In most cases people are impressed with jugglers. Jugglers throw balls in the air, catch them, and keep them moving so that at least one or two are always in the air, but people are mesmerised, if not stunned when jugglers use dangerous objects like torches, knives and even chainsaws.
Although politicians are not jugglers some have the ability to fascinate people. Power-hungry politicians skilfully promise the moon to all. This tactic is not exclusive to our political arena. It is the norm in democracies. It is up to the electorate to evaluate the promises before going to the polling-booth. The political jargon used during electoral campaigns may also sound like music. “The creation of a new middle-class” comes to mind. Of course there are other soap-bubbles.
Let’s look at the creation of the new middle-class promise. It seems that the middle-class proposal is following the same fate of the living wage. Both initiatives were proposed to the national agenda by the PL. The living wage proposal was shot down at a very early stage and was left to bleed. Lately, the creation of the new middle-class surfaced again. Both proposals caught the imagination of many people. At the time these proposals were floated the world was going through economic upheaval. The world-wide economic woes reached our shores also. People were wheezing for fresh-air. The living wage and the creation of the middle-class proposals dovetailed neatly in the mind-set of people.
At that stage few delved how their standard-of-living would be improved and to what extent. People at risk of poverty assumed that they will receive red-carpet treatment into the next higher income bracket. While those struggling to keep their status in the lower-end of the middle-class expected they will have enough elbow room with their improved take-home-pay. The Caritas report showed otherwise. More people are falling into the poverty trap.
Notwithstanding the current GDP economic performance and the forecasts are outstanding when compared with other EU Member States it seems that only the selected few are getting a nice piece of the cake. Vulnerable people have to make ends meet at the end of the month with little increases. The fair distribution from the generated wealth is no easy task but it is necessary and has to be done conscientiously to avoid social inequalities. It is very easy for any administration to give-in to pressures from the business community clique. Right-wing politicians find refuge in the belief that most of the vulnerable people brought their hardship upon themselves with their own hands with the wrong priorities. The needs of vulnerable people would be addressed closer to the general election.
In a recent question and answer interview on ONE Radio the Prime Minister pointed out that as a result of the economic growth this government has managed to create a new middle-class and that people’s standard of living has gone up. To substantiate his argument the PM referred to some figures. The PM claimed that a group of 4,000 persons are earning more than €10,000 and consequently they have moved away from the poverty trap. Taking into account the minimum wage, which currently stands at €168.01 weekly these 4,000 persons received an increase of 0.6 euro cents per hour in their take-home-pay.
This issue becomes even more accentuated with the recently published employment figures. The increase in the number of workers doing part-time work in addition to their full-time employment is shocking. It has increased by 6.5per cent when compared to the corresponding month, March, 2015. This has reached 24,245 workers.
At a glance this may look very positive but a closer look will reveal that workers need to work more hours to make ends meet at the end of the month. One may also draw the conclusion that these 24,245 workers are earning very low wages. With the current high employment rate one would expect workers springing from one place of work to another gaining higher salaries and better conditions of work. It seems that our economy is creating more low-skilled employment opportunities than more value-added ones.
The creation of the new middle-class concept is now emerging very clear. Workers have to work more than forty hours a week, more like sixty with two different employers to make ends meet at the end of the month. Undoubtedly, this is impacting very negatively on their quality of life. It seems that some of our part-time politicians are professional jugglers too.
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