Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/688389
14 "I'M not sure I agree with the old expression, 'give a man a fish and he'll east for a day; give him a rod and he'll eat forever'. Sometimes, you have to give that man the fish. You cannot expect a fisherman to go fishing hungry. He must be fed first, and then he can go to work. In cases of extreme poverty, what is needed is a higher income… and that means more money." We are in Leonid McKay's office, tucked away in the idyllic setting of San Blas Therapeutic Community on the outskirts of Zebbug. The 33-year-old executive director of Caritas has just run me through the basic conclusions of the agency's latest report. The subject (broadly speaking) was poverty… and at a glance, its findings seem to confirm the existence of a growing gap be- tween the steadily increasing cost of living, and the ability of the least well-off to actually keep up. In the course of the discussion so far, McKay has repeatedly stressed that the study was intended to explore the daily reality faced by Malta's lowest-income earners. His point about 'giving a man a fish' arose directly from the same reality. "The simple truth is that there are people who can't afford even the most basic necessities on their cur- rent income," McKay goes on. "We can talk about improving things in other areas, but we also have to dis- cuss how to approach the issue of poverty in Malta. I think we have to invest even more is social security benefits, in health benefits… and yes, in giving money, too." But let us start with the report itself. When launched last week, Caritas also took the opportunity to reiterate its call for an increase to the minimum wage. This was hardly the first time such demands have been made: but unlike previ- ous occasions, this time govern- ment appears to have sat up and taken notice. Before the press con- ference had even concluded, the prime minister had already tweeted his support for at least a discussion on the subject. Clearly, then, the Caritas report must have struck a nerve. What is it about its conclu- sions, exactly, that made a discus- sion on poverty more urgent now than ever before? "Let's start with what our study was not about. It was not trying to gauge whether the levels of poverty in Malta have gone up or down in recent years. It was not about whether there is more poverty un- der a Labour government or a Na- tionalist one, or anything like that. Our role is very much focused on trying to identify a 'real' poverty line for Malta. The National Sta- tistics Office does a similar exer- cise, but it deals with another cat- egory: those 'at risk of poverty'. We are not very happy with limiting the discussion only to the 'risk' of poverty. Through our contacts we meet people who are living in pov- erty. Sometimes in severe, extreme poverty. So it could be misleading to discuss poverty only from the 'at risk' perspective..." In practical terms, what the study set out to do was establish a bench- mark against which 'real' poverty can be measured. "We tried to identify the mini- mum essential budget that families need to live adequately; that peo- ple need to buy the most essential items. Unlike the NSO criteria, we do not take income into account. Ours is an expenditure-based ap- proach. Over the past years, we have been trying to identify a bas- ket of essential items, including only the most basic essentials: food, clothing, transport, shelter – and after computing this list, we went on the actual pricing/costing phase. By our definition of poverty, any- one receiving an income less than that benchmark – irrespective of whether it's a salary, social benefits or any other type of income – is a poor person. No more, no less…" McKay admits that the focus of the study was narrower than others which also look into social condi- tions. "Our approach was to look at poverty as a financial issue. 'Loneli- ness', for instance, is not a poverty issue. Nor is social exclusion, in and of itself. This is not to say they are not issues at all, but we are not looking from that angle. We are looking specifically at physical, ma- terial deprivation here…" The study drew up three basic models of low-income households, though naturally others also exist. Two adults with two children, ac- cording to the findings, would need a minimum income – emphasis on 'minimum' – of €953 a month. For a single parent household with two children, it becomes €766. An elderly couple need €543 a month. "But we are taking a very con- servative approach to computing this basket, and you must also take into account that, being low income households, they will be in receipt of some kind of subsidy: on gas, water and electricity, housing. In fact, the study assumes – and this is a very crucial point – that these families live in social housing. So for rent, we are only estimating €200 per annum. The reality for people who are not in social hous- ing, and who pay rent at commer- cial rates, is very different. They are actually paying more than €200 per month… not per year. We all know that single-parent households are now seeking rental opportunities in Qawra, Msida, Gzira, and other places… but are finding it very dif- ficult to find anything for less than €400 a month. It's the bare mini- mum, I would say…" Another point Mckay is keen to stress is that the study only fo- cuses on low income earners, and is not intended to be interpreted in any other way. "It is not a refer- ence budget for Maltese society as a whole. Nor is it a recommended budget. What we are saying is that you need no less than this amount to meet your most basic needs. It's the minimum that is needed not to qualify as 'poor'…" This points towards the first of many problems. Under scrutiny, it turns out that the established poverty benchmark for pension- ers is more or less exactly the same amount most pensioners actually receive. A basic pension in Malta, then, only guarantees you the bar- est minimum you need to survive. "Yes, the study points this out as well. For pensioners, the basic benchmark is in fact achieved. But – and it's a very important 'but' – the study goes on to say that this minimum budget of €540 a month does not envisage the cost of social participation, or of private trans- port… and therefore, greater mo- bility. We're also excluding paid cultural activities, social outings… not to mention weekend breaks or holidays. Another point is that there is no budget for medical ex- penses as a result of chronic illness- es, particular dietary requirements, and so on. All these expenses have to be added to that basic amount." Coming back to the official reac- tions, and the fact that a discussion on the issue is already (more or less) under way… what is Mckay's inter- pretation? Is it a case that the stark reality outlined in that report was something that government, and society in general, felt it could no longer realistically ignore? "I think so, yes. The prime minis- ter has stated that he welcomed the report, and also that he welcomed a discussion on poverty. I don't know if it was specifically because of Cari- tas – government also launched a basic income for persons with dis- ability in the same week, so it was clearly already in the pipeline – but I think that our very conservative and frugal study may have served as a wake-up call. I am sure that poli- cy-makers were taken aback, when they realised that persons on social benefits cannot achieve even such a conservative benchmark. That not even persons on minimum wage were achieving it. Surely, it would have rung alarm bells. Again, I am not saying it is all thanks to Cari- tas… but soon after we published the report, government announced it was willing to discuss the issue of raising the minimum wage. We welcome the fact that this issue is on the agenda, and we welcome even more the fact that some meas- ures, such as the disability income, are already being taken." At the same time, the revelations may come as an eye-opener to peo- ple who may never have realised the extent of poverty in Malta. For various reasons, poverty has always been easier to 'hide' (as it were) in small communities with their own inbuilt social security networks… family, Church institutions, chari- ties, etc. – than it larger, more im- personal cities. You don't, for in- stance, see as many people sleeping in cardboard boxes in Malta, as you would in most European metropo- lises. Is it possible that we may have de- luded ourselves regarding poverty as less of an issue than it really is? "I partially agree with that, but only partially. I think the most worrying trend is that people do acknowledge poverty as a reality in Malta… but they blame the victim for his own predicament. Very of- ten people comment along the lines that 'the poor are poor because they took the wrong decisions in life'. At Caritas, we argue that poverty is not self-inflicted. Poverty is more of a structurally-induced phenom- enon, than a question of individual choices. Trying to blame the vic- tims for their own situation is a dis- service to the whole of society..." Again, McKay points towards structural deficiencies which sometimes make poverty more of Interview By Raphael Vassallo maltatoday, SUNDAY, 5 JUNE 2016 I think the most worrying trend is that people do acknowledge poverty as a reality in Malta… but they blame the victim for his own predicament The 'trickle- down effect' in economics is a myth. And it shows, because we've seen a boom in the economy, but we didn't see any corresponding reversal in the poverty rate BLAME MYTH Give a man a fish…