‘Cost of living does not take a holiday break’ - ADPD

Government subsidies on electricity and wheat have failed to stop prices rising, Malta’s Green Party said, as it highlighted the ever-increasing pressures faced by Malta’s poor.

Addressing a press conference near the open market in Qormi on Saturday, spokespersons for ADPD The Green Party said that the subsidies have not had the intended effects on consumers, as prices have kept on rising, with detrimental effects on quality of life and living standards. 

“Just this week, a price hike in the price of milk was announced,” ADPD’s Deputy Secretary General, Dr Melissa Bagley said. “Notwithstanding last budget’s measures, we are still far off from minimum wage earners to have a living wage with which to have a decent standard of living.”

Bagley criticised the way the Cost Of Living Adjustment Contribution (COLA), currently €12.82 per week, which is meant to offset the rise in cost of living, is calculated. 

“People are not purchasing and consuming the same items they used to 30 years ago, when taking into consideration the basket of items on which the cost of living is calculated. For this reason, we as ADPD are campaigning that this basket of items is updated regularly, rather than becoming increasingly irrelevant. We further add that the COLA must be given every 6 months rather than once yearly, particularly when the cost of living is continually increasing at a fast pace”, Bagley insisted.

She referred to this week’s announcement of substantial increases to vehicle insurance premiums due to inflation and milk producers’ second price hike this year. This strengthened ADPD’s argument that COLA must also be given midway through the year, Bagley said.

The government is aware of the present inefficiency in how the increase in cost of living is calculated, ADPD Chairperson, Sandra Gauci told attendees. “So much so, that the government is distributing additional cash benefits in an attempt to combat the rising cost of living. This is nothing less than an admission that the adjustments being granted are peanuts, in the hope to appear generous, however the less fortunate keep being treated as a beggar, dependent on the government's charity.”

The increase in the minimum wage, announced during the last budget, was a good decision, but not sufficient. “An increase of €18 over a period of 4 years is not enough. These figures contradict the studies conducted by Caritas in 2020, which found that a family of two adults and two children needs €13,947 to enjoy a decent standard of living. This translates into an increase of 40% to the minimum wage, meaning an increase of €78 per week,” said the party leader. 

She pointed out that this increase should have been ordered long ago, and in the meantime wage earners have had “to accept the crumbs, in a country which boasts of rising GDP and an improving economy”, Gauci said.

“People are not numbers and the facts show that we have over 100,000 people at risk of poverty,” Gauci reiterated. Many were worried about the effect of the EU’s  'Fit for 55' emissions scheme on goods next year, Gauci said, accusing the government of failing to plan for its impacts, despite having known about this measure for at least three years. 

“If we really want to help the poor, there is a need for a policy with bold, targeted and serious decisions that really put the poor at the centre of decisions and aimed at making the life of those living on the minimum wage a decent life. We should not continue to increase the working poor who are deprived of their ability to live in a dignified way. This poverty which is always growing and is being ignored shows how these measures are only cosmetic and do not go to the root of the problem to reduce poverty. There is a need for a change in the mentality where people are no longer considered as numbers but as a precious resource especially in a country like Malta that lacks any natural resource,” Gauci concluded.