Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1539881
3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 28 SEPTEMBER 2025 NEWS BE EXCLUSIVE BE EXCLUSIVE BE EXCLUSIVE BE EXCLUSIVE BE EXCLUSIVE BE EXCLUSIVE BE EXCLUSIVE BE EXCLUSIVE BE EXCLUSIVE TRADEMARK REGISTER YOUR BEFORE YOU MAKE IT PUBLIC IL-GVERN TA' MALTA ·½ĊėþĤࢫn{§§࣒H̷̽ࢷࢫ§࣒½ėþöþŧ ĤࢫöþÌtHėėࢫĊėþėHt4 REGISTER YOUR TRADEMARK CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 Caruana was echoing the words of Archbishop Charles Scicluna, who in his Independence Day homily warned that Malta faces "ethnic extinction" because of its low fertility rate. Fabri calls the fertility problem "the most profound structural is- sue" the country faces and warns "an economy without children is ultimately an economy without a future". From affordable housing to childcare services and flexible work arrangements, the reform to address Malta's falling fertility rate needs to be multi-pronged. And tax reform, Fabri writes, is a central part of this equation. "Families need to feel a tangible financial benefit from their de- cision to raise children," he says, proposing tax-free income for the first five years after the birth of a first child and direct cash incen- tives for subsequent children. "These measures would not solve the demographic challenge alone, but they would send a clear signal that the state recognises and shares the financial burden of child-rearing," he says, add- ing this would make parenthood more economically viable. Fabri also proposes savings ac- counts for children with the state matching contributions to build long-term security and housing schemes linked to family forma- tion. Pension reforms could rec- ognise periods of child-raising as contributory, he says, adding this will protect parents, especially mothers, from gaps in retirement security. He insists Malta must place fertility and family policy at the centre of its long-term economic strategy to turn its demographic timebomb into an opportunity "to design a society where family life is viable, dignified and aspira- tional once again". Malta needs a holistic approach that reduces the barriers to parenthood File photo