Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1503368
WHEN it comes to the issue of poverty, the two main parties have come up with two diamet- rically opposite views. As can be expected, the government, quot- ing NSO statistics, claims that poverty has decreased by 4.5% while the Opposition maintains that 100,000 people are at risk of poverty. Asked to fact check these views, the Time of Malta's ver- dict was that, while overall mate- rial deprivation has indeed gone down, this conclusion came with a significant caveat: "The differ- ence between high and low earn- ers appears to be increasing and there are now more people fall- ing below the poverty line and earning significantly less than the median income than there were in 2013." While this appears to be a con- tradiction, it can be explained by the significant factor that those who are most at risk are elder- ly people whose only income is their pension, and single parent households. Both cohorts have increased in the last 10 years. We have an ageing population which has to survive on a pen- sion which on average ranges from €700 - €1,000. If they have never been in a position to save for their twilight years, they will find themselves struggling to make ends meet while coping with the unexpected medical expenses which inevitably come with old age. Meanwhile, the number of couples who separate or parents who are raising children on their own without a partner has also gone up. If parents with a dou- ble income think life is tough, imagine how much harder it is to afford the cost of raising chil- dren on a single salary? One also has to bear in mind that single parents are also more likely to end up renting a property in a rental market which has become shockingly out of control. To understand how "at risk of poverty" is measured, one needs to take a look at the Material and Social Deprivation indicators which are based on 13 items, seven which are related to the household and six of which are related to the individual. If a per- son experiences seven out of 13 of these items, one is considered to be at risk of poverty: List of items at household level: • Capacity to face unexpect- ed expenses • Capacity to afford paying for one week annual holi- day away from home • Capacity to being con- fronted with payment arrears (on mortgage or rental payments, utility bills, hire purchase instal- ments or other loan pay- ments) • Capacity to afford a meal with meat, chicken, fish or vegetarian equivalent every second day • Ability to keep home ade- quately • Have access to a car/van for personal use • Replacing worn-out furni- ture List of items at individual level: • Having internet connec- tion • Replacing worn-out clothes by some new ones • Having two pairs of prop- erly fitting shoes (includ- ing a pair of all-weather shoes) • Spending a small amount of money each week on him/herself • Having regular leisure ac- tivities • Getting together with friends/family for a drink/ meal at least once a month Bearing all this in mind, the dichotomy which exists in Mal- ta can be better appreciated. On the one hand, we see daily complaints about the spike in the cost of living for basic essen- tials (which is true), and yet on any given day, restaurants, cafes and other places of leisure are packed. Just to give another ex- ample, I read that the Luna Park at Ta' Qali was charging a very pricey €5 per ride, and yet… you still heard parents say, "but my child wants to go, what shall I do, tell them they can't go when all their friends are going and de- prive them of some fun?" This directly relates to the above quoted-statement that the disparity between high and low income earners is increasing. You have people who are com- fortable, with enough disposable income to eat out and socialise regularly, while others count their pennies to make sure they have enough to buy groceries until the end of the month, as they wait anxiously for their next paycheque. Then there is another segment of the population which I can only describe as living in denial - they cannot really afford to go out that often or spend money on unnecessary purchases, but they do it anyway, even if they are getting into credit card debt to do so. Much like the parents who insist their children should not miss out, many adults have a similar mind-set: "why should I deprive myself after working so hard all week?" This type of thinking became particularly prevalent after the health scare brought about by COVID, the many people who died or became seriously ill, and the lockdown restrictions, when we didn't know whether we could ever go to concerts, attend wedding and parties or travel again. Many came out of those two years determined to enjoy life every chance they get and to not put anything off ever again. Can't really afford it? Who cares? Car- pe Diem and as for tomorrow… that will take care of itself. The widening gap between the have and have nots can also be directly traced to the property market. Those who are topping up their salaries with anoth- er income through renting out a second property (especially one which was inherited and/ or bought years ago when prices were much lower) are definitely on another level when compared to those getting by on an average wage. From the vantage point of someone with, say, a civil servant or teacher's salary, the capaci- ty to spend on frivolous items without having to worry about how they are going to pay their mortgage and bills is something they can only dream about. And if a teacher (just to keep to this example) has to be careful with their spending, then what can we say about those on the lower rungs of the salary ladder? Because there is an elephant in the room when it comes to these surveys: they are not capturing the reality of imported poverty. The data for the NSO survey was gathered from 4891 households, and since these households are usually selected from the Elec- toral Register using systemic random sampling, it is unlikely that economic migrants are in- cluded in this sample. One thing we know for sure is that in ten years the population has grown through the influx of foreign workers, and not all of them are in the highly-paid gaming industry and living the good life. On the contrary, many are low income earners such as carers, taxi and bus drivers, cashiers, waiters, construc- tion workers, food couriers and cleaners. They cannot afford to rent on their own, so they share apartments and we have all seen the photos of the miserable con- ditions they end up in as greedy landlords transform as many rooms as possible into "bed- rooms" by fitting in bunk beds. If the NSO had to carry out a survey among this segment of our population, the numbers would look quite different, and the boxes on the 13 material and social deprivation indicators list- ed above would be ticked quite rapidly. In fact, if we had to be honest with ourselves, neither the gov- ernment nor the Opposition really need any statistics to tell them about the reality we see all around us. We have become a society where the rich have be- come richer, while a new demo- graphic of poor people has been brought here on the pretext of a better life, but where they are merely existing, finding them- selves in a foreign land where they are resented, unwanted and in some cases, hated. Caught in the middle is your average Joe, with upwardly mo- bile social aspirations which, while praiseworthy, are often unrealistic and unattainable. Young couples scrimp and save for their big wedding and then to buy an apartment and often delay having children because it would mean getting by on one income or putting their baby in- to childcare. It is no wonder that after all this, as they are trying to keep their head above water, the stress and anxiety of raising a family, the fatigue of juggling work and domestic duties and the burden of financial obli- gations, often leads to marital breakdowns. In short, when we talk about poverty (or wealth), let us look at it holistically about what it means in real terms for all those who live on this island, and what we have had to sacrifice in re- turn. 6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 9 JULY 2023 OPINION From the vantage point of someone with, say, a civil servant or teacher's salary, the capacity to spend on frivolous items without having to worry about how they are going to pay their mortgage and bills is something they can only dream about The poverty debate: defining what makes one poor OPINION Josanne Cassar