A recent report issued by the National Statistics Office estimated that a total of 59,315 people are considered to be at risk of poverty. According to the results of the first Survey on Income and Living Conditions, conducted in 2005, the poverty rate among men stood at 14.2 per cent, while that among women was 15.5 per cent.

The scope of the survey, the NSO said, was to portray the current situation on poverty and social exclusion in Malta and Gozo.

Disposable income was calculated in order to measure the average income of every person within a household. The poverty line was established by calculating 60 per cent of the median income, and those whose income was below

this threshold were considered to be at risk of poverty.

There are certain categories of people who appear to be more at risk than others. For example, 21.9 per cent of children aged under 16 and 16.3 per cent of people aged 65 and over fell below the poverty line.

The poverty rate was highest among those living in single parent households (47.9 per cent), while another high rate (34.7 per cent) was registered among those living in households with two adults and three or more dependent children. The best off were households with three or more adults without dependent children.

The Malta Labour Party was quick to pounce on such figures. Spokesmen Karl Chircop and Marie-Louise Coleiro-Preca have issued statements and written articles about the issue, saying that the results show that the government is not giving enough attention to people at the lower end of the social scale. Pushing the government into taking action now, the opposition MPs say that unless the situation is rectified, there is a risk that the number of people living below the poverty line will increase in the coming years.

Writing in this newspaper earlier this week, Dr Chircop said that “the minimum wage is totally inadequate for a Maltese family with children to live on”, going on to ask who will listen to the “silent cry” of these people.

It is an acknowledged fact that, where there is development, where a country makes great strides forward in the economy, there is a risk that people fall behind. As more progress is achieved and as, in general, people earn more and spend more, the greater the risk that more people will fall below the poverty line. There is also more likelihood that the gap between people who live well and those who can barely survive will also increase.

It has happened in the most advanced countries around the world, and it is happening here as well. People who travel abroad know that in the bigger cities there are people who do not have a home and live in the street, begging for coins that will see them through the day and not knowing what tomorrow will bring. Here in Malta, we might not have beggars in our streets, yet, but at the same time we know that there are many families who are in dire financial straits and seek help from neighbours and friends.

Some years ago, the Nationalist Party coined a slogan that is closely associated with this – it was “Biex hadd ma jibqa’ lura” (So that no one is left behind). And, over the years, it has come up with initiatives intended to help people who are in need, giving particular attention to the categories mentioned above.

The question that needs to be asked is whether this is enough and, judging by the results of the NSO survey, it seems that in spite of all the good intentions, much, much more still needs to be done in this regard.