Increase in persons at risk of poverty or social exclusion

Last year, a total of 69,642 persons were at-risk-of-poverty or social inclusion according to the National Statistics Office. This marked an increase of 1.5 percentage points over the previous year.

The statistics divide the risk-of-poverty in two sections: the monetary at risk of poverty rate and the at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion rate. During 2011, the monetary at-risk-of-poverty rate stood at 15.4% - up by 0.4 percentage points from 2010. On the other hand, a substantial increase was registered in the at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion rate reaching 21.7%.

At 21%, children under 18 years of age remained at a higher risk of being poor, as was similarly observed in 2010. The rate for persons aged 65 and over was 18%. Both rates are distinctly higher than the at-risk-of-poverty rate estimated for the 18-64 age cohort, at 13%.

The average gross household income was estimated at €26,617 while the average disposable income stood at €22,403. Increases of 3% were registered in both the gross and disposable household income when compared to the previous year.

NSO said that the household disposable income was used to derive the equivalised income, which served as a basis for the computation of the monetary poverty indicators. These indicators include the at-risk-of-poverty threshold, which stood at €6,517 for the year under review. 63,593 persons had an equivalised income below this threshold, thus being classified at-risk-of-poverty.

An analysis of the at-risk-of-poverty rates for different household types revealed that persons living in households with dependent children tend to be more prone to being at-risk-of-poverty, as opposed to those living in households without dependent children - 18% and 12% respectively. Persons living in single-parent households were most at-risk-of-poverty, at 47%.

Figures on at-risk-of-poverty rates by work intensity show a negative relationship between work and monetary poverty. As an example, the at-risk-of-poverty rate for persons living in households with dependent children and having zero work intensity stood at 79%, while that for households with dependent children and full work intensity resulted as marginally low. A similar trend was observed in the case of households without dependent children.

Households were also asked to indicate whether they were deprived of a number of essential household items.17% of respondents were living in households that were deprived of at least three of these nine items. Furthermore, around 6% were deprived of at least four and are considered as severely materially deprived.

Statistics also showed that the share of persons aged below 60 and were either severely materially deprived or living in a household with a low work intensity, were at risk of being poor.

According to NSO, this indicator has gained significant importance in recent years, in view of the Europe 2020 Strategy. In this case, Malta's rate at 22% is lower than EU average.