Tax credits when employing elderly people, incentives to join voluntary work, and the revision of the education system to a more child-centric one are among the many recommendations laid out in the second national strategy against poverty that has just been launched for consultation.

Other recommendations include allowing the payment of court fees in instalments, simplifying work-permit renewals for third-country nationals and providing a national debt advisory service.

The National Strategy for Poverty Reduction and Social Inclusion 2025-2035, which was developed by the Ministry for Social Policy, focuses on Malta's commitment to addressing poverty and social exclusion over the next 10 years.

The strategy - which follows consultation and meetings with stakeholders - builds on the previous strategy. It is open for public consultation until the end of November.

It notes that the number of people at risk of poverty and social exclusion dropped from 22.2% in 2015 to 19.8% in 2023.

The strategy seeks to decrease this by a further 3.1%  by 2030 and decrease the number of children at risk of poverty and social exclusion by 6%.

Alexia Vella, director general within the ministry’s strategy and implementation division, gave an overview of the strategy during a conference on Friday.

She said the strategy centres around strengthening the fight against poverty, better collaboration with stakeholders, implementing tailor-made education and training to help break the poverty cycle, and enhancing support for people living in poverty. 

Social Policy Minister Michael Falzon meanwhile said poverty was a reality that was difficult to wipe out for various reasons that included mental health issues and social situations people were born into.

Loneliness was another form of poverty that was on the increase, he said.

“We are living in a world where we swapped our priorities: people are being used and material objects are being loved when it should be the other way around. This policy is an attempt to try bring things back to order,” he said.

Five key principles

1. Thriving together: Creating an inclusive environment where everyone can flourish, fostering strong social connections and a resilient community.

2. Empowerment: Providing individuals with the tools and opportunities to achieve self-sufficiency and a good quality of life.

3. Opportunity: Ensuring equal access to essential resources such as education, healthcare, and employment, fostering a fair and inclusive society.

4. Solidarity: Promoting mutual support and shared responsibility to prevent disadvantaged members of society from being overlooked.

5. Dignified Quality of Life: Respecting the dignity of all individuals and ensuring access to basic needs without economic pressure, fostering financial stability and progress for all.

The strategy recommends a more child-centric education system.

Some of the recommendations:

• Fiscal incentives such as tax credits to incentivise behaviour that aligns with social objectives, such as engagement in voluntary work and the community
• Accelerate Malta’s education system transformation from the predominantly one-size-fits-all model where success is academic attainment to a student-centric approach where students are provided with educational pathways that best fit their needs, including the valorisation of life skills
• Assess and pilot a system based on personal alert indicators (e.g., absenteeism, failure to reach basic literacy and numeracy skills) to enable the early identification of children at high risk of educational disengagement
• Strengthen investment in skills and competencies-based education and entrepreneurialism for people with disability
• Free childcare support for unemployed single parents in the low-income group, subject to the conditions.
• Simplify work permit renewal process for TCNs to allow for quick access to employment and income generation
• Simplify further the process for the recognition of certificates and qualifications from TCN’s country of origin to allow migrants with such qualifications access to higher-income employment.
• Evaluate and revise existing repatriation programmes for undocumented migrants to offer them opportunities for entrepreneurial start-ups or reasonably paid jobs in their country of origin
• A national campaign to change employers’ attitudes and perceptions of the employment of older people
• Tax credits for the first three years of employment of people aged 55 years and over who are inactive. The refund would be tapered over three years
• Strengthen educational campaigns relating to reproductive sex education, given that teenage pregnancy results in a higher risk of poverty
• Intensify measures to combat gender-based violence, ensuring that comprehensive support systems and services are in place to help victims rebuild their lives and escape poverty
• Introduce a system that allows a person on a low income to also pay court expenses imposed by a court in instalments
• Design and pilot a system where the state intervenes and pays the maintenance awarded to a parent assigned effective care and custody of the child, subject to eligibility criteria, in the event of a separation/divorce and where the paying spouse fails to meet his/her obligations, with the state becoming the creditor and responsible for recovering the debt together with interest from the non-paying parent
• Early intervention and follow-up for children, adolescents, and young adults who are at risk of developing mental health problems, including children with the first episode of psychosis, ADHD, self-harm, conduct disorders and social communication difficulties, so that these will have the required support and will not slip out of the system
• Specialised professional support for people on the autism spectrum that facilitates the learning experience within the school environment
• A debt advisory service at a national level

Incentives to employ elderly people form part of the strategy.

Children’s voices 

Children can also have their say.

Recognising the importance of actively incorporating children's voices, concerns, and recommendations, the Ministry for Social Policy invites all children to share their opinions through the Empowering Children App: https://empoweringchildren.gov.mt/

A child friendly version of the National Strategy for Poverty Reduction and Social Inclusion 2025-2035 is available and children can submit their ideas through either written messages, voice messages, drawings and videos.

You can download the strategy here.