I remember writing the article about the rising cost of living like it was yesterday, even though it’s been almost a year since it was published. I even remember the small shopping spree for basics that inspired that article. I was reminded of it again yesterday when I went to the supermarket and spent almost €40 on four or five items that would have cost me €20 a year ago. But nothing hit home for me like seeing the desperate video of a couple claiming that they had been forced to sleep in a public garden because of exorbitant rental prices.
The minimum wage in Malta is €792 a month – it hasn’t even risen by €50 since 2018 and the average gross annual basic salary for a worker in Malta is €19,721. How is either of these groups of people meant to afford to pay rents that keep climbing dramatically and keep themselves and their children clothed and fed? It’s a horrific situation that no one is addressing and if things continue this way, dozens of other people will sleep rough in the coming months.
The situation is even worse if you happen to be single in this country. With the erroneous presumption still in place that Maltese children have to live with their parents till they are coupled up or married, more needs to be done to cater to those who would like to set up their own homes. The loans given out to single people to buy property by themselves are significantly lower and, with the overinflated housing bubble seemingly refusing to burst, more and more single people have to resort to being shackled to their family of origin whether they want to be or not.
The greed that has long overtaken this country needs to be forcibly curtailed, prices need to be controlled in some way- Anna Marie Galea
Even those who want to leave a relationship or marriage are being forced to stay in sometimes unthinkable situations simply because they would be unable to afford to leave. Many end up returning to their parents’ home, which is hard enough but it’s even worse when their parents have either passed away or are not supportive. It is a sad reality that although Maltese society has been changing for some time, all the mechanisms we have in place only seem to support and favour happily-married couples with children.
It is clear that the crisis the country finds itself in cannot go on. The greed that has long overtaken this country needs to be forcibly curtailed, prices need to be controlled in some way and a proper means testing not based on who you vote for needs to be put in place so that the people who are really in need of aid actually receive it.
With 20.3 per cent of the country at risk of poverty or social exclusion, if we do not start genuinely caring about the way things happen, we will soon have to face increased depression and suicide rates as well as widespread homelessness. The writing is on the wall: the least our politicians can do is take a break from their long, lavish holidays and read it.