Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1319911
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 16 DECEMBER 2020 For further info: KURT SANSONE POVERTY on the edges of society flagged by NGOs that work with vul- nerable people may not be captured by official statistics, the National Audit Office said. In a first report of its kind, the NAO analysed Malta's progress in achieving the UN's Sustainable Development Goal 1, aimed at 'ending poverty in all its forms'. The report was tabled in par- liament this evening. The NAO found that when progress is measured through EU-standard sta- tistics, Malta has achieved substantial progress in terms of reducing the num- ber of people at risk of poverty and so- cial exclusion. Significant progress was registered in alleviating material depra- vation and severe material depravation. But the NAO noted that current sta- tistics do not provide a complete pic- ture of poverty, noting that the situa- tion may be underestimated. Among the more vulnerable groups underestimated by official poverty in- dicators are people with mental health problems, victims of domestic violence, migrants and homeless people. "To the extent that the poverty rates for those who are not part of the target population, for those who are not cap- tured in sampling frames, for sampled individuals who cannot be reached, or for those who fail to respond to the survey request are higher than the rates for those who participate in the survey, then the underrepresentation of pover- ty is more substantial," the NAO said. The audit office acknowledged argu- ments put forward by stakeholders that non-eligible, hard-to-sample, hard-to- contact and hard-to-interview individ- uals are particularly prone to being at risk of poverty. The NGOs may be experiencing pe- ripheral poverty that is not captured in the EU SILC data, the NAO noted. "In view of these limitations, the NAO supports the proposal put forward by the stakeholders for a broader defini- tion of poverty or for supplementary in- dicators, surveys and qualitative studies to more comprehensively measure the extent of poverty and assess progress registered," the NAO said. The NAO used 2018 as its benchmark and compared poverty figures derived from EU SILC data with those for 2008 and 2015. But it also carried out qualita- tive interviews and focus groups among stakeholders who work with poor and vulnerable people, and academics in the field. The NAO acknowledged govern- ment's actions over recent years to al- leviate poverty but noted that efforts were not sufficient on all fronts and gaps remain. "In view of the complex and dynamic nature of poverty, and factors beyond the control of government, efforts by government at any one point in time can never be considered sufficient. Consistent investment through tar- geted and diversified measures are re- quired to address ever-expanding and diverging needs," the NAO said. Poverty on edges of society not captured by official statistics, NAO analysis shows