Publications

Social Protection 2024 (reference years 2018-2022)

Date Published: 27th June 2024
Summary:

Every individual has a right to social protection. National systems are in place to aid those people during periods when they are unable to earn income or require additional support. Examples include pensioners who have retired from employment, persons unable to work due to health or family reasons, and expectant mothers approaching maternity. Each system consists of multiple policies and programs targeting different strata of the population, every policy providing protection against a single risk or need. Support may be provided in the form of cash benefits, such as unemployment benefits payable to individuals registering for work, or benefits-in-kind, for instance offering free child care to assist parents or guardians in achieving a work/life balance.

Throughout this publication users will obtain a better understanding of the development of Malta’s social protection system between the reference years 2018 and 2022. Data on social expenditure is reported according to the guidelines defined in the ESSPROS Manual, as composed by Eurostat. Specifically, outlay is classified by ESSPROS function, providing the themes for eight of the publication’s 10 chapters, and social protection scheme. Each function references a social risk faced by society; (1) sickness/health care, (2) disability, (3) old age, (4) survivors, (5) family/children, (6) unemployment, (7) housing and (8) social exclusion.

In the final chapter focus will be then placed towards analysing the geographic location of social benefits recipients around the Maltese Islands. Data is organised up to local council level, presented not only numerically but also visually through various maps inserted throughout the publication.

Salient Points of Publication:

ESSPROS

  • Social spending in Malta during 2022 totalled €2,567.2 million, a €156.2 million or 5.7 per cent drop from the previous year.
  • During the same period, GDP rose by 13.8 per cent resulting in the social expenditure-to-GDP ratio declining by 3.1 percentage points (p.p.) from 17.8 per cent in 2021 to 14.7 per cent in 2022.
  • The complete phasing out of support measures introduced to aid individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2022 led to the lower registered social outlay. In 2022, expenditure towards such measures fell by €246.0 million.
  • Nine schemes reported higher spending in comparison to 2021. The Social Security Contributory and Non-Contributory Benefits schemes recorded the biggest growths at €51.5 million and €41.5 million, respectively.
  • Among the ESSPROS functions, expenditure ranged from €1,056.6 million (41.2 per cent of the total social outlay) in Old Age benefits to €25.7 million (1.0 per cent) in Housing schemes.
  • Following the recuperation of €49.3 million in taxation, total net outlay in 2021 amounted to €2,674.1 million. This represented a €116.2 million increase in comparison to 2020.
  • Social taxation collected through COVID-19 Support Measures (€35.7 million) accounted for 72.5 per cent of the total.
  • By the end of 2022, the number of recipients of pension benefits exceeded 101,000. Male beneficiaries outnumbered females, representing 55.3 per cent of the total.
  • Seven out of every 10 pension beneficiaries were obtaining an Old Age-type pension.
  • In 2022, there were 59,534 individuals who obtained an unemployment cash benefit. The highest proportion (73.5 per cent) of recipients fell within the 25-54 age group.
  • Unemployment beneficiaries averaged 21,764 persons per month, greatly influenced by the number of individuals in receipt of the Wage Supplement scheme. In total, 47,408 persons obtained at least one payment through this scheme, equivalent to 79.6 per cent of the total recipients.

Social Protection in the EU (2021)

  • The EU’s social spending in 2021 amounted to 26.4 per cent of the consolidated GDP, 1.4 p.p. lower than the 27.8 per cent reported in 2020.
  • The largest social protection-to-GDP ratios were documented in France (31.6 per cent) and Austria (29.3 per cent). Conversely, Ireland (11.3 per cent) and Romania (13.9 per cent) registered the smallest percentages.
  • At 15.6 per cent, Malta’s ratio is the sixth lowest among its EU counterparts.
  • The highest share (58.6 per cent) of the EU’s social expenditure was attributed towards non means-tested cash benefits.
  • Together, Old Age and Sickness/Health Care benefits represented over two-thirds of the EU’s social expenditure. Housing maintained the lowest investment at 1.3 per cent.
  • Net outlay reflected 25.3 per cent of the EU’s GDP, resulting in 2.53 per cent of the social expenditure being reclaimed through taxes or social contributions.
  • There were 272 persons per 1,000 EU residents in receipt of a pension by the end of 2021 that was one pensioner more than the previous year.
  • From a country perspective, Slovakia registered the largest proportion with 332 pensioners per 1,000 population, 1.7 times higher than the lowest share reported in Cyprus (190 persons per 1,000 population). Malta’s corresponding ratio of 192 persons per 1,000 population ranked the nation second lowest.

Social security beneficiaries by locality

  • In 2022, there were 190,290 recipients of social security benefits, accounting for 35.1 per cent of Malta’s population.
  • Females represented a higher share of recipients, standing at 107,977 or 56.7 per cent of the total.
  • From a district perspective, beneficiary proportions ranged from 43.0 per cent of residents in the Southern Harbour to 30.1 per cent of those living in the Northern region.
  • More than half (55.0 per cent) of L-Imdina’s population obtained a social security benefit, the highest share witnessed between the 68 local councils. On the other hand, the lowest ratio was recorded at Is-Swieqi, where slightly above a fifth of the population was receiving social security benefits.
  • Old age benefits were the most received, at 92,220 individuals or 48.5 per cent of the total beneficiaries. Payees ranged from 45.0 per cent of residents in L-Imdina to 8.9 per cent of persons residing in San Pawl il-Baħar.
  • At 0.8 per cent of Malta’s population, unemployment benefits registered the lowest percentage of beneficiaries. Bormla (28 persons per 1,000 population) recorded the largest beneficiaries-to-population ratio, 14 times the lowest amounts in Ta’ Kerċem and Ħal Lija (both 2 persons per 1,000 population).
  • Persons in receipt of a family benefit numbered 52,482 in 2022, 9.7 per cent of the country’s population. The South Eastern district documented the highest share of claimants at 11.6 per cent of its population, whereas the Northern district’s 7.7 per cent was the lowest percentage reported.
  • In addition to unemployment, Bormla also registered the highest shares of recipients of social exclusion (214 persons per 1,000 population) and sickness (169 persons per 1,000 population) benefits. Similarly, Is-Swieqi reported the lowest proportions for both benefit types, with 3.2 per cent and 2.3 per cent obtaining social exclusion or sickness benefits, respectively.
  • For every 1,000 individuals, 32 persons were in receipt of a survivors benefit during 2022. Ħal Luqa (82 persons per 1,000 population) recorded the biggest share of beneficiaries, 2.5 times higher than the national average.
  • Disability beneficiaries totalled 10,507 (1.9 per cent of the population) in 2022. Iż-Żejtun (40 persons per 1,000 population) reported the highest share of beneficiaries, while the lowest amount was reported in Is-Swieqi (7 persons per 1,000 population).
  • On average, beneficiaries living on the Maltese Islands received €5,957 in benefit income.
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