Not all so rosy
A story carried by our sister paper last Sunday, about a single mother who fears she and her young son will be evicted from their home if the rent is increased, has struck a raw nerve among many of our readers.
There are other heartrending details in this story, but what really comes across is the sheer helplessness of it all: this woman, as the story explains, has been reduced to getting by on just €20 a month because the social assistance she receives is gobbled up by payments on an overdue tax bill and rent at €400 a month. Her utility bills are paid for by Caritas and she gets food from a charitable organisation.
Let us focus on the residence aspect. This woman has been trying to get social housing for years but has always been unsuccessful. She is not the only one; there are cases of people sleeping in their cars, and the mayor of Marsascala has
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been quoted as saying he knows of a number of people reduced to living in underground garages because the rent charged is less than that for an apartment.
The government, after sitting on its hands for five years and not building a single social housing unit, has now promised a White Paper and – maybe – a social housing project which has already been announced and preliminary work on some units, which has already begun. But there may be other measures that can be taken. What about, for instance, the government paying half this woman’s rent since the it has been unsuccessful in providing her with social accommodation? This woman could have accepted offers from friends – who are themselves on social assistance – to go live with them, possibly exacerbating the problem. Or she could even live with her parents, but even this risks making the situation worse.
This case – and we repeat, there are others – drives a coach and horses through the government’s constant bragging that this is the best time. It may be the best time for some people at the top of the pile – those with secret accounts elsewhere; those with golden passports; those who have been chosen for a position of trust, and so on.
But there are thousands living an honest life and getting peanuts every year, especially pensioners. Many find they cannot cope with regular expenses on a minimum wage or pension. And when something extraordinary happens, they find they do not have the money for it. And below them is this hidden stratum of non-persons eking out a non-life on €20 a month.