Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1399957
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 8 AUGUST 2021 10 NEWS JOIN OUR TEAM e Institute for Education would like to inform the public that it is currently seeking lecturers in several areas to lecture and train partici- pants following accredited programmes at the Institute. Computer Education It-tagħlim tal-Malti English Language Teaching Engineering Materials Electrical and Electronic Components Interested applicants are requested to apply online by following the below-mentioned link by not later than Wednesday 18th August 2021. e selected persons will enter a contract-for-service with the Insti- tute and be able to offer their services starting from the academic year 2021/2022. For more information on the above-mentioned expression of interest, kindly refer to Circular IfE 62/2021 on the Circulars 2021 section of the Institute for Education's website or by following the link: https://bit.ly/2VuC2TP. Institute for Education Martin Luther King Road Pembroke PBK 1990 +356 25982004 www.ife.gov.mt At risk of poverty* who cannot afford holiday *ARP means having an income below 60% of the national me- dian income Top five countries Compared to Malta and EU27 Greece 88.9% Romania 86.8% Croatia 84.7% Cyprus 79.2% Slovakia 76.1% Malta 54.9% EU-27 59.5% Largest gap between those who cannot afford holiday Percentage-point difference between ARP population that cannot afford holiday, and those not in the ARP category who say they cannot afford holiday 2019/20 2010 Croatia 43.2 29.4 Greece 43 46.5 Bulgaria 42.4 43.1 Czechia 41.1 40.9 France 40.4 38.8 Malta 29 28.6 EU average 38.8 37.7 Holiday inequality lower in Malta than in most EU countries, but gap of holidaymakers between those at risk of poverty and others, increased slightly over 2010 JAMES DEBONO DESPITE Malta's breathtaking economic growth rates, holiday inequality has slightly in-creased over the past decade – even if the holiday divide between those at risk of poverty and those who are not, remains considerably lower than that in the whole Eu- ropean Union. Holiday inequality between those with incomes below 60% of median income, and those with income above that threshold, has grown in 16 member states but remained relatively stable in Malta over the last decade. This emerges from an analysis of Eurostat data by the European Trade Union Confeder- ation, which shows that while access to holidays has grown over the last decade, the majority of low-income families remain excluded. Overall, 28% of EU citizens can't afford a one-week holiday away from home – but that rises to 59.5% for people whose income is below the at-risk-of- poverty threshold (60% of the median national income). Eurostat data shows that in 2019, while 55% of all Maltese at risk of poverty could not af- ford a week-long holiday, only 26% of those not at risk of pover- ty said they could not afford that same holiday – a gap of 29 points up, just up from 28.6 in 2010. The situation is far worse in a number of EU countries – no- tably in Greece where 88.9% of at-risk-of-poverty people cannot afford a break, followed by Ro- mania (86.8%), Croatia (84.7%), Cyprus (79.2%) and Slovakia (76.1%). The biggest divides in access to holidays were found in Croatia (43.2pp), Greece (43pp), (42.4pp), Czechia (41.1pp), France (40.4pp) and Romania (40.1pp). The divide is lowest in Finland (19.8 pp) and Denmark (22pp). And the biggest increases in the divide over the past decade was seen in Romania (+17pp), Slova- kia (+14pp), Croatia (+13.8pp), Lithuania (+8.3pp) and Hungary (+7.9pp). Germany registered the sharp- est drop in the divide (-12.6 pp). While a large portion of Eu- ropeans whose income is below 60% of the median are unem- ployed or retired, this group also includes millions of low- paid workers, particularly those earning the statutory minimum wage. Data shows that statutory min- imum wages alone leave work- ers at risk of poverty in at least 16 EU member states, including Malta. ETUC insists that the proposed EU adequate minimum wage di- rective needs to be strengthened to ensure that wages are never so low that they leave workers liv- ing in poverty, and that collec- tive bargaining is made a routine part of employment to ensure genuinely fair wages for all. "A holiday should not be a luxury for the few. While many workers are away enjoying time off with friends and family, millions are missing out because of low pay," ETUC Deputy General Secretary Esther Lynch said. ETUC is working with MEPs to introduce a 'threshold of de- cency' into the legislation that would ensure statutory mini- mum wages could never be paid at less than 60% of the median wage and 50% of the average wage of any member state, deliv- ering a pay rise to over 24 mil- lion people – including 24,000 Maltese workers. Economic growth fails to reduce holiday inequality