There is a sense, post this Budget at least, of a new beginning.
Will it be sustainable post euro though, when we are unlikely to have the euphoria that EU membership brought? Will this Budget, in other words, be followed by euro-phoria as well? Euro-phoria, or the lack of it, may well be the decider of what certainly now appears to be an election in 2008.
This time, people got what they cannot always get from Budgets. They actually got some tangible financial improvement, however small. And almost everyone got something. Families got more children’s allowance. Older people got all of their cost of living increase. Young aspiring homeowners got some help with interest rate payments. And tax bands were generally improved as well, across the board of Maltese and Gozitan society.
In the main, however, apart from the hikes in children’s allowance that we may come to regret, it was a Budget mostly for those who work, who contribute, who pay taxes. Some of those who don’t – contribute that is – made negative remarks, but I don’t think we are calculating the enormous cost of this subculture of non-working people in Malta and Gozo who are only taking and not giving.
The trouble is, of course, that both political parties have huge numbers among their voters who fall into this category (and I’m not talking about pensioners) and those who squeeze them – the non-working, non-poor that is – too hard will feel the voters’ pinch.
The voting situation is so precarious, with the hunters being miffed, with massive numbers being overtly racist, that it is perhaps too much to expect political parties to cut down on their life blood, aka the many thousands who don’t work because it does not pay them to do so at all, who are living quite well thank you on free medical care, free schooling, relief, recently boosted children’s allowance, rent subsidy relief and the possibly changing partners contributions and much more.
It is, let’s admit it, very grim in Malta if you work hard and really earn a low or, even more worryingly, the average wage.
You are today, post this boosted children’s allowance, definitely worse off than many who are not working at all, who are paid housewives (while housewives whose husbands are registered taxpayers get no pay from the State at all) in all but name, who have boyfriends who support them and their children but who do not declare it. We all know these families. They might be our cleaners, our plasterers, our tilers... they might be working for us in any capacity, but we know the many whose situation is highly irregular and we tolerate it, even though it comes from our taxes.
We are already in grave danger of it being not worthwhile to work unless you earn around Lm8,000 or more. To put it bluntly, with the increases in children’s allowance, which are fair enough for families where at least one is working, it becomes even more attractive not only not to marry, but also not to be part of the declared working part of our society. Obviously, we must not make the poor poorer, but if the State makes it worthwhile not to marry, if the State financially rewards those who have undeclared fathers on their child’s birth certificates, we will soon be in trouble, and perhaps we already are.
To separate the “batuti” from the so-called “bummers”, we may need to start exchanging almost all State benefits for work. Since in Malta and elsewhere sticks appear to be counterproductive, we must try more carrots. More benefit or higher benefit levels for those on a low income but working; extra housing points for those who work, and much, much more. Incentivising work must be the new priority and not funding non-working people to a too generous degree.
It is disturbing that elections can be decided by those who do not contribute financially to a country’s wellbeing. It is disturbing that benefits aimed at batuti are being used by bummers. It is alarming that, today, there are probably more bummers than batuti and that our systems are spawning more and more of the bumming mould. And, of course, these people who don’t work and have no intention of working will shriek loudest of all if there are any price increases post euro, while those of us who work are simply too busy working – we don’t have all the time in the world to moan, to ring up radio programmes to moan, to fester a sense of malcontent even though they do not know how lucky they are.
It’s like dealing with children. If you give them everything and make it too easy for them, they grow up in the main to be rude and difficult, lacking ambition and liable to get into trouble. We know so many families where this spoilt upbringing has produced truly awful children. And politicians, too, must be careful not to spoil the people. They must give people ambition, make it worthwhile for them to work and euphoric at the opportunities that EU membership is bringing to those who want to work.
If we give too much, are they likely to be equally euphoric about the undoubted challenges the euro will bring, which must include some higher prices – which those of us who work will only be able to combat in one way, cutting back or working harder? What will those who don’t work – in the declared economy that is – do if prices rise, even ever so slightly, post euro? Blame the politicians and grumble more, as well as threatening not to vote?
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