The means test for social assistance under the National Assistance Act, 1956

Abstract

The development of the means test for social assistance in Malta has been treated from its earliest origins to the present day and the principles underlying its application extensively commented upon. Comparison has been freely made with means tests as practised in various countries and with the standards of social security set up by the International Labour Organisation. The objections to the means test and the points in its favour have been dealt with in Chapter III. The ethical principles involved have been hinted at but not digressed upon, the major concern here being the practical aspect of public and social administration. A Catholic viewpoint has been taken on all matters of principle. It could be here mentioned perhaps that social assistance as such is not expressly mentioned in the social encyclicals of the Catholic Church; however, social assistance as part of social security is held to be a form of property and hence derives its justification from the natural right, upheld by Pope Leo XIII in ‘Rerum Novarum# of man to own a sufficiency of the means of his livelihood. The teaching of the Church in this respect is corroborated by the encyclical of Pope Pius XI ‘Quadragesimo Anno’ and of Pope John XXIII, ‘Mater et Magistra’. The obligation of the State to help needy persons is fully in accord with the principle of ‘subsidiarity’ upheld by Catholic sociologists and describe by Rev. Hoffner as the “supplementary assistential activity of larger social institutions for the benefit of individuals and small groupings” and generally applies when the “State or purpose created organisations are the major institutions.” This same principle militates against the encroachment by the state on activities which can be efficiently performed by smaller and lesser societies (e.g. the family). The right of the individual and his family to a guaranteed income for subsistence is not only derived from the principles of legal justice, which is concerned with organisation for the common good, but also with principles of distributive justice which require that the individual have a fair share in the moral good so that his intellectual and moral development is rendered possible. The right of the individual to the means of subsistence is moreover sanctioned on an international level by the Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations. For the sake of clarity, it is pointed out that reference to the National Assistance Act, 1956 implies reference to that Act as amended up to the time of writing viz. up to the 15th July 1968. An increase in the scale rate of social assistance were announced by the Prime Minister in the House of Representatives, but up to the time of writing the necessary amendment of the Law had not been carried out.