$300,000 to raise a child in US – how does Malta compare?

$300,00 to raise a child in US - how does Malta compare?

Aug 23 2022

New research has found that the cost of raising a child has risen to an average of more than $300,00 in places like the US. An estimate supplied to the Wall Street Journal by US based public policy non-profit organisation Brookings Institution raised alarms for prospective or already established parents.

It found that a married, middle-income couple with two children would spend $310,600 to raise their younger child born in 2015 up to the age of 17. That averages out at around $18,271 a year.

It is unclear what the situation in Malta is and whether or not it reflects a similar situation to the global context. Going off the latest news relating to inflation, last July saw the steepest increase in prices in Malta.

The Retail Price Index measured annual inflation at around 6.8%, reported the National Statistics office. The RPI is a measurement used to calculate the annual Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA).

The NSO reported how the 12 month moving average rate for July stood at 4.08%, with the largest upward impact on annual inflation being in the food index. A downward impact was recorded in the clothing and footwear Index.

Today, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana said that low income earners will be receiving additional compensation to their COLA increase next year. Coupled with grants announced during the electoral election by the government to help parents keep their kids in school, it is unsure to say exactly given the lack of statistical analysis conducted in recent years into the phenomenon.

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Man hospitalised after being crushed between two trucks in Naxxar

Aug 23 2022

A man suffered grievous injuries on Tuesday after he was crushed between two trucks at a construction site.

The police revealed that the accident happened at 0730hrs in Sqaq Ħabel Żwejra, Naxxar. It was revealed that the 49-year-old victim, a Żejtun resident, was caught between two DAF trucks whilst one of them was moving.

The man was given first aid by a medical team on sit and assisted by members of the Civil Protection Department. He was taken to Mater Dei Hospital by ambulance as police continue investigations.

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Appeals to scrap tunnel to Gozo project by tourism association

Aug 23 2022

The Gozo Tourism Association is appealing for the government to scrap the project proposing a tunnel between the islands of Malta and Gozo and ‘safeguard Gozo’s character.’

In its list of proposals for this year’s budget, the GTA pointed to the continuously emerging proposal for a tunnel between the sister islands.

The proposal estimated that the domestic gross product of Gozo comes from the tourism sector, which was immensely impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A long-term plan is therefore necessary, it stated, whilst also praising the improvements done in terms of transport between the islands. The fast ferry system needs strengthening, the air hangar in Xewkija needs immediate launching and a new vessel to replace the Nikolaus needs to be built, said the statement.

The opposition to the tunnel between the islands goes against the approval given by the Gozitan Chamber of Commerce. The latter stated in its own budget proposals that more priority needs to be given to the permanent connection between Malta and Gozo.

In terms of environmental proposals, the GTA said that Gozo needs to be deemed a Design Priority Zone, with the rural planning authority’s politics being updated to reflect the size of Gozo. This needs to be done in consultation with the local councils, the Gozo Regional Development Authority and all stakeholders involved.

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Singapore to finally lift ban on gay sex – a law lifted in Malta back in 1973

Aug 23 2022

Singapore’s Prime Minister has announced that the law criminalising sex between men will officially be repealed.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that the gay sex ban will be scrapped from the penal code to bring the law into line with current social attitudes. This will ‘provide some relief to gay Singaporeans’ he said.

The Prime Minister still said however that the Singaporean government does not want ‘wholesale changes in society’, possibly hinting at no changes to legal definitions of marriage in the near future.

Meanwhile, bringing it back to the local context, Malta has been deemed as one of the most progressive nations when it comes to gay rights in Europe.

In fact, the ban on gay sex was lifted back in 1973, which is when Prime Minister at the time Dom Mintoff and the Labour Party legislated for the removal of the British-introduced sodomy law.

Malta continued this track record by becoming the first European country to criminalise conversion therapy back in 2016. At the time, the island was ranked first in terms of respect of human rights and equality by ILGA-Europe (International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association).

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