Watch: ‘Pagi Tal-Qamel’ – PN MP Calls Out Low Salaries And Rising Wealth Inequality
In an impassioned parliamentary speech, PN finance spokesperson Jerome Caruana Cilia warned that salaries have stagnated across several sectors and that more and more people are struggling to get by.
“Workers are caught in a trap; despite having a job, they are at risk of poverty or are actually in poverty, and statistics presented by the Finance Minister [Clyde Caruana] show that in-work poverty increased from 5.2% in 2012 to 7.4% in 2020,” Caruana Cilia said.
“Although people have jobs, their salaries are low, except for those of a tiny clique of people who never tire from eating at the trough. The rest must make do with pagi tal-qamel (measly salaries).”
He cited a recent Eurofound study which found that the gap between the wealthiest people in Malta and the rest of the population has increased in recent years.
The study shows that the richest 5% of the people of Malta owned 40% of the national wealth in 2017, up from 33% in 2010. Meanwhile, the bottom 50% only owned 10% of the national wealth, down from 14% in 2010.
“This is proof that the famous economic cake isn’t being divided fairly and that the government’s work policy has failed,” Caruana Cilia warned.
“The miserly rise in salaries, as well as inflation in basic products, higher property prices, several government scandals and other business challenges, has resulted in an increase in wealth inequality,” he said.
“You often read comments on Facebook that the PL’s promise to create a new middle class has failed, meanwhile the government spends thousands every month on marketing and propaganda to give the impression that everything is going well.”
“Unless all us politicians admit that rising wealth inequality is a major challenge, we will keep on living in an illusion. We must adopt an economy that cares for everyone, a socio-economic vision to distribute wealth fairly.”
Recent EU statistics show that Malta’s minimum wage is €792 a month, the 10th highest out of the 21 EU member states that have a minimum wage.
However, the average Maltese net salary stands at €1,021 a month, which is 20th out of the 27 EU member states.
Do you think salaries in Malta are too low?
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