Editorial

Even if it is difficult to say what is natural and what is not these days, most of us still expect families to consist of two parents of different genders, barring unprogrammed "accidents".

Some of the perplexities of knowing exactly what is happening on the ground, in Malta, can be provided by recent statistics. These say single-parent households spend more than they earn.

The statistics do not lie, even if they cannot tell us everything. They can say little about the suffering or otherwise of the single-parent family, nor of the cause of singleness (death of a parent is one of them) but they can confirm what we all know by common sense and by observation: The single-parent families do not have an easy time and quite often they have sources of income which is not easily quantifiable or verifiable - they get assistance from their families.

Because single-parent families have a tougher time meeting life's challenges than ordinary families with double-barrelled firing power, it stands to reason that they need more assistance from society.

Moreover, since recent trends show a tendency for Maltese families to break up much more easily and quickly than before, with much resultant singleness, then it would be much more salutary for society to apply the maxim of prevention rather than cure.

That is, our society must do everything within its means to teach better skills at living, to better support families with difficulties and to assist the bolstering up of morals, taste, respect and the values by which society stands.

A society that does not believe in its own values - or has none to defend against detractors - is hardly worth preservation.

Single-parent households make up 2.6 per cent of all households in Malta, with single mothers alone amounting to two per cent, according to the latest Household Budgetary Survey. Stated in numerical terms, of the total of 127,970 households on the islands, 3,310 are formed by single parents, with 2,500 of these being single mothers.

Women, it seems, are more often found to hold the baby in more senses than one, though the tendency is for them to cease to form single-parent families as their age increases.

The survey also found that only a quarter of single mothers are employed, compared with just over 60 per cent for other heads of household.

The unemployment rate for persons living in single-mother households was estimated at 28 per cent, compared with just seven per cent for other households. Half had no one who was gainfully occupied, compared with just under a third for other households.

There is extra hardship in single-parent households. More often than not single parents work not out of choice but out of necessity. At the same time, employment for them is hard to come by and the education of the members of those households suffers as a direct or indirect consequence, that is, the children seek early employment either for economic reasons or for lack of cultural support.

The recent appointment by the government of a Commissioner for Children is definitely a step in the right direction. However, a greater effort is needed to identify pockets of indigence in our society. Besides, life-skills inside marriage must be given greater attention in schools.