Families on social benefits facing €4,600 shortfall for basic living standards
Unemployed families €4,600 short of minimum €19,355 annual budget for dignified living
Families reliant on social benefits face a €4,638 shortfall to meet the minimum budget to maintain dignified living standards.
A National Audit Office (NAO) report published this week details how the minimum annual budget for a family of four is €19,355.
This leaves a shortfall of €4,600 from the maximum amount of €14,717 in social benefits an unemployed family of four is entitled to.
The NAO said such households relying exclusively on social benefits lack sufficient income to meet even the minimum budget required to maintain a dignified standard of living.
Although social benefit entitlements have increase by 18% since 2023, the Auditor General’s office said this has been outpaced by a 27% rise in living costs.
Reacting to the findings, the Nationalist Party said the report confirms there are thousands of families in Malta who are falling behind, particularly those who depend on social benefits.
“More worrying still, the NAO states 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 PN said.
The PN said separate information recently provided in parliament confirms that 45% of full-time workers in Malta in 2024 earned less than €19,000.
It said the information provided to parliament by Finance Minister Clyde Caruana confirms that no fewer than 134,500 people in Malta.
The party observed that the €19,000 figure is lower than the essential minimum budget required for a family to achieve a dignified standard of living.
It said recommendations by the Auditor General to introduce more restrictive thresholds to qualify for social benefits, in order to target those truly in need, had not been implemented by the government.
Instead, the PN said the government had increased the thresholds in the last budget.
The PN also picked up on the government’s to beef up checks against social benefit fraud.
According to the Auditor General’s report, the directorate responsible for social benefits has just three inspectors, half of the required number.
It further noted that inspections are only carried out during working hours, making it harder to catch individuals who are not compliant.