Nationalist MP PN Ivan Bartolo has come up with four proposals to address the issue of poverty.

Speaking during a seminar on Friday, the Mosta MP said politicians need to be proactive in addressing social issues as it is useless to stay in the comfort zone.

The first proposal is for a poverty watch, as there needs to be a better understanding of poverty in Malta. He said a national strategy to combat national poverty can be born from this initiative.

The second one addresses the living income, where a mechanism needs to be established to determine a minimum living income.

The third one calls for solidarity with the homeless as there are currently 300 persons living on the streets, whilst the last proposal is on corporate social responsibility.

Opposition Leader Bernard Grech, who attended the seminar, said that despite there being individuals who may be living comfortably, there is more to be done to include those who are victims of poverty.

"Just because there has been an increased investment in the social field does not mean we should stop there. We have a moral duty to see to other realities,” Grech said.

The PN leader added that just because statistics show that the nation is making efforts to decrease poverty, such statistics are not going to feed hungry people.

Referring to the increase in the cost of living, he said that politicians must find a solution rather than saying that this is a global problem.

He added that politicians must spend the nation’s funds wisely. When it does not, this is equal to stealing food from the mouth of the whole country.

Caritas Malta director Anthony Gatt said that there are currently 2,000 persons receiving assistance. Some of the cases involve drug abuse.

He said that, reflecting on the Maltese society's social needs, the organisation dreams that every person has someone they can live with and stop living in poverty.

Gatt said that, even before Covid-19, there was a significant number of people suffering from material deprivation, as well as an increased level of stress and mental health issues.

The situation got worse during the pandemic as mental health and economic problems became worse.

Grima said that there needs to be a stable economy and a better work-life balance to address and minimise these issues.

President Emeritus Malta Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca said that despite the state's efforts, the nation needs to admit that there are still people living in poverty.

"We have to challenge ourselves to decrease poverty.”

Rather than compare ourselves with other countries, we need to see what more we can do to address these social issues.

Coleiro Preca said that this is also an issue of human rights.

Mentioning national statistics which say that one in every six persons are at risk of poverty, she said that this to her does not make sense as she questions what is the classification needed for one to be considered at risk of poverty and that, for her, an individual is either poor or not. There is no in-between. 

Mentioning the high rate of early school leavers, which is the highest in Europe, she said that the nation needs to make sure that the school system is motivating. According to studies, this has a very negative impact on the individual's mental health.

Although not physically present for the conference, researcher and statistician Vincent Marmara focused on what leads an individual to poverty.

Quoting a study he conducted, he said that the probability is that the person living in poverty have a low level of education, as there are only rare cases where individuals suffering from poverty are educated and in possession of a degree.

"There are those who work tirelessly to make ends meet and not risk poverty, which means that they are only existing," Marmara said.

Quoting from the study, he said that he found that lack of thought leads to poverty of analysation, leading to financial poverty.

Marmara remarked that the nation needs to question what leads to poverty as 5% of the participants in the study said they have a lower standard of living than the established medium class.

He added that it is evident that the most important thing, in this case, is to educate the nation so that people can be provided with tools that can better their chances of not ending up in poverty.

Alfred Grixti, the CEO of the Foundation for Social Welfare Services, said that during the pandemic, the whole nation suffered financially as there was a €1 billion drop in the national GDP during the start of the pandemic when compared to that of 2019, which was of €14 billion.

He added that there is consensus amongst the nation that the social sector needs to be prioritised. Statistics show that people suffering from material deprivation are continuously decreasing, which means it is moving in the right direction.

He said that despite these encouraging results, the state needs to continue prioritising the social sector.

Grixti added that there is a need for more specialised tailor-made plans to help individuals overcome material deprivation.

Fr Ivan Attard, a visiting assistant lecturer at the University of Malta, said that the pay of every individual needs to stop depending on the needs of the workforce as the more people there are that want the same job, the rate per hour decreases.

He remarked that since every job is essential, it is only fair that they are paid the right amount.

"It is useless that people leave a specific job because of the wage as another person will take it, and there will be no social justice."

Andre Bonello, the Head of Research and Advocacy at Caritas, said that there are currently many women suffering because of the gender pay gap, now standing at 11.4%.

There are women who have dedicated their entire lives to their family and have reitred from the work force very early, who have now seperated and have not paid the necessary social security contribution, making them ineligible for a pension.