Single un-married mothers, ‘unknown fathers’ and social assistance : selected issues

Abstract

With almost one child in four of the deliveries occurring to mothers who were never married, single-unmarried mother families have become a significant and growing presence in Malta today. Moreover, last year 8% of the brits were registered by one parent only, thus having 326 more new-borns with ‘unknown father’ on their birth certificate. Over the last five years the number of single-unmarried mothers who claimed social assistance from the Department of Social Security increased by almost 160%, reaching the figure of 2,905 cases for year 2009, with half of the claims concerning children registered as having an ‘unknown father.’ The expenditure on welfare assistance given to single-unmarried mothers last year, who are mainly from the Southern Harbour region, amounted to more than €10.5 million. In this study a combination of two research instruments were used: quota survey to have a direct feeling of the citizens’ view regarding the single-unmarried mothers in Malta; and consequently, a questionnaire among the single-unmarried mothers that are in receipt of social assistance to have first hand information and experience. Generally, single-unmarried mothers are said to be caught in the welfare trap and left depending on social benefits for their living. However, this study shows that there is an intentional trend in increase of single-unmarried mothers’ families with children registered as ‘unknown father’, where the social assistance seems to be more accommodating. An important question is raised, is social assistance given to single-unmarried mothers encouraging sexual activity and pregnancies? Teenage mothers are more likely to be at-risk-of-poverty, to have low occupational status, and to be dependent on public assistance. Thus, a reform of the benefits awarded to single-unmarried mothers is needed so that these benefits act to provide financial security whilst encouraging such mothers to participate actively in the labour market. Such an approach would also essentially help in reducing dependency on welfare benefits and encouraging independency of such mothers.