Watch: ‘Xi Darba Kien Hemm Il-Maltin’: Caruana Warns Malta Staring Into Abyss Of Demographic Collapse
Finance Minister Clyde Caruana issued his strongest warning yet about the serious risk of Maltese demographic collapse and said that “gigantic steps” are required to prevent it.
Caruana warned on Karl’s Podcast that, at this rate, the number of Maltese people who live in Malta will decline from 400,000 people to 240,000 within the next 50 years, out of whom 40% will be older than 65.
If the population remains stable at around 600,000 people, it will mean that the Maltese will become a minority in their own country.
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“Sometimes I get angry at how we’re not even noticing this massive elephant in the room,” Caruana said. “We keep talking about how important it is to treasure our culture and our language but we keep forgetting that our population is at risk of collapse because there simply won’t be enough of us.”
“At this rate, we will one day say that there used to be Maltese people.”
Caruana said that governments have so far only offered “peanuts” to tackle this problem and that the time has come to take “gigantic steps”.
While he said he will wait for the Budget to announce specific policies, he has previously called for a new tax rate for parents who have two children.
“If someone chooses not to have children, then no money will incentivise them to do so,” he said.
“However, university research has also proven that several families with one child would like a second child but their financial situation doesn’t allow them to.”
“Life has changed and if we think we can force people to change their lifestyles to accommodate having children, it will be the biggest mistake possible.”
Cover photo: Karl’s Podcast
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