3% UNEMPLOYED, 9% WORKING AND STILL POOR  

By Economist

 St Paul wrote to the Thessalonians with unusual bluntness. “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.” He had heard that some in the church were idle and disruptive. They were not busy. They were busybodies. He commanded them to settle down and earn their own bread.

The words still sting. They speak of responsibility, not cruelty. Those who can work must work. Those who will not should not live off others. Yet the command assumes that work yields bread enough to live on. In Malta that assumption is failing.

The island’s main labour problem is not unemployment. The jobless rate hovers near three per cent, among the lowest in Europe. The real problem is employment that leaves people poor. In-work poverty has climbed to 9.2 per cent, above the EU average. Nearly half of full-time workers earned less than €19,000 in 2024. A National Audit Office study put the minimum budget for a decent life for a family of four at about €19,355. Many who work full time fall short of that line. They earn their bread. It is not enough.

Welfare reform has not fixed this. Benefits and allowances have risen. Unemployment pay now replaces a higher share of previous wages for longer. Thresholds have been widened. Social transfers still cut monetary poverty by only 24.9 per cent, far below the EU average of 33.2 per cent. An unemployed family of four on maximum help remains about €4,600 short of a basic standard. Costs have outpaced benefit increases. Those in low-paid work get extra in-work support, yet many still cannot afford a decent life. The safety net is wider. It is not lifting people clear.

Growth has come mainly from adding workers, often in lower-paid roles, rather than from higher output per worker. Wages have risen faster than productivity. That pattern cannot deliver a living standard. It fills jobs while leaving households strained. Paul’s rule then becomes more necessary, not less. If work does not feed a family properly, the incentive to settle down and labour quietly weakens. Idleness and grievance fill the gap. Busybodies flourish when honest work does not pay.

The lesson for government is sharp. Do not confuse a tight labour market with a just one. Support those who cannot work. Require those who can to work. Make that work yield enough to live on. Raise skills and productivity so wages can rise without hollowing out competitiveness. Target help so that effort is rewarded, not trapped.

Malta’s poor are not idle. They are underpaid. Low unemployment is a success. Widespread low pay that leaves workers poor is a failure. After years of expanding welfare while in-work poverty grew, Paul’s command is more urgent than ever. Eat your own bread. That bread must be enough. Work with quietness. Governance must make both possible. That is a civic duty.