofpeopleinemployment,thoselivingonscantypaycheques,

fallbelow the povertyline, notwithstandingthe factthat theyhave a

fulltimejob.Itshouldnotbeverydif0iculttoshowthatthosewhoend

up0illingtheranksoflowlypaidjobsandoftheunemployedarethose

withthelowestlevelofeducationalachievement.AccordingtoEurostat,

in 2007, 16%of thosewhose highest level of educational attainmentwas preprimary, primary or lower secondary, were living below the

povertyline,comparedtotheEU25percentageof23.Asthelevelof

educationalattainmentincreases,sodoesthechanceoflivingabovethe

povertyline.Infact,7%ofpeoplewhohadbeentouppersecondaryor

postsecondaryeducationwerelivingbelowthepovertyline,compared

toEU25percentageof13. Similarly,inMalta,thepercentageofthose

whohadreceivedtertiaryeducationandwerelivingbelowthepoverty

linewas5%,comparedtoEU25percentageof7.Thus,bothinMaltaand

inEurope,themoreapersonisquali0ied,thelesschancehe/shehasof

livingbelowthepovertyline.26

In2005,26,121personsdeclaredtheywereilliterate. 27Thehighest

numberofilliteratesisfoundintheSouthernHarbourArea,whichaccording

tothesamecensuswasfoundtohavethehighestunemploymentrate.In

thisdistrict,7442peopledeclaredthemselvestobeilliterate,amounting

to10.2%ofthepopulation,comparedtotheNorthernDistrict,withthe

lowestrateofilliteracyat4.5%.Atthesametime,3117personsdeclared

tobeunemployedintheSouthernHarbourDistrict,amountingto4.57%

ofthe population ofthe district,in comparison to1104 unemployed

26 http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&plugin=1&language=en&pcode=tsdsc420.Retrievedon25.06.2009.

27NSO(2007)CensusofPopulationAndHousing2005.Vol.1.Population.Malta:NSO.p.177

personsintheNorthernDistrictwiththelowestrateofunemployment

at2.4%.28ThisisfurthercorroboratedbystatisticsrelatedtoMay2009

wherethetoptenMalteselocalitieswiththehighestunemploymentrate

consistedofthreeGozitantownsandsevenMaltesetownsallfromthe

SouthernHarbourRegion.Bycontrast,fourof thesixlocalitiesmaking

uptheNorthernRegion,featuredamongthetenlocalitieswiththelowest

unemploymentrates.29

Statisticsrelatedtohousingfollowthesamepattern.Fromstatistics

tabled inParliament bythe Ministerfor SocialPolicyin June2009,ittranspires thatbetween 2004 and2008therewere3281requestsfor

socialaccommodation.Amongtheninelocalitiesregisteringthehighest

numberof requests foralternativesocial housing, onewill 0indthree

localitiesfromtheSouthernHarbourDistrict.Twoofthem,Vallettaand

Bormla,arefoundinthe0irstandthirdplacerespectively.30

6.Singleparenthouseholds

Thiscategorywas singled out for two reasons. Firstly, because in

publishedstatisticsthe0iguresrelatingto thiscategorystandoutfrom

therest. Secondly,becausewhatemergesfromthe statisticaldatahas

beencorroboratedbythedataobtainedfromtheinterviewsbothwith

peoplefromNGOsaswellaswithpeoplewhohaveexperiencedor are

experiencingpoverty.

Tobeginwith,wewilltakealookatthestatisticaldataof2003.In

theHouseholdBudgetarySurveyofthatyear,itemergesthat2.6%ofall

households weresingle parent households.Single motherhouseholds

amounted to 2.0% of the total number of households.31 The 2003

28NSO(2007)CensusofPopulationAndHousing2005.Vol.1.Population.Malta:NSO.p.197

29 www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/29624/local/unemploymentplaguesgozoandthesouth.Retrievedon25.06.2009

30 www.lorizzont.com/news.asp?newsitemid=54480.Retrievedon25.06.2009

31 NSONewsRelease196/2003.18.12.2003SingleMotherHouseholds,p.1


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documentfocusesonsinglemotherhouseholdsandrevealsthat43.8%

ofpersonslivinginsinglemotherhouseholdslivedundertheatriskof

povertyline, comparedto 14.4% of people living inother households

whowere living below the povertyline,comparedalsoto the 14.9%

0igureofpeoplelivingatriskofpovertyinallhouseholds.Thisdatais

corroboratedbyother0iguresthatshowhowin5%ofsinglemother

households,noonewasgainfullyoccupiedcomparedto29%inallother

households. There is again signi0icant difference between household

typeswhenthevariableis2gainfullyoccupiedpersonsinthehousehold.Whiletherewere31%ofhouseholdsatanationallevelin2003where

therewere2ormoregainfullyoccupiedmembers,therewereonly12%

ofsinglemotherhouseholdswhichhad2ormoremembersingainful

employment. Similarly, only 19% of people living in single mother

householdsweregainfullyoccupied,comparedto37%of peopleliving

inotherhouseholdswhowereingainfulemployment.32Therewasalso

ahigherchanceofsinglemotherhouseholdstoliveinarentedhouseor

inahousethatwasnotthepropertyofthefamilybutwasmadeavailable

freeofcharge.33

TheSILCof2005andtheCensuscarriedoutinthesameyearfocuson

singleparenthouseholdsratherthansinglemotherhouseholds.Thedata

showsthatthepercentageofsingleparenthouseholdshadgonedown

from2.6%ofallhouseholdsin2003to1.4ofhouseholdsin2005. 34But

theplightofsingleparenthouseholdsdidnotreallyimprove.TheSILC

showsthat47.9%ofpeoplelivinginsingleparenthouseholdswereliving

belowthepovertyline.Thispercentageincludes47.1%ofpersonsliving

insinglemotherhouseholds,whichcanbecomparedto43.8%forthe



34 NSONewsRelease80/2007.15.05.2007Internationaldayoffamilies,p.2

samecategoryin2003. 35Singleparenthouseholdshadthelowestaverage

disposableincomeforhouseholdswithoneormorechildren.36

TheCensusof2005givesusaglimpseofthedistributionofsingle

parenthouseholdsacrossthesixdistrictsoftheMalteseislands.Perhaps

unexpectedly, the region withthe highest percentage of single parent

householdsistheNorthernregion,whichwasfoundtobeoneofthemost

af0luent in relation to such variablesas employmentand educational

attainment.However,onehastoconsiderthefactthatstatisticsindicate

that thereis a verygreat probabilityfor single parent households toliveinrentedhouses.RightinthecentreoftheNorthernDistrict,one

0indsthemodernurbansprawlofBuibba/Qawrawhichmightattract

asigni0icantnumberofpersonswhoforvariousreasonsfeeltheneed

torentanapartment.Singleparenthouseholdsaccountedfor3.4%of

householdsintheNorthernDistrict.Insecondplacewe0indtheSouthern

Harbourregion,withapercentageof2.8%.37

Thepercentageofsingleparenthouseholdsfallingbelowthepoverty

linecontinuestoincreaseasyearsgoby.In27,the0igureincreasesto

54%ofsingleparenthouseholds.38Thismeansthatmorethanhalfthe

peoplelivinginsingleparenthouseholdshavedif0icultiesinmakingends

meet.ThispercentageisalsothehighestoneintheEU,comparedalsoto

theEU25percentageof34%forthesamecategory.39

Within the single parent category, one 0inds unmarriedmothers.

Thoughthe termsunmarried mothers andsingle parents are notalways interchangeable, one has to note that the number of births

occurringoutsidemarriageincreasedsteadily,from499in2001,to678

35 NSONewsRelease75/2007.09.05.2007Surveyonincomeandlivingconditions,p.4

36 NSONewsRelease75/2007.09.05.2007Surveyonincomeandlivingconditions,p.3



39 http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/refreshTableAction.do?tab=table&plugin=1&1init=1&pcode=tsdsc24&language=enretrievedon25.05.2009.


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in2003,to779in2005.In2007,25%ofallbirthsoccurringinMalta

wereto unmarriedmothers.Theseamountedto atotal of964 births.

Ofthese,353caseswereprobablydeclaredtohaveunknownfathers.40

Singleunmarriedparentsareentitledtoaspecialallowance.Government

expenditure on this allowance has increasedaccordingly. There were

14singleunmarriedparentsbene0itingfromthisallowancein23,

bene0itingfromatotalexpenditureof4,239,91.Thenumberincreased

to 1,813 single unmarriedparentsin 2005, sharing between theman

expenditure amounting to 6,563,765. In 27, the number of singleunmarriedparentscontinuedtospiralto2,346whoamongthembene0ited

from8,14,252.41 Adocumenttabledin parliamentin responsetoa

parliamentaryquestionrevealsthatthenumberofschoolgirlmothers

agedbetween13and15seekinghelpfromUnitGoa,aspecialised

unitwithintheDirectorateforEducationalServices,inthescholasticyear

2006/07was31,in2007/2008wentdownto22androseagainto28in

thescholasticyear2008/2009.42

Table4:Livebirthsoutsidemarriage2001-2007

2001 499

2002 569

2003 678

2004 744

2005 779

2006 8662007 964

Source:NSONewsRelease87/2008.15.05.2008Internationaldayoffamilies:2008,p.6

40 NSONewsRelease87/2008.15.05.2008Internationaldayoffamilies:2008,p.6IsayprobablybecausethesourceonlysaysthatNSOdidnotknowtheageofthefather,presumablybecausethemotherdeclaredunknownfatherstatusatthecivilregistrationof0ice.

41NSO(2008)SocialProtection:MaltaandtheEU2008.Data2003-2007.Malta:NSO.p.5.

42 http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/2971/local/28schoolgirlmothersreceiveassistance.Retrievedon01.07.2009.

7.Immigrants

StatisticsrelatedtoimmigrantsprovidedbytheNSOgo asfarback

as1995whenanumberofIraqiswereprobablystillinMaltafollowing

the 1991991 Persian GulfWar. Theyspoke a strange language, but

sometimes you could hardly tell anIraqifrom a Maltese. They even

joinedtheSundaycongregationsinourCatholicChurches.Theyattracted

alotofsympathyandreceivedgreathelpuntilmostofthemreceived

refugee status andwereresettled mainlyin NorthAmerica. Albanians

andothersfromotherEasternEuropeancountriesalsofoundtheirwaytoourislandsfollowingunrestintheBalkansinthesameperiod.43But

beingwhite,theymingledwiththelocalpopulation.TheNSOstatistics

highlightthefactthatanumberofforeignerswereseekingrefugeinour

country.Then,whenMaltajoinedtheEUin2004,thereseemedtobean

openingupofasouthnorthhuman0lowacrosstheMediterranean.Only

thatthistimetheincomerscouldnotbemissed.Theirskincolourgave

themup.ReferredtoinvariablyasAfricans,illegalimmigrants,irregular

immigrants, clandestine, orsimplyas blacks, theyseem tohave made

animpressionontheMaltesecollectivepsyche.Thenumberofpersons

grantedasyluminMaltafellfromahighofalmost700in1995to133in

2002.Thennumbersstartspirallingagainin2003,whenthenumberof

peoplegrantedasylumwentupto381.Inthenextfouryears,thenumber

stoodbetweenabout550and600eachyearuntilin2008itmorethan

doubled, reachinga number of 1416. In 2008, there were2775boat

people who reached our shores. They were not the only foreigners

stayingontheislandsirregularly,buttheywerethemostconspicuous

becauseofthecolouroftheirskin,whichmakesitimpossibleforthemto

camou0lagethemselvesamongtheMaltesepopulation.Fromthe0igures

43 TheBosnianWartookplacebetween1992and1995.Atthesametime,thedif0iculttransitionfromEnverHoxhasiron0istruletoWesternstyledemocracywastakingplaceinAlbania,aprocessthatsawcivilunrestin19911992andnationwideriotsin1997.


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intable6,itmayappearthatfortheperiod2228,slightlymore

thanhalfofthoseseekingasylum,wereeffectivelygrantedrefugeestatus

orsomeotherformofprotection. 44InDecember2008,therewere1895

immigrantsresidingmainlyattheopencentresinalFarandMarsaand

inothersmallresidencesinvariouslocalities. 45Therewerepresumably

otherswhohadmovedoutoftheopencentrestoliveinrenteddwellings.

Otherswerekeptindetentioncentresawaitingtobedeportedorwaiting

foradecisionregardingtheirapplicationforasylum.Itisnotpossible

fromthestatisticspublishedbyNSO,mainlybasedonstatisticsputatitsdisposalbytheCommissionerforRefugeesandbytheOrganisationfor

theIntegrationandWelfareofAsylumSeekers(OIWAS)todeterminehow

manyAfricanorotherimmigrantswerelivinginMaltainanyparticular

year. Whatis certainis thatthe Africanimmigrantswere theonesto

attractmostattention.

InJuly29Skop,theNationalPlatformofMalteseNongovernmental

DevelopmentOrganisations,issuedastatement46inreactiontoareport

publishedbythePermanentCommitteeforSocialAffairsoftheHouseof

RepresentativesinMarch2009,whichcategoricallydeniedtheexistence

ofabsolutepovertyinMalta.47SKOPstatedthat,Atthesametimethat

theparliamentarydebaterejectedtheexistenceof absolutepovertyin

Malta,a numberof socialactivistswereholdingmeetingswitha group

ofAfricanwomenresidinginthenorthofMaltaandcurrentlybene0itingfromhumanitarianprotection.Thisgroupofaround30women,allwith

children,lackbasicneedsincludingfoodandnappiesfortheirchildren.

44 NSONewsrelease109/200919.06.2009WorldRefugeeDay,pp.4.

45 NSONewsrelease109/200919.06.2009WorldRefugeeDay,pp.5.



Thisamountstoabsolutepovertybyanyde0inition.48

Table5:Personsgrantedrefugeestatusorsomeotherkindofprotection.

Year Numberofpersons

1995 698

1996 538

1997 448

1998 450

1999 378

2000 277

2001 244

2002 133

2003 381

2004 609

2005 546

2006 503

2007 630

2008 1416

Source:NSONewsrelease133/200520.06.2005WorldRefugeeDayp.2,

NSONewsrelease109/200919.06.2009WorldRefugeeDayp..

48 The Times of Malta (14.07.2009),L-Orizzont(14.07.2009)


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Table6:BoatsarrivinginMaltawithirregularimmigrants:2002-2008

Year No.of

boats

arriving

No.of

peopleon

board

Applications

0iledwiththeCommissionerfor

Refugeesduringthe

currentyear

No.ofpersons

grantedrefugee

statusorsome

otherkind

ofprotection

duringthe

currentyear

No.ofpersons

denied

refugeestatus

orsome

otherkind

ofprotection

duringthe

currentyear

2002 21 1686 350 133 2862003 12 502 455 381 187

2004 52 1388 995 609 259

2005 4 8 1822 1165 546 556

2006 5 7 1780 1261 503 542

2007 6 8 1702 1386 630 329

2008 84 2775 2608 1416 1281

Total 342 11655* 8220** 4218 3440***

Source:NSONewsrelease109/200919.06.2009WorldRefugeeDaypp.2,.

* ThenumberofpersonsarrivingbyboatdoesnotconstitutetheentiregroupofpersonsarrivingorstayinginMaltairregularly.Thereareotherswhoarrivethroughlegalmeansbutthenstaybeyondtheexpiryoftheirvisapermit.

** ThenumberofpersonsapplyingforprotectioncomesmainlybutnotexclusivelyfromAfricanboatpeople.Notallboatpeopleapplyforasylumorprotection.

***Wheninterpretingthesenumbersonehastokeepinmindthatwhilepresumablyanasylumseekerwill0ileanapplicationwiththeCommissionerforRefugeessoonafterarrival,his/herapplicationwilltakelongtoconclude.Thusanapplicationmightbe0iledinoneyearanddecideduponduringthefollowingyear.Thusbywayofexample,anumberofthepersonsgranted

asylumin28,willhave0iledtheirapplicationduring27,theactualyearoftheirarrivalontheMalteseislands.

8.Conclusion

Thesenumbersshouldbeenoughtoillustratethepointthatpoverty

inMaltadoesexistindifferentforms,af0lictingdifferentpeople,white

andblack,ofallages.Theyalsoshowthatpoverty,ortheriskoffalling

intopoverty, af0licts several thousandsof people living inthe Maltese

islands.Wemaynotseebeggarsinthestreetyet.Andifwearenotactive

incertainagenciesthatofferparticularservicestopoorpeople,wemight

still thinkthatthe poor inour country are a rare occurrance.These

statisticsdraw backthe curtain andexpose a reality which is mostly

hiddentothemajorityofthepopulation.Inthefollowingchapter,weare

goingtolookatpovertythroughtheeyesofserviceprovidersfromNGOs

andgovernmentagencies.


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2.2WhoarethepoorinMalta?Atypologyofthe

relativelyandnotsorelativelypo or1

1.Strugglingtomakeendsmeet

IfwetaketheEurostatmeasuretodrawthelinebetweenwhoispoor

andwhoisnot,thenaccesstomonetaryresourcesbecomestheyardstick.

InourinterviewswithemployeesandvolunteersfromNGOsandstate

agencies, wetriedto drawup atypologyof reasonswhypeoplemay

experiencepoverty.

A 0irst and almost obvious reason for 0inancial deprivation is

unemployment.Anotherreasonisexclusivedependenceonsocialsecurity

bene0its,mostlyintheformofcashhandoutsbytheDepartmentforSocial

Security.Moreworryingisthefactthatsometimesfamilieswherethere

isabreadwinnerinemploymentandhavedependentchildren,still0indit

hardtomakeendsmeet.

A constantworry ofthe persons who get into contact with those

experiencing poverty is the fact that sometimes families who have

meagre0inancialresources,donotmanagethemwellenough.Anumber

ofserviceprovidersweinterviewedsaidthatoftenthefamilyhassome

formof0inancialincomebutarguedthatthemembersofthefamilyspend

theavailablefundsaccordingtoasetofcriteriathattheintervieweesdid

notagreewith.Insuchcases,theintervieweestendedtoputtheblameon

thefamiliesthemselves.

Thentherewerecaseswhere,accordingtointerviewees,people0ind

themselvesinunfortunatecircumstancesnotoftheirownmaking.One

1 AngeleDeguara(2008)draftedasimilartypologyofcategoriesofpoorpeopleinMaltaandtheEU.HerresearchisbasedonMalteseandEuropeanpublicationsofvariouskinds.ThischaptercomplementsAngeleDeguarastypologybyresearchingmainlytheopinionofpersonswhohavelongstandingexperienceofworkwithpoorpeoplewithinstate,churchandvoluntarysectororganisationsandagencies.ThuswhileDeguarastypologyismorebasedonstatisticalresearchcarriedoutatMalteseandatEuropeanlevel,oursismoregroundedintheMalteseserviceprovidersexperienceofpoverty.

suchcaseiswherefamiliesfacesuddenhealthconditionsthatrequire

veryexpensivemedicalcare,whichisbeyondthe0inancialmeansofthe

family.

Sometimespeoplefallvictimstousury. Twoparishpriestspointed

outsuchoccurrencesofthisproblemintheirparish.Whileoneparish

priestspokeaboutitingenericterms,theotherparishpriestlinkedit

directlytotheplightofsinglemotherslivinginhisparish.Whenthese

people0indithardtopayrentoreventobuysomebasicneedsfromthe

grocers,theymayfallvictimtousurerslivingintheirblock.Thelattermaysometimesbeelderlywomenwhopryuponthesevulnerablepeople,

draggingthemintoaviciouscirclethatmakestheiralreadyprecarious

situationevenworse.

Fromtheinterviewscarriedout,thecategorythatemergedtobethe

mostvulnerablewasthatmadeupofsingleparentfamilies,something

that is glaringly visible through statistical records, which regularly

indicatethataroundhalfofallsingleparentfamiliesinMaltalivebelow

thepovertyline.

Anothervulnerablecategoryismadeupofpeoplewhohaveproblems

relatedtosubstanceabuseorcompulsivegambling.Sometimesitishard

totellif0inancialproblemsarethecauseofortheeffectofsubstance

abuseorgambling.Whatissureisthathavingasubstanceabuse,alcohol

or gambling problemmakesheavier0inancial demands on an already

depleted0inancialsupply,compoundingthe personalsituationof thesepeople.Whiledrugabusemaybe anundergroundaffair,alcoholabuse

andgamblingarenot.As foralcoholabuse,weencounteredadrunken

mansittinginaparishof0icewherewewereconductinganinterview

withaparishpriest.Onourwayout,weweretoldthathewasinthe

waitingroomwaitingfortheparishpriesttoaskhimforsomemoney.

Withregardstogambling,allfourparishpriestsinterviewedpointedtheir

0ingersatthemushroomingofgaminghallsinMaltaduetoaloopholein


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Malteselaw.2Oneparishpriesttoldus,Theseshopsinmyparishare

openingupinplaceswherethemostvulnerablepeoplelive.Aheadof

schoolmentionedabingohallthatoffersbingoalldaylonginthelocality.

Acommunityworkeractiveinthesamelocalitymentionedpeoplewho

spendalltheirmoneyatthelottoof0ice.Anotherparishpriestmentioned

agamblingshopnotveryfarfromhisparishchurchwherehesawold

ladiessquanderingtheirpensioncheque.A statementissuedinMarch

2009aboutgamblingshopsbytheParliamentarySelectCommitteefor

SocialAffairsmentionshow

amotherwith compulsive gambling disorderwaswalking in the

streetandaftermanagingtoavoidenteringtwogamblingoutlets,she

metyetanotheroutletandsuccumbedtothetemptation.Ithadto

beher0ifteenyearolddaughterwhodraggedheroutofthisoutlet

inordertostopherfromgamblingawayallthemoneyshegotfrom

socialbene0its,withtheconsequencethatthisfamilyhadtodowith

1forthewholemonth.

Thesamestatementaf0irmsthatthereexistsa strongrelationship

betweenusuryandcompulsivegamblingandthat70%ofthosewhofall

victimtousuryarecompulsivegamblers.(DOI12.3.29)

Finally, 0inanciallywise, there seemsto be an imminent danger of

usheringinanewcategoryofabsolutelypoorintheguiseofimmigrants

whoareinstructedtoleavetheopencentres.They0inditverydif0icult

to0indemploymentandareverypronetoendupinbleakconditions.3

Managing to aggregate themselves in small groups and renting 0lats

collectively, theyare slowly in0iltrating both of the localitieswe have

2 Thisproblemseemstohavebeenpartlyaddressedthroughamendmentsinthelawandalsoaclampdownbythepoliceforcewhichforcedsomeoftheseoutletstoclosedown,somepermanently.

3 SeeforexampleTheTimesofMalta(14.7.29),LOrizzont(14.7.29)

surveyed.Twoparishpriests,onefromeachlocality,havetoldusthat

immigrantssometimesturnupattheirof0icesaskingforclothingandfor

food.

2.Theunemployed

Longterm unemployment seems to be a very important issue in

nuber.Theheadteacherofthelocalprimaryschoolsaidthatsomefathers

are chronically unemployed and described them as fathers without

ajob,alwaysatthepub.Aparishpriestsaidthatsomeofthepeoplewhogobeggingformoneyathisof0icearepeoplewhoareinirregular

employment.4Arecurrentproblemrelatedtoemploymentseemstobe

thatsinglemotherswhoarecaringforveryyoungchildren0inditvery

hardtoaccesschildcarefacilities.Whentheydonothavefamilysupport

inthisregard,theyarepracticallyprecludedfromtakingonevenpart

timejobs,muchlesssofulltimejobs.Themayorofnubertoldusthat

inhislocality,therearevariousestablishmentswheremotherscan0ind

employment.Howeversincethereare nochildmindingfacilitiesin his

locality,itisonlythosemotherswhocanrelyonotherfamilymembers

forchildcare,whoareabletotakeupsuchajob.Similarly,acommunity

workerfromanNGOinthesamelocalitytoldusthatamongtheirclients

therearesingleparentswithsmallchildrenwhodonothavepersons

theycanrelyontotakecareoftheirchildren.TheheadofaFiddien

stateschool told us that,single parents who have a job and donothaveanybodywhocantakecareoftheirchildren,sometimessendtheir

childrentoschoolevenwhentheyaresick.

Acommunityworkerpointedouttousthatsomepeoplearevery

willingtoworkbutarepracticallyunemployablebecausetheyhavea

verylowlevelofeducation.Becauseofthis,theyonly0indunstablejobs,

unmotivatingjobs,orjobsontheminimumpay.AbelaandTabone(28)

4 Jadmu bla ktieb.


24/82


declarethat,Theminimumwageisapovertywage.(p.42)Besides,at

timesitisnotworththetroubletogetajobontheminimumwage.A

parentwhotakesalltheavailablesocialbene0itswillbeearningjustafew

euroslessthantheminimumpay.Sotakingupajobwiththeminimum

pay,withallthe complicationsofhavingtocombinechildcarewiththe

worktimetable,isnotanincentiveenoughtoenticetheparenttotakeup

ajob.Thisargumenthasbeeninvariablyputforwardbyallthefourparish

priestswehaveinterviewed.AlocalcouncillorfromFiddiennotedthat,

thedifferencebetweentheminimumpayandsocialassistanceamountsonlytoabout4,asumtheycanmakeupforwithadaysworkthey

mightgetfromsomewhere.Themayorofnuberhintedthatthisresults

inamentalityofchronicdependenceonsocialservices.Thispointwill

bediscussedinfurtherdetailinthenextchapter.

Anothercategoryofpeoplewho0inditveryhardto0indajobare

thosewhoattheageoffortyandover0indthemselvesunemployed,the

victims of industrialrestructuringor relocationof industriesto other

countrieswherethereisanavailabilityofcheaperlabourandgenerally

lower production costs. An of0icial from the Department of Social

SecuritysingledoutexemployeesofthestateownedMaltaDrydocksand

Shipbuildingcompanieswhichhavebeensubjecttodrasticrestructuring

resultinginschemesforvoluntaryoptoutfromworkin recentyears,

aswellasexemployeesofvariousprivateforeignownedfactoriesinthe

manufacturingsectorwhichhavecloseddownor relocatedelsewhere.

Amongtheseworkers,therewereagoodnumberofhighlyskilledand

highlymotivatedworkersintheirlatefortiesand0iftieswho,inthewords

ofaFiddienlocalcouncillor,wouldbeconsideredtoooldtogetajob.The

EmploymentandTrainingCorporation(ETC)hassingledoutthiscategory

ofpeopleandisaddressingtheirneedsthroughtargetedaction.AnETC

of0icialwasoftheopinionthatthespecialschemesarenottargetedatthe

unemployedthemselvesbutratherattheemployerswhoseemreluctant

toemployolderpeoplebutwouldratherhireyoungerworkers.

Anothercategoryofpeoplewhoseaccesstotheworldofworkcomes

withlotsofstringsattachedarethedisabled.Themotherofadisabled

youngwomanwhohasbeenluckyenoughto0indafulltimejob,saidthat

notalldisabledpeopleareaslucky.Shesaidthatmostparentsofdisabled

childrenareverypreoccupiedthatwhentheypassawaytheirchildren

would not beindependentenough tosupport themselves. Anof0icial

fromAppoarguedthatthesamehappenstopeoplewhohavementalproblems,claimingthatemployersareveryreluctanttosupportpeople

whomighthaveextradif0icultiesto0itinmainstreamemployment.

3.Thehomelessandthoselivinginprecariousconditions

Relativepoverty,thetermusuallyusedinof0icialandparliamentary

circlesatnationalandEUlevels,isitselfauselesstermwhenitcomesto

de0inetheplightofpeoplewhosuddenly0indthemselvesevictedfrom

theirhomesandliterallythrownoutintothestreet,sometimestogether

withtheirchildren.Thereisnothingrelativeinthesituationofahomeless

personorfamily.

Whenwe asked theHousing Authorityto identifythose groups of

peoplewhoaremostlikelytoknockattheirdoors,thefollowingcategories

wereidenti0ied:

Singleparents Peoplewithmobilityproblems

Peoplewhohavetroublewiththeirneighbours

Peoplewhoaresharingahousewithotherpeople

Homelesspeople

Peoplesufferingdomesticviolence

Youngpeoplelivinginchildrenshomesandwhocomeofageand

havetomoveoutoftheinstitution


25/82


Peoplelivingindangerousbuildings

Peoplelivinginsubstandardhousing

Peoplepayinghighrentfortheirpresentlodgings

Peoplefacingabankoracourtevictionorder

Thesecategorieswerenothandedtousinanyparticularorder,and

justhighlightanumberofvulnerablecategoriesofpeoplewhoduring

sometimeoftheirlifefeeltheneedtoaskforsocialaccommodationfrom

thestateagencyinchargeofthisservice.Mostofthesecategorieshavesurfacedthroughoutourresearchandwefoundthatmostofthemhaveto

faceverycomplexsituations,housingbeingjustonesideofthecoin.

Theheadofschoolofnuberstatedthatatthetimeoftheinterview,

therewerechildrenfromthreedifferentfamilieswhowerehomelessand

were0indingshelterinan institution.Thehousingsituationin Fiddien

seemstoberatherbleak.Manypeopleseemtobelivinginsubstandard

orevendangeroushousing.Aparishpriestfromnubersaidhowhehad

beeninhouseswhichdonothaveashower,whileacommunityworker

inthesamelocalityhadbeeninhomeswithouttilesbecausethefamily

doesnothavethemeans.

The head ofa nuber schoolspoke ofchildrenin the schoolwho

liveinfamilyclustersinhouseswhicharenotsubstandardbutwhich

areverycrowded.Similarly,aGirlGuideleaderfromFiddiensaidhow

sheknewofchildrenfromlargefamilieswholiveinanapartmentwithtwobedrooms.Aparishpriestfromthesamelocalityspokeofsmall

apartments,(consistingof)tworoomsandatoilet.

TheworstsituationinrelationtohousinginFiddienislinkedtosingle

mothers.AmemberofthestaffofthelocalcouncilofFiddienrevealed

howheknewofsinglemotherswhoarenotrelatedinanywaytoeach

other,whodecidetosharea0latbetweenthembecausetheycouldnot

affordtorentseparateapartmentsfortheirrespectivefamilies.Aparish

priestfromFiddiencon0irmedtheoccurrence.Hetoldusoftwomothers

whobetween themhad sevenchildren,whoshared a0lat.. The 0latis

extremelynoisy.Oneofthesemothershaschangedhomethreetimesin

threeweeks.

AcommunityworkerwithanNGOwhichamongotherthingsprovides

sheltertohomelesspeople,toldusthatmanypeoplewhoseekhelpfrom

herorganisationaremostlyadultsbetween30and40yearsofagewhohad

justpassedthroughaprocessofseparationwherebythecourtassignsthe

maritalhometotheotherpartner.Shealsoknewofanumberofsquattersinnuberwhohaveinheritedthehousewheretheirparentshadbeen

squatters.Suchhousesbelongtolandlordswhohaveneverturnedupto

claimbacktheirproperty.

Acommunityworkerfromthesamelocalityarguesthat,Thepeople

ofnubersomehowresignthemselvestothefactthattheywillnever

ownahouse,andthinkthatthehomemustinevitablybeprovidedby

thegovernment.Whilethiscommunityworkerwas hintingat asense

of helplessness in disenfranchisedpeople,a person fromthe Housing

Authorityblamedthis onthe welfarestatemodel ofthe 1970s saying

that,Ibelieveitisaquestionofmentality,stillcomingfromtheolden

timeswheretheGovernmentprovidedeverything.

Finally,itisimportanttonotethatourresearchwascarriedoutat

atimewhenthenew rent lawsapproved byParliament in2009 had

stillnotcomeintoforce.WeaskedtheHousingAuthorityiftheywere

envisagingnewhardshipsasaresultofthenewlawswhichweretaking

thelidofftenanciesthathadbeensecuredfordecadesbytheoldrent

laws.However,theAuthoritydidnotseeminapositiontoforeseeany

problematicoutcomes.TheHousingAuthorityspokespersonsimplysaid

that,ThenewrentlawpassedthroughallthestagesfromParliament.

Itis uptothe MinistertodecidewhentheLawwillcomeinto force.

Governmentwillmakesurethatthosewhoreallyneedassistancewillbe


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helped.Thespokespersonseemedquitecon0identthatGovernment,a

verygenericentity,willbeabletocomeupwithsolutionstoproblemsas

theyarise.

4.Dealingwithsicknessandwithdisability

A Parish priest fromnuber expressedhow families in his parish

passedthroughhardshipwhentheyhadtospendlotsofmoneytocure

illnesses,sometimesevenborrowingmoneyforthepurpose.Acommunity

workerfromnubersaidthatsometimespeoplewithpsychologicalandemotionalproblemsknockathisNGOsdoorforassistance.AGirlGuide

fromFiddiensaidthatwhenparentshavementalillnessproblems,the

childrentendtosuffer.Apersonfromthestateagencyforsocialwelfare

services, Appo, lamented the fact that people with mental health

problems0inditveryhardto0indajobbecauseemployerswouldnotgive

themachance.

Sometimesitisamemberofthefamilyitself,whoin0lictssuffering

on other members of the family. Domestic violence is largely an

undergroundaffairandisveryslowlycomingintothepublicdomain.A

womanweinterviewed,speakingabouttheverybitterrelationshipshe

hadwithaviolentman,waslostforwordswhendescribingthehorrifying

experiencesshehadgonethrough.Itwas,Ithink,theworsttimeofmy

life.Hereducedmeto...nottomisery...Idontthinktheresawordto

describethestateIwasreducedto.Anof0icerfromAppo,saidthattheyofferanemergencyshelterforpeoplesufferingfromdomesticviolence.

Itsanemergencyshelter.Wekeepthemthereforuptothreemonths

andthentheyhavetomove.

Onadifferentlevel,whenchildrenwithspecialneedsareborninto

afamily,theybringwiththemspecialchallenges.Aheadofschoolfrom

Fiddientoldusthatsometimesparents0inditverydif0iculttocometo

gripswiththesituationandpassthroughaprolongedphaseofdenial.

Aparishpriesttoldusthataspecialneedschildmightmeanagreater

0inancialstrainonthefamily.However,hesaidthatthefamilieswithsimilar

childreninhisparisharepeoplewhostrivehardandsomehowmanage

tocopewiththeirsituation;theydontfeeltheneedtoaskfor0inancial

help.Thisseemstobecorroboratedbywhataparentofadisabledgrown

upfromaselfhelpgrouptoldus:Myhusbandhasalwaysworkedvery

hard, fromone workplaceto another. AndI remainedat home.There

weretimeswhenthechildrendidnotseehimbeforelateevening.Hehas

enduredalot,to thisveryday,eventhoughourchildrenaregrownupsnow.However,shepromptlypointsoutherfearsforthefuture.Youll

startthinkingaboutthefuture.OnlyGodknowswhenthetimewillcome.

Butsometimesweaskourselves,whatwillbecomeofherwhenweare

notaroundanymore?Myotherchildrensaytheywilltakecareofher...

Whenwearenotaroundanymore?Mydaughterisindependent,shehas

ajob,Idontneedtobenearherallthetime,sheisabletogoshopping,

shegoestoworkeveryday,shehasafulltimejob.Butothers...

5.ParentsandGuardians:caringfortheyoung

Eurostatstatisticsfortheyears2527 5showthatfamilieswith

childrenhave a slightlymore chance of falling belowthe povertyline

thanhouseholds without dependentchildren. However,the particular

category of families having three or moredependent children have a

muchhigherchanceoffallingintotheatriskofpovertycategory.Wehavefoundthatfamiliesmayencountervarious0inancialproblemsthat

precludebothadultsandchildrenwithinthehouseholdfromaccessing

basicmaterialandeducationalneeds.

AheadofschoolatFiddientoldusthatsomeparents0inditdif0icult

tobuyuniforms,topayforeducationaloutingsoreventogiveadecent

packedlunchtotheirchildren.AGirlGuidefromFiddiendeclaredthat,

5 http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.euretrievedon25.05.2009.


27/82


wehavechildrenwho,whenitcomestobuyingauniform,forexample,

theybuyasecondhandone.Orwho,whenwehaveacampingactivity,we

sponsorpartoftheexpenses.AScoutleaderfromthesamelocalitytold

usthatsomedonotaffordtopaythemembershipfeefortheirchildren.

Inthecaseofsinglemothersthesituationseemstobecomemoredif0icult

asweshallseeinthenextsection.

Sometimes,thetaskofcaringforchildrenbecomesevenmoredif0icult

whenoneoftheparentshasproblemsofhisorherown.Aparishpriest

fromnubersaidthathemetmotherswhohavetoraisetheirchildrenontheirownbecausethehusbandhaddrugoralcoholrelatedproblems.

Similarly,anotherparishpriestfromnuberspokeofafamilywhere

themotherhastoraiseherkidsonherownbecauseherhusbandisin

prison.

Tooffsetthe0inancialburdenofraisingafamilyorforsuchreasonsas

personalful0ilment,moremothersareaccessingemployment.Yetthisis

hamperedbythelackofchildcarefacilities.Someemployersoffertheir

ownchildcarefacilities.AnEmploymentandTrainingCorporation(ETC)

of0icialhighlightedthefactthatsuchfacilitiescanbefoundatETCitself,

Mater DeiHospital,the University of Malta, theMalta Collegeof Arts,

ScienceandTechnology(MCAST),aswellasinsomeprivateinstitutions.

The ETC had also soughtEU0inancial aid inorder totraina number

of childcarers to sustain the development of childcareprovision. The

corporationalsooffersasmallsubsidyof1.16perchildperhourforparentswhomakeuseofprivatechildcarefacilitiesinordertoattend

training courses offered by ETC. The of0icial argued, however, that

childcareservicesaremostlyprovidedbyprivateserviceprovidersand

thereforecomeataheftyfee.Thisstemsfromthefactthattheratioof

childrenpercarerasestablishedbylawisverylowandtheserviceis

thusveryhighinlabourcosts.Inthecaseoflowerincomefamilies,it

wouldnotmakeeconomicsenseforthewifetogoouttoworksinceasthe

ETCof0icialargued,Whyshouldthemothergetajobandthenpay8%

ofherwageinchildcare?Thegovernmentgivesabout1inrebates

on childcare expenseson presentation of 0iscalreceipts. However, this

doesnotinanywaycomparetotheactualexpensesofsendingoneortwo

childrentochildcare.

TheETCof0icialinterviewedhighlightedthefactthatgovernmentis

alsousingteleworkingsystemsinordertoenableparents,mostlymothers,

to workfrom home.One particulargovernment customer service, the

SocialPolicyInformationCentre(SPIC),isoperatedwhollyontelework.Conversely,itistakingtheprivatesectoralongtimetotakeupthispath.

Thus,itseemsthat,asmoremothersareaccessingtheworldofwork,

andinthe absenceof affordablechildcarefacilities,grandparentshave

cometoplayamajorroleinearlychildhoodcare.Themayorofnuber

speaksofgrandparentsandtheextendedfamilyastheonlypossiblemeans

toenable mothers toaccess employment. But theETC of0icial argued

thatinthefutureeventhisoptionwillcomeunderthreat.Uptillnow

grandparentsaresteppingin aschildcarers.But nowthegrandparents

aretheythemselvesinemployment,bothofthem.Whoisgoingtotake

careofthechildrennow?Ithinkthisproblemstillhastobeaddressed.

Aheadofschoolfromnubersaidthatinthecaseofseparationofthe

parents,the grandmother maybe asked togivea helpinghand.On the

otherhand,aparishpriestfromnuberarguedthat,sometimesitisthe

grandmotherherselfwhotakestheinitiative.Inhisownwords,sometimesgrandmothersfeelthattheirdaughtersarenottakingpropercareoftheir

children,suchaswhentheirdaughteriscohabitingwithamanwhoisnot

thefatherofthechildrenandthusfeelsthatthechildrenshouldnotremain

inthathouse,orelsewhentheirdaughterhasanumberofchildren,even

0iveormore,fromdifferentfathers,andisnotevenmarried.Andsothey

decidetotakethecareofthechildrenintheirownhands.


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6.Theplightofsingleparents

As shown through statistical data in the previous chapter, single

parentsareaveryvulnerablecategory.Havingtocopeontheirownwith

theupbringingofthechildrenandatthesametimetryingtosecurethe

0inancialmeanstodosoisnoeasyfeat.AEurostatpublication 6statesthat,

ThemainfactorsaffectingchildpovertylevelsintheEUarethelabour

market situationof theirparents andthe effectivenessof government

intervention through income support and the provision of enabling

servicessuchaschildcare.Thisisparticularlyevidentinthecaseofloneparents,whofaceariskofpovertyof46%.

StatisticsmadepublicbytheMinisterofSocialPolicy(TheTimesof

Malta,8.1.9)con0irmedthetrendshighlightedinthepreviouschapter

indicatingthatsingleparenthouseholds(mainlysinglemothers)wereon

theincrease.MinisterDallistatedthatMorethanhalfofmotherswho

givebirthwhenunder20yearsoldclaimthatthefatherisunknown...

39%ofmothersagedbetween20and24alsoclaimunknownfathers...

TherateofbirthsoutsidemarriagebyMaltesemothershasincreasedat

analarmingrateinaveryshortspanoftime,from12.9%in2002to25%

in2008.Oneineveryfourbirthsisfromyoungmothersunder20and

53%oftheseregistertheirbabyasfatherunknown.Wewilldealwith

thephenomenonofunknownfathersatalaterstage,butrawnumbers

show that the model of fathermotherchildren family, although still

verystrong,ishardlytobetakenforgrantedastheonlyfamilymodelin

Maltesesociety.

Thisworryingpicturehasbeencon0irmedbypeopleworkinginthe

communitiesorinstateagenciesoperatinginthe0ieldofsocialservices.

Themayorof nuberlamentsthatinhislocalitythereareyounggirls

whobecomepregnantataverytenderageandthenspendtherestof

theirlivesdependent onsocial bene0its. Similarly,a spokespersonfor

6 Wolf,P.,(2009)Populationandsocialconditions.Eurostat.Statisticsinfocus.46/2009.

theHousingAuthoritytoldusthat,Mostpeoplewhoseekalternative

accommodationaresingleparentsandpersonswhoshareaccommodation

withothers.Anof0icialfromAppodeclaredthatsingleparentswerea

majorcategoryofpeoplewhosoughthelpfromthem.Hesaidthatsingle

parentsmayhaveeithergonethroughseparationorelsehadneverbeen

married.Ineithercasetheyhad0inancialdif0iculties,especiallythose

wholiveonsocialassistance;andbecauseyouresingleitsmoredif0icult

foryouto0indajob,youdonthaveanyonetocareforyourkids.

AparishpriestfromFiddientoldusthatmanysinglemothersinhisparishdependsolelyonsocialbene0its.Peoplefallingwithinthiscategory,

asarguedinthepreviouschapter,arealmostbyde0initionpeopleliving

belowthepovertythreshold.The0inancialandsocialsituationisfurther

aggravatedwhenthesinglemotherisateenager.A communityworker

fromnuberinvolvedinofferingsheltertohomelesspeoplesaidthat,

herorganisationdealswithsinglemothers,whoarecommonlyaged14

or15.Aparishpriestfromnubersaidthatteenagepregnanciesincrease

duringcertainfestivalscelebratedinhisparish,includingnewyearseve

celebrations.

Asthesinglemotherorfatherstruggletomakeendsmeet,allthe

members of their family tend to suffer consequences. Sometimes, as

arguedbyaheadofschoolfromFiddien,aworkingsingleparentmay

havenoonetolookafterasickchildwhilesheorheisatwork.Very

oftentheemployerwillnotbe0lexibleenoughtoaccommodatesingleparentsspecialrequirements.Thus,thelatteraremorepronetosenda

sickchildtoschool.Asingleparenthasnolesshighhopesforherorhis

childrenthananyotherparent.However,thesometimesmeagre0inancial

meansprecludetheparentfrominvestingintheinformaleducationand

socializationofhisorherchildren.AScoutleaderandaGirlGuide,both

describedhowsometimestheyhavetomakeallowancesforchildrenfrom

poorsingleparentfamilies.Bywayofillustration,theScoutleadertoldus


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how,wehavetwofamilieswherethemotheriscaringfortwochildrenon

herown.Poorsoulyoudonotblameher.Sheisstrugglinginallpossible

waysinordertokeepupwiththeirdemands.Thetwochildrenarebetween

tenandtwenty.Itsverydemanding.Veryoftenwehavetohelpher,even

0inancially.Forexample,wemadenewscarfs.Wehad togivethemthe

scarfforfree,eventhoughtheycostusmoney.However,bothactivists

werealsoconcernedthatsometimestheirgroupsareusedasarespite

servicebysingleparents.Whilebothvehementlystressedthepointthat

theirorganisationnotababysittingservice,theScoutleaderwasquicktoaddthat,oneshouldalsounderstandotherpoeplessituations.Even

Isometimesamtiredoflookingaftermydaughter.SoIunderstandthese

people.SometimesmywifegoesshoppingandIstaywithourdaughter.

Theresthetwoofusstrugglingwithher.Butwhenyourealoneyoudont

haveanybodytorelyon.Soyouneedtounderstandthesepeople.They,

too,havetheirownneeds.Butontheotherhandchildrenshouldnotbear

thebruntofthesituation,forwhateverreason.Youmadethem,youmust

takecareofthem.Itsyourresponsibility.

Forasingleparentto0indajobisnoteasy.Asanof0icerfromAppo

argued,theoddsareheavilyagainstthesingleparent.Hesaidthatthisis

especiallysointhecaseofmotherswhohadjustpassedfromaseparation

process,whichhadturnedparticularlybitterwithrecoursetothelaw

courtsratherthantoanamicableprocessagreedbetweenthetwoparts.

Whenthishappens,0inancialproblemsmaybecomeacutefortheparentwhohascustodyofthechildren,usuallybutnotexclusivelythemother.

TheAppoof0icerarguedthattostartwith,courtandlegalfeesarenever

ending.Sometimesfatherswilltrytoavoidpayingmaintenancetotheir

wives.Attimesthefathergivesuphisjobsothathewouldevadepaying

maintenancemoney.Anof0icialfromETCcon0irmedtheseoccurrences

andsaidthateverysooftenseparatedfathersgiveuptheirjobandtry

toworkinunof0icialnondeclaredjobsinordertobypasscourtorders

regardingmaintenancefees.Ontheemotionalside,amotherorafather

whohavejustbeengiventhecustodyoftheirchildrenafteraseparation

processwouldsuddenly0indthemselveshavingtocopeverymuchon

theirownwiththeupbringingoftheirchildrenandwiththebehavioural

problemstheymighthaveas a consequenceof theirowndif0icultyin

copingwithsuchadrasticdisturbanceintheirfamilylife.Financially,the

sing

You Will Always Have the Poor Among You

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