Economic growth fails to reduce holiday inequality over past decade

Despite Malta’s breathtaking economic growth rates, holiday inequality has slightly in-creased over the past decade – even if the holiday divide between those at risk of poverty and those who are not, remains considerably lower than that in the whole European Union.

Holiday inequality between those with incomes below 60% of median income, and those with income above that threshold, has grown in 16 member states but remained relatively stable in Malta over the last decade.

This emerges from an analysis of Eurostat data by the European Trade Union Confederation, which shows that while access to holidays has grown over the last decade, the majority of low-income families remain excluded.

Overall, 28% of EU citizens can’t afford a one-week holiday away from home – but that rises to 59.5% for people whose income is below the at-risk-of-poverty threshold (60% of the median national income).

Eurostat data shows that in 2019, while 55% of all Maltese at risk of poverty could not afford a week-long holiday, only 26% of those not at risk of poverty said they could not afford that same holiday – a gap of 29 points up, just up from 28.6 in 2010.

The situation is far worse in a number of EU countries – notably in Greece where 88.9% of at-risk-of-poverty people cannot afford a break, followed by Romania (86.8%), Croatia (84.7%), Cyprus (79.2%) and Slovakia (76.1%).

The biggest divides in access to holidays were found in Croatia (43.2pp), Greece (43pp),

(42.4pp), Czechia (41.1pp), France (40.4pp) and Romania (40.1pp).

The divide is lowest in Finland (19.8 pp) and Denmark (22pp).

And the biggest increases in the divide over the past decade was seen in Romania (+17pp), Slovakia (+14pp), Croatia (+13.8pp), Lithuania (+8.3pp) and Hungary (+7.9pp).

Germany registered the sharpest drop in the divide (-12.6 pp).

While a large portion of Europeans whose income is below 60% of the median are unemployed or retired, this group also includes millions of low-paid workers, particularly those earning the statutory minimum wage.

Data shows that statutory minimum wages alone leave workers at risk of poverty in at least 16 EU member states, including Malta.

ETUC insists that the proposed EU adequate minimum wage directive needs to be strengthened to ensure that wages are never so low that they leave workers living in poverty, and that collective bargaining is made a routine part of employment to ensure genuinely fair wages for all. “A holiday should not be a luxury for the few. While many workers are away enjoying time off with friends and family, millions are missing out because of low pay,” ETUC Deputy General Secretary Esther Lynch said.

ETUC is working with MEPs to introduce a ‘threshold of decency’ into the legislation that would ensure statutory minimum wages could never be paid at less than 60% of the median wage and 50% of the average wage of any member state, delivering a pay rise to over 24 million people – including 24,000 Maltese workers.