Blessing-counting time
About a month ago (but I’ve only just got round to it) Eurostat published the current unemployment figures for all EU countries.
Of the 27, 22 have higher unemployment than we do.
Not all the figures are great for Malta, but low unemployment is a big one. There are those who argue that Malta has such low unemployment because the participation of women over the age of 35 in the economy is so low, and that if they were looking for work it would be a different story.
But the fact is that they’re not looking for work, and while this has implications for the economy, the national pension fund and the women themselves, the fact remains that if they’re not looking for work then they don’t want or need the money. That means a disproportionately large number of families (by European standards) are able to live on just one income – or maybe it’s the one person working two or three jobs.
And that’s significant.
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http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_PUBLIC/3-31012012-AP/EN/3-31012012-AP-EN.PDF
Il-Eurostat x’cuc hi fejn tal-One News, tal-Maltastar u fejn il-kelliema tal-Labour. Mela mhux kullhadd jaf li tal-Labour biss jghidu l-fatti kif ezatt huma. Tal-Labour anke meta jitilfu jghidu li rebhu ghax dejjem huma ghandhom ragun.
What is even more significant, further to Daphne’s comment about women ‘wanting or needing money’, is the recent statistic that Malta placed 38 (out of 192 countries) on the wealth index. Just think about how much better it would have placed, ‘li kieku Gonzi ma qatilniex bil-guh’.
A question I may ask is whether the employment and unemployment figures includes women who are capable of working but are not. In that case the low unemployment already reflects those women who, for whatever reason, do not join the workforce.
Malta’s blessings include more than just low unemployment rates. The ratio between taxes collected and services rendered by the government is probably one of the best around. Imagine how many freebies the government hands out in health, education and social services. Then compare to the taxes paid by the citizens of the majority of developed countries for property ownership, medicine and other government services. Malta seems to be well ahead of the game. This may change in time since sustainability will eventually become an issue and irrespective of who is governing the choice will be either to raise taxes or forfeit the services we have grown to expect and receive for free.
The well being of the country should take precedence over the popularity of political parties who, one day, will find that many of their promises and the vast majority of their dreams can no longer be fulfilled due to ever changing woes of the world economy. Governments are only elected administrations of people’s money and the more costs rise, the more is expected from every citizen to reluctantly or not, cough up more euros in order to maintain the standard of living they have been accustomed to.
There are also a large number of women working in the shadow economy.
But even when the women (to stick to that group) are looking for work, they still won’t show up in the unemployment statistics as long as they look around privately, call companies, send around their CV and respond to ads in the newspaper.
So, them not appearing in the statistics does not mean they are not looking for work, it only means they have not informed any government agency about the fact that they are looking for work. (Maybe because they know they would not receive any benefits because of sufficient household income, maybe because they find the registration pointless, maybe out of shame.)
So we place Malta in the top 40 countries on the wealth index?
Imagine where we would be without the decades of issikkar tac cinturin, the two years of the hofra.
Probably in no 1 place on a per capita basis.
Jahasra kemm hlejna zmien fic-cucati……