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Government Expenditure on Pensions
– €338
Million (466 million US dollars)
The Malta Independent
October 2, 2010
Malta
The
National Statistics Office yesterday issued a set of statistics about the
elderly population in
Malta
, to mark the International Day of Older Persons, observed yesterday.
During 2009, the total number of persons aged 60 and over totalled 90,697
or 22 per cent of the total population. The total was 3.1 per cent higher
than in 2008. Women accounted for more than half the total. Population
projections reveal an increasing trend in the percentage of persons within
this age group, which is expected to reach 32 percent by 2050. This
increase may be linked to a continuously rising life expectancy which has
been observed during the past years.
Of the 45 grooms and 19 brides aged over 59 who got married last year, 40
per cent of the grooms and 32 per cent of the brides were tying the knot
for the first time.
During the year under review, total government expenditure on retirement
pensions amounted to €338 million or 51 per cent of the total in social
security benefits. Most of these benefits, 94.5 per cent, were
contributory benefits, which totalled €320 million. There was an overall
increase of eight per cent in total government expenditure on retirement
and old-age pensions with regard to the preceding year, which was mainly
attributed to an increase in the two-thirds pensions of 12 per cent.
According to the 2008 Survey on Income and Living Conditions, elderly
persons are at a higher risk of being poor than their younger
counterparts. In fact, the at-risk-of-poverty rate for persons aged over
59 stood at 21 per cent while that for younger age groups stood at 13 per
cent. From this survey, it also resulted that nearly 70 per cent of the
elderly felt that they could not afford to pay for one week’s annual
holiday away from home, 10 per cent could not afford to eat a meal that
included meat, chicken, fish (or vegetarian equivalent) every second day,
while nearly 40 per cent said that their household could not afford to
face unexpected financial costs of €450 and over.
The average annual household expenditure for households with a reference
person aged 65 and over, as estimated from the Household Budgetary Survey
conducted during 2008, stood at €12,284.
This figure is significantly lower than that calculated for other
households, which stood at €21,865. Significant differences were also
evident when comparing the expenditure patterns of these two household
categories. Elderly households spend a higher proportion of their annual
expenditure on food and non-alcoholic beverages and on health items,
compared to other households. They also spend significantly lower
proportions on transport, clothing and footwear, as well as on recreation
and culture.
During the academic year 2008-2009, more than 50 persons aged 60 and over
followed a full-time or part-time course at the
University
of
Malta
. Nearly 58 per cent of these students were women.
An increase of 24 percent in the number of 60+ students was noted when
compared to the preceding year.
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