Last year, 20.4 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds left school, contributing to youth unemployment and a lack of the skills so desperately needed in Malta's ever-increasing demand for workers with specialist skills.
According to the 2015 Social Justice Index Report, conducted by the German foundation Bertelsmann Stiftung, Malta ranked overall 16th out of the 28 EU member states. Six areas were assessed for the report: poverty prevention, inter-generational justice, health, social cohesion and non-discrimination, labour market access and equitable education. Malta's highest ratings were in labour market access (9th), health (11th) and poverty prevention (14th). Its worst areas were social cohesion and non-discrimination (21st), inter-generational justice (25th) and equitable education (27th).
Social justice is measured in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. Many studies have been published, most notably by the Organisation for Economic Coordination and Development, saying that large inequalities and an unequal distribution of wealth and gains lead to the stunting and diminishing of economic growth. It is therefore in a country's best interests to coordinate policy for the purposes of tackling inequalities.
With this in mind, Malta's ranking showing the second-highest rate of young people dropping out of education and training in the EU is of great concern as this is expected to result in high levels of unemployment in the future, especially in view of the fact that the labour market's demands are becoming more specialised. The demand for specialised labour, and a heavy reliance on the services industry, requires high levels of education and training. It is therefore not unreasonable to deduce that unless extensive efforts are launched to address the high rate of early school-leavers and subsequent lack of skills, Malta's economy will suffer greatly, along with future generations.
Malta's labour market is not inclusive for either lower-skilled individuals or women. With regard to lower-skilled individuals, although the country is currently enjoying a low unemployment rate of 5.9 per cent, this is likely to rise if no efforts are made to increase the overall skill level. Criticism has also been levelled against the current administration for increasing public sector employment and government expenditure as a whole, such practices being unsustainable and likely to cause a leap in unemployment rates in the future.
Turning to female participation in the labour force, the launch of state-financed childcare services has resulted in more women joining the workforce and a general trend towards higher female labour participation is slowly being identified.
The government recently announced the launch of a €12 million "access to employment" scheme in order to target those who have been registered as unemployed for over six months. In addition to this, other employment initiatives have also been announced and extended, such as Investing in Skills, Training Pays and the Youth Guarantee Programme. Through the European Social Fund, 500 work exposure placements and traineeships are also being offered in order to bridge the gap between education and employment.
The success of these initiatives is of paramount importance, considering the rapidly ageing population brought about by low-fertility rates and increased life-expectancy. Additional strains on government expenditure in the form of greater reliance on social welfare such as pension and healthcare services must be offset with an increase in government revenue, which is mainly obtained from taxation.
Countries all over Europe and the rest of the developed world are experiencing a process of population ageing, leading to growing public debt and investment in education and research and development being diverted towards increased demand for the financing of social welfare. The burden on younger generations will therefore increase substantially in the coming years, necessitating a strong and stable workforce that is increasingly less reliant on government support.
Inter-generational justice was another area in which Malta did poorly. It refers to the sustainable living of one generation that does not place an unnecessary burden on younger generations. In the EU, "improving opportunities for families through investment in child-care infrastructure, reducing the level of public debt and increasing the share of renewable energy are important policy measures in terms of greater generational justice," according to the 2015 Social Justice Index Report.
In the case of Malta, elements of inter-generational justice related mainly to a lack of environmental sustainability, which is posing a challenge for the government and will be a large threat to future generations. Malta has the second lowest rate of renewable energy in the study's sample, with only 3.8 per cent of gross energy consumption coming from renewable sources in 2013. It must be noted, however, that a steady increase has been felt in this regard, with energy consumption from renewable sources increasing from 0.2 per cent in 2007 to 3.8 per cent in 2013. This figure is, however, still way below the EU average of 17.9 per cent.
Newly-launched policies to protect biodiversity and the fresh water supply are steps in the right direction, but it will be years before the results of these initiatives become known.