Struggling to make ends meet: a snapshot of the recession year

Some 41% of Maltese are finding difficult for the family to pay their normal bills, buy food and other consumables, according to the latest Eurobarometer survey issued by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical arm.

The survey found one European in six reports “a constant struggle to pay household bills and three quarters believe that poverty has increased in their country over the past year.”

The survey, carried out in May 2010, marks the halfway mark of the 2010 European Year against poverty and comes after EU leaders agreed on 17 June to lift 20 million Europeans out of poverty and social exclusion over the next decade.

In total, 41% of Maltese respondents answered that their household was struggling constantly to keep up with bills and credit commitments or had fallen behind with some or many such payments. Malta just ranked below Bulgaria (44%), Portugal (46%), Latvia (48%) and Greece – 58% – hit this year by one of the worst financial crises ever.

36.9% of the Maltese also believe poverty has ‘slightly increased’ and 27.9% say it has ‘strongly increased’.

On pensions, 19.8% said they believe they will get lower pensions in future; 19% say they will have to retire later than originally planned; and 24% feel they must save more for their retirement.

However, the survey found positive trends in the Maltese psyche: 39.8% felt very confident and 40.6% felt fairly confident they wouldn’t lose their job.

The survey also found that Maltese respondents were now less likely to say that it had become more difficult to afford healthcare and social-care services. A decrease of at least five percentage points was observed in the proportion of Maltese respondents who said that it had become somewhat or much more difficult to afford such services: -5 points for general healthcare, -7 points for childcare and -10 points for long-term care.

Interestingly, more than half the Maltese respondents did not answer the question as to whether rent or mortgage payments were relevant to their personal situation. And 83% ruled out having to migrate from the country to earn a living.

László Andor, EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion said “The survey results confirm that poverty is a major issue in the EU and that the current economic and financial situation is aggravating the situation further. The crisis is taking its toll and a significant proportion of Europeans today are finding it difficult to make ends meet.”

One in six Europeans reported that their household has had no money to pay ordinary bills, buy food or other daily consumer items, on at least one occasion in the past year and 20% had difficulties in keeping up with household bills and credit commitments at the time of the survey’s fieldwork (carried out during May 2010).