A study published on Wednesday by the National Audit Office confirms that there are thousands of families in Malta who are falling behind, particularly those who depend on social benefits, the PN said in a statement on Thursday.
More worrying still, the party noted, the NAO stated that families who rely entirely on social benefits in Malta cannot even afford the lowest level of living – the basic standard.
“Put simply, social benefits in Malta are not guaranteeing a dignified standard of living for these individuals,” the party said.
The audit carried out by the Auditor General – which was submitted to Parliament and laid on the Table of the House by the Speaker on Wednesday – found that, in the case of families dependent on non-contributory benefits, they are suffering the consequences of the fact that the benefits provided, despite having increased, are still not sufficient to keep pace with the rise in the cost of living.
The study found, for example, that a family of four (two adults and two children) receives just €14,717, while the essential minimum budget required to live a decent life is estimated at €19,355 for the year 2025 – a shortfall of €4,638 compared to what such a family needs in order to cope.
The report notes that while benefits have increased by 18% since 2023, the cost of living rose by 27% over the same period. As a result, the financial imbalance faced by such families has almost doubled since 2020, when the gap stood at around €2,700, but has now risen to €4,600.
Meanwhile, separate information recently provided in Parliament in reply to a Parliamentary Question submitted by the Opposition to Minister for Finance Clyde Caruana confirms that 45% of full-time workers in Malta in 2024 earned less than €19,000, the party noted.
From the table laid on the Table of the House on 3 February as part of the reply to the Parliamentary Question, Clyde Caruana confirmed that no fewer than 134,500 people in Malta (out of a total of just over 301,000) earn less than this amount.
This figure is, in fact, lower than the essential minimum budget required for a family to achieve a dignified standard of living, as quoted by the Auditor General in the report published this week.
“It is also worth noting that, in his conclusions, the Auditor General commented on an earlier recommendation he had made to introduce more restrictive thresholds to qualify for social assistance, in order to ensure that support genuinely reaches those who are financially vulnerable and that people who should not receive these benefits are not deemed eligible. However, instead of this being implemented, the Government increased the thresholds in the last budget,” the PN said.
“The NAO also remarked that the directorate responsible for this work, the Benefits Compliance Directorate, continues to exclude certain assets from means-testing, while also criticising the serious limitations faced by this section in enabling the government to enforce compliance against abuse and ensure that everyone receives only what they are entitled to. The directorate has just three inspectors when it needs at least six to function properly, while inspections are carried out only during working hours, making it impossible, for example, to catch individuals who are not compliant with the law outside office hours,” it concluded.
The PN’s statement was signed by PN MPs Graham Bencini, Ivan Castillo, and Ivan Bartolo, who are the Shadow Minister for Social Security and European Funds, Shadow Minister for Employment, the Maritime Sector and Aviation, and Shadow Minister for Social and Affordable Housing, the Fight Against Poverty and Loneliness respectively.