Like in other countries, Malta’s economic policy has long been centred around prioritising economic growth. The neoliberal mantra that economic growth will lift all tides still reigns supreme, and while the positive effects of this policy are evident, such as on public finances and employment figures, there are still a lot of people who are, or are at risk of, being left behind.
Rather than seeing economic growth as the main strategy to reduce social issues, our economic policy should target the roots of the problem through investment in these services and reduced cost of living.
Through Aġenzija Appoġġ, Aġenzija Sedqa, the Agency for Therapeutic and Community Services, the Directorate for Alternative Care, Child Protection and Gozo Branch Operations, together with the back-office departments and administration, the Foundation for Social Welfare Services has always been at the forefront for the most vulnerable in society. This is done through the provision of a range of services, regardless of race or gender: from substance misuse to domestic violence services, dealing with abusive behaviour, community services, intake and family support services, child protection and alternative care through its more than 900 professional staff across the Maltese islands with a budget allocation of €22.5 million.
While none of these directly contribute to the economy, they all have economic effects. Two separate studies, one by the UK Home Office and one by the Institute for Alcohol Studies, showed that in the UK, domestic violence victims and people who misuse alcohol or substances have decreased productivity at work until they are treated. This is due to extra days off that have to be taken, having to deal with the emotional harm and increased accident rates at work. Often, the investment in these people and services is only seen as a way to decrease the costs associated with them, such as judicial costs, but the potential benefits are almost always forgotten.
Over the last years, several measures have been enacted that helped people the foundation works with, seek employment. However, our economic policy needs to go further than giving them job opportunities. A just society should treat people as humans rather than commodities and, therefore, ensure that everyone can live decently irrespective of their job status, gender, mental and physical conditions.
FSWS maintains that economic growth is useless without accompanying social progress. This should be reflected in the government’s economic vision
FSWS has been an active participant in the public consultation on the economic vision presented recently by the government. The vision seeks to address and introduce metrics such as physical and social well-being. FSWS believes that this would be beneficial for the country as targeting wider socio-economic goals, such as the reduction of poverty and material deprivation, full employment, gender equality, reduction of domestic and child violence and the reduction of drug use and dependency would help bring social progress. As a foundation, we have sought to give our input through public consultation so that the most vulnerable are not left lagging behind.
In recent years, there has been a focus on reducing gender inequality. This includes the provision of free childcare services which has allowed both parents, especially women, to return to work after having a child. The transposition of the Work Life Balance Directive will also help in our goal of achieving gender equality both at the workplace and at home. Tackling unpaid work, still mostly done by women, could also help to address the current disparity.
FSWS is aware of issues related to productivity and morale and, therefore, our proposals delve into the need for the government and the private sector to work together so that the economy would better through improved productivity and morale.
One example is the gig economy. As it becomes more mainstream, we envisage the need for assurance that conditions of workers in the gig economy are adequate, and if not, regulate the industry as needed. The precariousness of these jobs leads to workers having social issues which would have negative effects on the economy. This is why we believe that there should be encouragement and incentives for companies whereby workers participate in the company’s decision-making process by owning part of the company, for example. This would help the workers’ mental well-being while also increasing productivity.
The above economic decisions all have an effect on the foundation’s work. The ramifications of any economic policy should not focus on the value added to the economy but also its effects on welfare.
FSWS believes that there is a cost to not investing in these services. The alternative to this investment is doing nothing. While it might arguably reduce government costs in the short term, it will backfire over time. This is due to the increase in crime, drug and alcohol dependency and benefits. FSWS assists and guides people to lead an independent and be economically active.
In this regard, it had long been felt that a socio-economic unit within the foundation would benefit service users as much as the services we offer. The socio-economic unit will complement the analysis of our data and our statistics team. The unit will also work with our research team to analyse our current programmes and figure the benefits of our programmes to society from both a sociological and economical perspective. Ensuring effectiveness of any service is a key concept in economics and the unit will coordinate with our services to review our services to ensure that they are providing the maximum return to the government’s investment.
FSWS maintains that economic growth is useless without accompanying social progress. This should be reflected in the government’s economic vision and should focus on how the economy will work for the people and not how the people work for the economy. The economic vision should specify how the government will move towards eliminating poverty and reducing social issues that the foundation works with, and creating a just economy.
Claudette Baldacchino is director, International Relations, Service Audits, Quality Assurance, Research & Economic Department at FSWS and Matthew Attard is an economist at FSWS.