Average wage in Malta almost near average wage of migrants

A few days ago, Eurostat came out with a set of figures which did not cause any waves here in Malta perhaps understandingly because the focus was on the situation of migrants both in Malta and elsewhere in Europe.

But the figures revealed something which should not go unnoticed in this country.

They revealed that the difference between the average wage of a Maltese citizen and that of an average migrant is among the lowest in Europe.

The biggest differences were registered in Luxembourg (€12,084), Sweden (€10,548), Austria (€8,920) and Denmark (€8,231). The smallest differences were registered in Malta (€900), Latvia, Czech Republic and Croatia.

The focus, as said, was on the migrants’ situation but we should spend some moments to reflect on the situation of the Maltese average worker. For if there are all the reasons in the world to insist that migrants receive a better wage, there are even more reasons to argue that the wages of the Maltese are at rock bottom. In fact, without wanting to sound xenophobic, almost on the level of migrants.

This then is the cause of the much-acclaimed economic miracle – by keeping Maltese wages down, our economy could be portrayed as a growing and booming one.

It is true that in recent years the influx of betting companies and similar high-end jobs have also increased the local economy but the main thrust of the economy is built on underpaid jobs. Then of course there are those sectors which somehow keep relativity towards the lower level, like the public service and associated agencies and bodies.

The reason has often been aired but no one seems able to move anything – Malta, for all the hype that’s used, remains essentially low-tech. It cannot be otherwise considering as even the Commission has now admitted (see its country specific recommendations for Malta on this same page) that Malta has among the highest early school leaving population in Europe and the highest early school leaving rate for people with disabilities, double the EU average.

The gap in science performance between students from the bottom versus the top performing schools is among the highest in the EU and 1.5 times the average of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The share of low achievers in maths, science and reading is the fourth highest in the EU.

With such a situation, it is inevitable that companies and enterprises fall in line with this race to the bottom. Hence we are only considered good for low tech, mostly manual jobs which is where many of our acclaimed factories and enterprises find themselves in, many times more machine minders than anything more.

It is thus also inevitable that the no-skill migrants who find their way here get more or less the same treatment, unhappily marked downwards because they are migrants.

Unless one or any of the cohorts in Malta develop an iron determination to move up and to develop skills and attitudes, we are doomed to remain in this lower quartile. Unless the migrants, here or elsewhere, develop an even firmer iron will and put us all to shame.