[WATCH] Online social security entitlement calculator launched

Online social security entitlement calculator launched

The process of figuring out your social security entitlements is now simpler thanks to the launch of an online calculator.

This morning Minister for the Family, Children’s Rights and Social Solidarity, Michael Falzon, unveiled the new online calculator for Social Security Services, which is available on www.socialsecurity.gov.mt by clicking on the online calculations icon, as well as on a number of other government department websites.

Two new web apps should simplify and make life easier for users, Falzon said.

After filling in a form online, the new site can calculate a user’s entitlement to various social benefits. The form uses information inputted by the user and is not on actual data derived linked to government E-ID.

Parliamentary secretary Anthony Agius Decelis told reporters that this is part of a government plan that had started in the previous legislature, which emphasised the use of technology to assist the public in accessing the information they require.

“This is in line with the politics of this government. A cardinal principle is the reduction in social exclusion and empowering people. We are being more accessible and therefore more transparent.”

The web app would allow the elderly to take informed decisions from the comfort of their own homes, he said.

Falzon, whose ministry consumes a third of the national budget, hailed the webform as “a big step in the right direction.”

“We want to bring services closer to the people. The importance of being close to the people is crucial.”

The department would not be abdicating their responsibilities by giving taxpayers this facility, Falzon said.

The two calculators can help facilitate persons in making decisions, he said, but pointed out that the calculators depended on user input.

More plans are in the pipeline to incentivise the use of direct credit and rely less on cheques, Falzon said.