One sixth of Malta’s workforce earn under €1,000 per month

Aqra dan l-artiklu bil-Malti

One in six workers in Malta earn less than €1,000 a month, and more than 2,300 full-time workers earn the minimum wage of just €835 per month, statistics released in response to a series of parliamentary questions last week show.

While figures for salaries between January and March of this year show an average of €1,848 per month, the median salary, an estimate which is less sensitive to extreme data points, was just €1,582 per month.

The statistics were released as concerns are rising over the increased cost of living and inflation. These soaring figures disproportionately affect those with lower salaries and impact an increasingly larger swathe of the Maltese population.

The figures provided by Finance Minister Clyde Caruana last week in response to a series of parliamentary questions by Opposition MP Graziella Attard Previ in June were sourced from the National Statistics Office’s Labour Force Survey.

Caruana said 47,412 workers employed in both full-time and part-time positions were paid under €1,000 last year. While the amount does not factor in overtime, bonuses and allowances, it represents one in six of Malta’s 290,955-person-strong workforce.

In response to another question by Attard Previ, Caruana said 2,372 full-time workers were employed at minimum wage, which currently stands at €193 per week, around €835 per month, or €10,000 per year.

Caruana also said the median national salary for the first financial quarter of 2023 stood at €1,582 per month, translating to around €19,000 per year.

Another NSO study from last July shows that the at-risk-of-poverty threshold is around €11,000 annually. Some 86,000 people were at risk of poverty, translating to almost 17% of Malta’s population.

Malta’s economy relies heavily on low-paid jobs that employ foreign workers statistically more at risk of poverty. While Prime Minister Robert Abela has pledged that the government will reduce the number of foreign workers, the mushrooming of low-paid jobs remains unaddressed.

Last year, prominent voices in anti-poverty, mental health and trade unionism told The Shift that besides poverty risks, low salaries are one of the main reasons why full-time workers suffer from mental stress, a consequence of struggling to make ends meet.

Malta’s low wages contribute to an increasingly unaffordable property market and compound issues created by an increased cost of living, especially inflation in necessities such as food.

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makjavel
makjavel
1 year ago

In other words , this government has made paupers out of the local workers.
A communist economy complete with Oligarchs , Joseph Muscat / Keith Schembri managed.

M.Galea
M.Galea
1 year ago
Reply to  makjavel

Dawk it tnejn li semmejt, flimkien ma Konrad u Cardona huma l ewwel li fottew pajjiz u saru miljunarji ghad detriment ta’ pajjizna w l gahzn isejhilhom bravi!

Mark Cassar
Mark Cassar
1 year ago

Replace “earn” with “declare”

Mark Norris
Mark Norris
1 year ago

“Kulħadd sar sinjur żgħir”

Mick
Mick
1 year ago

An old system whereby the Maltese HATE paying for ANYTHING, especially their own kith and kin, keep them subordinated and they will always be grateful for the shit job they have. However they can bring in TCN’s now and pay even lower wages to the detriment of EVERYONE. There’s a whole industry at work in making sure that the unemployment figures make us the “best in Europe” The reality is there are thousands on Mickey Mouse programmes run by the government / unions to sustain the lie that unemployment is a rare animal in Malta. No Maltese wants to work for the shit money offered by these misers, the bubble will burst next year when they have to repatriate lots and lots of TCN’s as the system just can’t sustain this cycle of cheap labour, high rent, and infrastructure meltdown. Trust me it’s the road to ruin.

Sean.
Sean.
1 year ago
Reply to  Mick

The end is near ….well written.

Out of Curiosity
Out of Curiosity
1 year ago

And then we consistently learn about new scandals, where our money are either mismanaged or used to master corrupt practices galore. Typical of this Labour Party in Government.

Mr Benjamin Wery
Mr Benjamin Wery
1 year ago

Low wages and ridiculously high rents, no wonder Malta is drowning.

My rent accounts for 70% of my salary, 70% and I earn above the national average.

I feel sorry for those who earn less, mostly 3rd world citizens who share rooms.

But landlords are greedy and something needs to be done to control the spiraling housing prices.

Otherwise families in particular will get further and further into debt.

Pete
Pete
1 year ago

landlords-the worst bunch.

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