Increases in pensions and other benefits come into effect

Social Policy Minister Michael Falzon

The first days of January began with pension increases and new rates as announced in the Budget for this year. The increases are €8 per week or €416 per year, so in these first days of the year, the Government will have invested around €87 million in pensions and benefits from which 119,000 beneficiaries are benefiting.

Consecutive increases in pensions have led to pensioners’ incomes increasing by more than €70 per week in the last 10 years.

These details were announced during a press conference on Friday morning, by the Minister for Social Policy and Children’s Rights, Michael Falzon, where he stressed that all pensioners will have benefited from an 83% increase in expenditure in 2013.

“This growth in social expenditure reflects how much this Government not only embraces values ​​of social justice, but practices them in a concrete and generous manner, as we have shown over the years by implementing social welfare with dozens of laws, benefits and initiatives in favour of families, pensioners, the most vulnerable, persons with disabilities, workers, women and youth,” stressed Minister Michael Falzon.

Permanent Secretary Mark Musu also referred to other benefits that have been paid in recent days. Chief among them was the one through which 23,377 families are receiving €3.7 million in In-Work Benefit for the last 3 months of 2024.

Permanent Secretary Mark Musu

This is while around 17,000 people are receiving €10 million in various non-contributory benefits which vary between weekly, 4-week or 3-month payments depending on the case.

At the same time, the number of people dependent on social assistance continued to decrease, dropping to 5,226. This is also the lowest level ever recorded, i.e. a decrease of 65.4% since December 2013.