The National Statistics Office (NSO) in Malta reported recently that the average disposable income stood at €22,403. There are 63,593 persons whose income is nearly a quarter of this average income and are living at risk of poverty.
Year after year government has abandoned these thousands of persons to their fate. For years government has failed to draw up and implement an action plan to reduce poverty.
The most vulnerable persons in our society continue to be young people under 18, those over 65 and people living on the margin of society, people with disabilities, single mothers, people with different sexual orientations and people suffering from mental health problems.
In fact the NSO report shows that persons living in households with dependent children tend to be more prone to being at-risk-of-poverty. Persons living in single-parent households were most at-risk-of-poverty, at 47 per cent.
Compared to the EU, Malta’s at-risk-of poverty and social exclusion rate
of 21.7 per cent is lower than the EU27 average of 24.8. However
between 2005 and 2011 the EU rate was getting lower while the Maltese
rate was getting higher almost every year.
Read more: Government fails to tackle poverty
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