A study that was commissioned by the General Workers Union makes it clear that households today need much more than what is the minimum wage to be able to lead a decent life.

The study, which was published earlier this week, has already been presented to and discussed with other social partners at the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development.

It exposes the stark reality of a system that is leading more and more people to reduce their standard of living to be able to simply survive. The way things have been developing in the past months has pushed many families and individuals to cut down on their expenses, doing away with the small luxuries of life just to be able to afford the necessities.

The wages of people in the lower end of the social scale are just not enough for them to be considered as living comfortably. The heavy inflation that has been experienced since the beginning of 2022 has made things worse. Not even the Cost of Living Adjustment that was given out for 2023 and that which is expected to be given for 2024 will be able to bridge the gap.

The study was commissioned by the GWU to establish what is known as a National Living Income, which is more than a minimum amount for survival, but still covers needs in contemporary social life. It does not cover “wants or luxuries”, a statement that was issued by the union to explain its study shows.

In comments given in a statement issued by the union together with details about the findings, its general secretary Josef Bugeja said that “a guaranteed NLI for every household would mitigate the steep differences that currently exist between the bottom end of the wage scale, and the average income earners. The NLI is, ultimately, a tool to fight social inequality and to support lower-income categories from falling behind.”

The study found that a two-parent household with two children needs anything up to €30,734 to be able to spend anything between €22,000 and €26,000 to live a decent life.

The current minimum wage is €182.83 per week, for a total of €9,507 – which is nowhere near the amount that is required for a decent life.

This report gives a strong indication that the more time passes, the more people will find themselves hovering close to the poverty line or falling below it. The distance between people who live a comfortable life with the basic necessities and those who struggle from month to month and live from hand to mouth will grow even more in the next few years.

Finance Minister Clyde Caruana has said that the extraordinary inflation that Malta, like many other countries, has been experiencing for nearly two years will not go away anytime soon. So the risk that families and individuals will be finding themselves in even greater financial difficulties is there for all to see.

The government should not ignore this report. And it should be doing its best to find solutions.