An administration with its heart in the right place

Much of the budget reaction has focused on the income tax reduction and increase in children’s allowance. These measures are important since they affect many people but other policies that affect smaller numbers will make an even more important difference in these persons’ lives.

Let me start with something very close to my heart. This year marked the opening of the Santa Luċija Centre for victims of domestic violence and abuse based on gender. A second hub in Mtarfa is planned. Victims will receive panic alarms which should help improve their security. Victims with children, or who care for elderly or disabled relatives, will now be provided with a childcare service or the services of a carer when they need to attend court sessions or therapy. These are truly measures that improve the quality of life of those most in need.

Mental health is a pertinent issue. The introduction of a pilot project offering free mental health sessions in local councils and mental first aid services in the community and workplaces helps address this. The initiative to incentivise more active lifestyles by paying a six-month gym membership for youths should help address some of the challenges they face. The assistance to low-income families to purchase books for their children is also a step in the right direction.

The extension of paid leave for self-employed undergoing IVF treatment and the granting of paternity leave to this group ensures all workers are treated equally. The decision to start granting two years of social security credits to those who successfully complete a drug rehabilitation programme is another good initiative.

This budget also has several excellent improvements for those with disabilities and their carers. The carers grant currently applies to those caring for children older than 16. This will be extended to parents of younger children and those receiving this grant will start to qualify for social security credits.

Those who care for two or more disabled dependents today receive one rate; next year they will be receiving one and a half times the current rate. The tax credit on therapy costs borne by parents with disabled children will rise by €250, and it will start to be given as a cash grant to those who do not earn enough to pay tax.

The fostering allowance will rise by €520 annually, while eligibility for the in-work benefit and the means-tested children’s allowance will widen since thresholds will now be based on net and not gross income. The childbirth or adoption bonus will increase by another €500 for those with three or more children. Each couple who marries or enters into a civil union will receive €340 more in their grant.

Some years ago, this administration had introduced a bonus for those who paid social security contributions but did not qualify for a pension. These amount to about 16,000 persons, mostly women. This benefit currently stands between €500 and €600 depending on contributions paid. It will now rise to between €550 and €1,000.

In 2020, it was announced that the practice to pay widows a reduced pension would gradually end. This year 7,500 widows will be getting an additional €3 per week on top of the €8 per week increase given to other pensioners.

Women also can welcome the removal of the ‘pink tax’. In most EU countries, including up to this year Malta, menstrual products are not considered essential products and therefore charged the highest VAT rate. Next year, this will no longer be the case for Maltese women. This initiative should help women and girls, particularly those on low incomes.

A year before I was born, in his last speech as US vice president, Hubert Humphrey, the chief author of the Civil Rights Act, stated: “...the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; those who are in the shadows of life; the sick, the needy and the disabled.” Budget 2024 is testament that this administration has its heart in the right place.