Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/765642
2 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 21 DECEMBER 2016 News 139 people seek shelter at Caritas JEANELLE MIFSUD WITH Christmas only a few days away, many of us are scur- rying about to do our last min- ute shopping and worrying about what to serve our family and close friends for Christmas day lunch. Christmas is a time character- ised by family get togethers, so- cial meetings, festivities, food, toys and joy, all bundled up in the warm confines of a rowdy family home. Yet this not the re- ality for everyone in Malta. Statistics covering a four- month period, from 18 July until 18 October, show that an aver- age of 66 people sought shel- ter and free food from just one drop-in centre, with 139 seeking help in October. The data was collected by Caritas Malta, on a request by MaltaToday, regarding the de- mographics of the people who come to use the services at Dar Papa Frangisku. The drop-in centre offers 20 beds on a first- come-first-served basis for tem- porary shelter, free lunches be- tween 12pm and 2:30pm, and hygiene facilities. It is joint ven- ture between the government, Caritas Malta and the Alf Mizzi Foundation. The figures showed that while the number of people seeking these services f luctuated greatly during this time span, one de- mographic group stood out in particular: middle aged Maltese men. Local men between the ages of 36 and 47 were the most promi- nent group of people to seek shelter and lunches offered at Dar Papa Frangisku. According to Caritas Malta di- rector Leonid McKay, the most common reason that led these individuals to seek over-night shelter at the drop-in centre were mental health problems and addictions, and, in the case of EU nationals looking for jobs in Malta, relocation. Individuals who turned up at the centre for the free lunches, who could be the same individu- als seeking shelter at night or different individuals altogether, did so mostly because they were pensioners whose income was not enough to meet their needs, people who convened there for companionship, individuals with low income or those bat- tling addiction, McKay said. "Since opening our doors, we've realised that there is a big need for our services. Different people come for different ser- vices, but our shelter is the most sought out for," he added. In 2000, then social policy minister Lawrence Gonzi had said that there were 25 cases of applicants who claimed to be homeless at the department of social housing. Fast-forward to 2013 and the number of individuals who at- tended the Appogg unit in the first six months of the year in- dicating homelessness was reg- istered to be 150. However, homelessness is dif- ficult to calculate and the fig- ures of people seeking assistance from government and NGOs fail to paint a complete picture of the social situation in Malta. Speaking to MaltaToday, Fon- dazzjoni Suret il-Bniedem man- Month Total number Male Average age Female Average age Foreign Average age July 40 37 47 1 39 2 63 Aug 57 41 38 8 43 8 Sept 29 14 36 9 6 Oct 139 122 38 8 9 Social Solidarity Minister Michael Farrugia inaugurated the 24/7 shelter Dar Papa Frangisku in July Don't conflate minimum wage with COLA, Caritas chief urges unions TIM DIACONO THE director of Caritas has warned against plans by trade unions and employers' to scrap a proposed increase in the mini- mum wage in favour of a revised COLA (Cost of Living Adjust- ment) mechanism. Leonid McKay told MaltaToday that the minimum wage must be increased irrespective of any changes to the COLA, which em- ployers add to their workers' sala- ries and which is revised every year according to national inf la- tion statistics. "The COLA mechanism, the minimum wage and the living wage are three completely dif- ferent topics that merit separate discussion, and we shouldn't fo- cus on the COLA at a time when we're discussing the minimum wage. "Consensus on the minimum wage should not only be reached among social partners, but also among people who work directly with people in need. People on the minimum wage are often not unionised, and it is crucial for us to recognize their everyday situa- tions as their voices often go un- heard." Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has urged employers' associations and trade unions to negotiate within the Malta Council for So- cial and Economic Development (MCESD) on how the minimum wage should be increased, but has pledged to step in to increase it on a permanent basis should they fail to reach an agreement. However, newspaper Illum re- vealed on Sunday that both the major trade unions (GWU and UHM) as well as the employers' associations are wary of a pro- posal to increase the minimum wage, currently set at €4.20 an hour. Instead, consensus is shift- ing towards revising the COLA mechanism so that it better re- f lects real f luctuations in the cost of living. Their argument against perma- nently increasing the minimum wage is that such a move would effectively increase the number of people on the bottom of the salary scale. Effectively, people currently earning slightly more than the minimum wage will suddenly find themselves on the minimum wage. A similar argument was also posed last year by Chamber of Commerce president Anton Borg, who warned that increasing the minimum wage would have a domino effect on other wages. This, he said, would increase the cost burden on Maltese industry, thereby damaging the country's competitiveness and triggering a rise in unemployment. Yet McKay counter-argued by citing leading local econo- mists Gordon Cordina and Lino Briguglio, who recently said that increasing the minimum wage would increase the purchasing power of workers, and hence ac- tually have positive effects on the economy. "In my opinion, a harmful domino effect will take place if we don't increase the minimum wage," McKay said. "We tend to keep focusing on the potential dangers of increasing the mini- mum wage while forgetting the merits of such a move, both for the economy in general as well as for the families who will directly benefit. "Increasing the minimum wage will not eradicate poverty, but it will certainly have a positive effect on the 3,000 or so house- holds who rely on it as their main source of income and who don't have enough money to purchase essential goods." Caritas is one of 14 NGOs who grouped together in October to launch the Campaign for a De- cent Minimum Wage movement. The NGOs are lobbying for the minimum wage to increase by 3.5% for three consecutive years, over and above the annual COLA increase, so that it would finally settle at between €11,000 and €12,000 annually. The proposal, the brainchild of veteran economist Karm Far- rugia, has earned the support of Opposition leader Simon Busut- til tdiacono@mediatoday.com.mt Caritas director Leonid McKay at the launch of the Campaign for a Decent Minimum Wage "We tend to focus on the dangers of increasing the minimum wage while forgetting the economic and social merits of such a move"