MFA. Full-time fishermen – Full-time fishermen with no other significant income generation. • MFB: Part-time fishermen – Part-time fishermen with other income sources. • MFC: Recreational fishermen – No nets permitted, hook limits on longlines and no access to tuna quota. Moreover, fish caught by recreational fishermen cannot be sold onto the market and catch recording is not made. • MFD: Transport vessels – Auxiliary Vessels (work boats) used in fishing operations • S: Sport fishermen. In 2012, full-time employment in the fishing and aquaculture sector amounted to an average of 506 and an annual average of 734 was recorded for part-time employment.142 In terms of gross value added, the fisheries sector contributed 0.3% in 2012, which is equivalent to around €17.6 million.143 The social and cultural importance of the Maltese fishing industry far outweighs its small economic contribution, which is equivalent to about 0.1% of the national Gross Domestic Product. The income of most of the local fishers depends on the sale of highly-priced fresh fish caught by traditional artisanal methods during very short fishing trips. The variety and quality of the catch also contributes considerably to the tourism industry. As at the end of 2012, the annual volume of fish landings at the official market by administrative area amounted to 1,042 tonnes, 141 tonnes less when compared to the annual volume for the year 2011.144 In addition, the annual wholesale value of fish landings at the official market amounted to €6,253,000 (an increase of €78,000 in comparison to the annual wholesale value of fish landings for 2011).145 The Maltese aquaculture sector is economically dominated by tuna penning operations along with well-established sea bass and sea bream farms. As at the end of 2012, the number of aquaculture farms amounted to six. In the same year, Malta’s output in terms of sales was around 3,904 tonnes of BFT worth some €78.9 million and around 126 tonnes of Sea Bass worth €833,000. The sales output for sea bream has increased steadily over the last four years and at 2,604 tonnes in 2012 (worth around €11million) is the mainstay of Maltese farmed fish production. Using 2012 as the baseline year, other species amounting to 806 tonnes worth some €2.2 million146 were also produced. Maltese aquaculture produce is almost entirely exported to European and Asian markets. The aquaculture sector is complemented with interventions by the fish processing industry. This industry is still in its infancy stage mainly since the local catch is made up of high-value fish that is exported or consumed fresh. In addition, the aquaculture harvesting and packing has little or no value added to this sector. Some limited processing activity exists by merchants within this field mainly in cutting, filleting, portioning, rewrapping and smoking for retail and hotel/restaurant customers. 141 Fisheries Management Plan: Lampuki FAD Fishery, Ministry for Sustainability, the Environment and Climate Change, Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture 2013. 142 National Statistics Office, Gainfully Occupied Population: 2008-2012 (Revisions) News Release 190/2013. 143 National Statistics Office, September 2013. 144 National Statistics Office, October 2013: Data does not include sales of aquaculture and tuna farming. 145 Ibid. 146 National Statistics Office: News Release 222/2013. During the 2007-2013 programming period, the Maltese labour market recorded a relatively positive performance, as reflected by the increasing participation rates and employment levels and the relatively low and stable unemployment rate. Notwithstanding this, Malta still faces challenges relating to low labour market participation, together with rising youth unemployment rates. Human capital utilisation is also lagging behind (compared to the EU average) in terms of tertiary education (or equivalent) attainment levels. This is compounded by a still relatively high early school leaving rate when compared to the EU average. Education and employment also have a direct link towards creating a more socially inclusive society. Within this context, Malta’s commitment to increase the employment rate complemented by the requirement to reduce the early school leaving rate to 10% and to increase the percentage of persons obtaining tertiary education to 33% by 2020, is expected to lead to improvements in the utilisation of human capital. Education and employment have a direct link towards creating a more inclusive society whereby investments in these areas will contribute towards the reduction in the number of persons at risk of poverty or social exclusion. With a population of 413,300 in 2013, Malta’s labour force stood (20-64) at 178,000 as shown in Table 1.23 below. This represents an 11.0% increase over 2008 figures. The inactive population, which has declined during the reference period, represents 31.2% of the reference population. The employed population has also registered an increasing trend which is attributable to a number of factors including the higher female emancipation. The increase in female participation has been achieved through the introduction of a series of initiatives such as fiscal incentives and family friendly measures. Notwithstanding the financial crisis and the subsequent recession, the number of people looking for work remained relatively stable over the time period covered.
Appears in 1 contract
Sources: Partnership Agreement
MFA. Full-time fishermen – Full-time fishermen with no other significant income generation. • MFB: Part-time fishermen – Part-time fishermen with other income sources. • MFC: Recreational fishermen – No nets permitted, hook limits on longlines and no access to tuna quota. Moreover, fish caught by recreational fishermen cannot be sold onto the market and catch recording is not made. • MFD: Transport vessels – Auxiliary Vessels (work boats) used in fishing operations • S: Sport fishermen. In 2012, full-time employment in the fishing and aquaculture sector amounted to an average of 506 and an annual average of 734 was recorded for part-time employment.142 In terms of gross value added, the fisheries sector contributed 0.3% in 2012, which is equivalent to around €17.6 million.143 The social and cultural importance of the Maltese fishing industry far outweighs its small economic contribution, which is equivalent to about 0.1% of the national Gross Domestic Product. The income of most of the local fishers depends on the sale of highly-priced fresh fish caught by traditional artisanal methods during very short fishing trips. The variety and quality of the catch also contributes considerably to the tourism industry. As at the end of 2012, the annual volume of fish landings at the official market by administrative area amounted to 1,042 tonnes, 141 tonnes less when compared to the annual volume for the year 2011.144 In addition, the annual wholesale value of fish landings at the official market amounted to €6,253,000 (an increase of €78,000 in comparison to the annual wholesale value of fish landings for 2011).145 The Maltese aquaculture sector is economically dominated by tuna penning operations along with well-established sea bass and sea bream farms. As at the end of 2012, the number of aquaculture farms amounted to six. In the same year, Malta’s output in terms of sales was around 3,904 tonnes of BFT worth some €78.9 million and around 126 tonnes of Sea Bass worth €833,000. The sales output for sea bream has increased steadily over the last four years and at 2,604 tonnes in 2012 (worth around €11million) is the mainstay of Maltese farmed fish production. Using 2012 as the baseline year, other species amounting to 806 tonnes worth some €2.2 million146 were also produced. Maltese aquaculture produce is almost entirely exported to European and Asian markets. The aquaculture sector is complemented with interventions by the fish processing industry. This industry is still in its infancy stage mainly since the local catch is made up of high-value fish that is exported or consumed fresh. In addition, the aquaculture harvesting and packing has little or no value added to this sector. Some limited processing activity exists by merchants within this field mainly in cutting, filleting, portioning, rewrapping and smoking for retail and hotel/restaurant customers. 141 Fisheries Management Plan: Lampuki FAD Fishery, Ministry for Sustainability, the Environment and Climate Change, Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture 2013. 142 National Statistics Office, Gainfully Occupied Population: 2008-2012 (Revisions) News Release 190/2013. 143 National Statistics Office, September 2013. 144 National Statistics Office, October 2013: Data does not include sales of aquaculture and tuna farming. 145 Ibid. 146 National Statistics Office: News Release 222/2013. During the 2007-2013 programming period, the Maltese labour market recorded a relatively positive performance, as reflected by the increasing participation rates and employment levels and the relatively low and stable unemployment rate. Notwithstanding this, Malta still faces challenges relating to low labour market participation, together with rising youth unemployment rates. Human capital utilisation is also lagging behind (compared to the EU average) in terms of tertiary education (or equivalent) attainment levels. This is compounded by a still relatively high early school leaving rate when compared to the EU average. Education and employment also have a direct link towards creating a more socially inclusive society. Within this context, Malta’s commitment to increase the employment rate complemented by the requirement to reduce the early school leaving rate to 10% and to increase the percentage of persons obtaining tertiary education to 33% by 2020, is expected to lead to improvements in the utilisation of human capital. Education and employment have a direct link towards creating a more inclusive society whereby investments in these areas will contribute towards the reduction in the number of persons at risk of poverty or social exclusion. With a population of 413,300 in 2013, Malta’s labour force stood (20-64) at 178,000 as shown in Table 1.23 below. This represents an 11.0% increase over 2008 figures. The inactive population, which has declined during the reference period, represents 31.2% of the reference population. The employed population has also registered an increasing trend which is attributable to a number of factors including the higher female emancipation. The increase in female participation has been achieved through the introduction of a series of initiatives such as fiscal incentives and family friendly measures. Notwithstanding the financial crisis and the subsequent recession, the number of people looking for work remained relatively stable over the time period covered.
Appears in 1 contract
Sources: Partnership Agreement
MFA. Full-time fishermen – Full-time fishermen with no other significant income generation. • MFB: Part-time fishermen – Part-time fishermen with other income sources. • MFC: Recreational fishermen – No nets permitted, hook limits on longlines and no access to tuna quota. Moreover, fish caught by recreational fishermen cannot be sold onto the market and catch recording is not made. • MFD: Transport vessels – Auxiliary Vessels (work boats) used in fishing operations • S: Sport fishermen. In 2012, full-time employment in the fishing and aquaculture sector amounted to an average of 506 and an annual average of 734 was recorded for part-time employment.142 In terms of gross value added, the fisheries sector contributed 0.3% in 2012, which is equivalent to around €17.6 million.143 The social and cultural importance of the Maltese fishing industry far outweighs its small economic contribution, which is equivalent to about 0.1% of the national Gross Domestic Product. The income of most of the local fishers depends on the sale of highly-priced fresh fish caught by traditional artisanal methods during very short fishing trips. The variety and quality of the catch also contributes considerably to the tourism industry. As at the end of 2012, the annual volume of fish landings at the official market by administrative area amounted to 1,042 tonnes, 141 tonnes less when compared to the annual volume for the year 2011.144 In addition, the annual wholesale value of fish landings at the official market amounted to €6,253,000 (an increase of €78,000 in comparison to the annual wholesale value of fish landings for 2011).145 The Maltese aquaculture sector is economically dominated by tuna penning operations along with well-well- established sea bass and sea bream farms. As at the end of 2012, the number of aquaculture farms amounted to six. In the same year, Malta’s output in terms of sales was around 3,904 tonnes of BFT worth some €78.9 million and around 126 tonnes of Sea Bass worth €833,000. The sales output for sea bream has increased steadily over the last four years and at 2,604 tonnes in 2012 (worth around €11million) is the mainstay of Maltese farmed fish production. Using 2012 as the baseline year, other species amounting to 806 tonnes worth some €2.2 million146 were also produced. Maltese aquaculture produce is almost entirely exported to European and Asian markets. The aquaculture sector is complemented with interventions by the fish processing industry. This industry is still in its infancy stage mainly since the local catch is made up of high-value fish that is exported or consumed fresh. In addition, the aquaculture harvesting and packing has little or no value added to this sector. Some limited processing activity exists by merchants within this field mainly in cutting, filleting, portioning, rewrapping and smoking for retail and hotel/restaurant customers. 141 Fisheries Management Plan: Lampuki FAD Fishery, Ministry for Sustainability, the Environment and Climate Change, Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture 2013. 142 National Statistics Office, Gainfully Occupied Population: 2008-2012 (Revisions) News Release 190/2013. 143 National Statistics Office, September 2013. 144 National Statistics Office, October 2013: Data does not include sales of aquaculture and tuna farming. 145 Ibid. 146 National Statistics Office: News Release 222/2013. During the 2007-2013 programming period, the Maltese labour market recorded a relatively positive performance, as reflected by the increasing participation rates and employment levels and the relatively low and stable unemployment rate. Notwithstanding this, Malta still faces challenges relating to low labour market participation, together with rising youth unemployment rates. Human capital utilisation is also lagging behind (compared to the EU average) in terms of tertiary education (or equivalent) attainment levels. This is compounded by a still relatively high early school leaving rate when compared to the EU average. Education and employment also have a direct link towards creating a more socially inclusive society. Within this context, Malta’s commitment to increase the employment rate complemented by the requirement to reduce the early school leaving rate to 10% and to increase the percentage of persons obtaining tertiary education to 33% by 2020, is expected to lead to improvements in the utilisation of human capital. Education and employment have a direct link towards creating a more inclusive society whereby investments in these areas will contribute towards the reduction in the number of persons at risk of poverty or social exclusion. With a population of 413,300 in 2013, Malta’s labour force stood (20-64) at 178,000 as shown in Table 1.23 belowGiven the economic and financial crisis both globally and within the Euro Zone, Malta’s performance in employment levels has been remarkable. In fact, Malta together with Austria, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Luxembourg, Romania, Sweden, and the United Kingdom were the only countries which registered an increase in total employment over the 2008 figure. In fact, following a slight down trend in 2009, Malta’s employment rate has registered increasing rates over the period under review – which rates are moving closer to the EU-28 average. On the other hand, the employment rate at an EU level has decreased to reach its lowest point at 68.4% over the six year period as indicated in Table 1.24. Whilst taking note of Malta’s resilience of the economic crisis and the achievement of the EU 2020 NRP target of 62.9% in 2012, Government recognises that further efforts are required for Malta to contribute towards the new employment headline target of 75%. In this regard, Government has set a new local employment target of 70% for 2020. Government’s efforts will be targeted to increase the employment rate, both by supporting the shift from the unemployed population to the employed but equally important to support the inactive to become part of the employed labour force. MT 59.2% 59.0% 60.1% 61.6% 63.1% 64.8% EU-28 70.3% 69.0% 68.5% 68.5% 68.4% 68.4% Comparison of the employment rates by gender within Table 1.24 above indicates that Malta still has a lower female employment rate when compared to its male counterparts. Although, the female employment rate is also low when compared to EU levels (49.8% to 62.5% in 2013), it is pertinent to note that over the years female participation has improved considerably and has contributed positively towards total employment growth trends. In fact between 2008 and 2013, female employment (20-64) increased by 10.4 percentage points, resulting in an employment rate of 49.8% in 2013. Analysing the employment rate by age brackets indicates that the female employment rate as at 2013 was higher than the EU-28 for the 15-24 and 25-29 age brackets. This represents an 11.0implies that at a young age women actively participate in the labour market at the rates of 44.3% increase over 2008 figuresand 77.6% respectively when compared to the EU-28 rates of 30.4% and 65.7%. The inactive populationemployment rate starts regressing from the age of 30 onwards where a rate of 65.3% was registered when compared to the EU-28 rate of 69.8%. Comparing the female employment rate at the EU-28 level and that for Malta shows that, which whilst the female employment rate at an EU level keeps increasing over the age brackets until the 45-49 cohort, in Malta such rate starts decreasing earlier on within the 30-34 age category. Analysing the employment rate together with the level of birth rates in Malta, it is worth nothing that the highest number of births occur within this age bracket. This issue is further compounded when one takes into account the fact that, after the early child rearing years, the female employment rate does not then eventually catch up again with the EU-28 rate but continues to regress over time to reach 61.7% and 54.8% for the 35-39 and 45-49 cohorts. Notwithstanding this trend, the female employment rate since 2008 has declined during increased across all age cohorts, with the reference periodmain increases being registered for the 35-39 (+20.9 percentage points) and 40-44 (+18.4 percentage points) brackets. Enticing females aged 49+ to participate in the labour market continues to be challenging. In this regard, represents 31.2% of efforts will be undertaken to entice this bracket to participate in the reference populationlabour market through up skilling and re-skilling programmes. The employed population has Measures include training in various areas including office skills, people management, supervisory skills, industrial skills and other skills required within the health sector amongst others. Female employment rate also registered an increase in the two different strands of employment, i.e. full-time and part-time, where increases of 18.3%, and 39.4% were registered respectively (Table 1.25). The substantial increase in part-time employment indicates the considerable take-up by employers and female employees of this particular family-friendly measure. Full-time job 41,000 76.4 42,000 75.3 43,300 74.1 45,600 73.5 48,500 73.3 Part-time job 12,700 23.6 13,800 24.7 15,100 25.9 16,400 26.5 17,700 26.7 Total 53,700 100.0 55,800 100.0 58,400 100.0 62,000 100.0 66,200 100.0 This analysis indicates that when compared to the EU-28, women in Malta tend to retreat earlier from the labour market. This can create both fiscal and social problems given that the household would have less disposable income, which could also lead to an increased risk of poverty in certain instances. Within this context, throughout the years Government has taken the issue very seriously and has therefore introduced favourable fiscal measures to encourage an increased female participation together with family-friendly measures across the public service. In addition, as of 2014 Government has introduced (through its own budget) a very important measure to support its mission in increasing its female employment by providing free childcare support to working parents. Focusing briefly on the employment rate for males, it is worth noting that Malta has throughout the years obtained higher rates than the comparable EU-27 average. This clearly indicates that Malta’s efforts to maintain stable employment levels are yielding good results. As for the female employment rate, the positive growth trend which is attributable achieved thus far can be attributed to a changing cultural milieu, which today encourages women to become more active in the labour market. This is being complemented by targeted investment, including the use of Structural Funds, which addresses behavioural adaptations through concerted efforts that aim towards increasing female participation in the labour market. Measures included fiscal incentives for women returnees, the provision of accessible and affordable childcare services, after school childcare services, campaigns to attract more women to the labour market, and family-friendly measures. In absolute terms, it is pertinent to point out that the Maltese workforce has increased thanks to the improvement in female participation. Full-time male employment throughout the period remained stable, whereas the number of factors including female full-time employment increased by nearly 12,900 persons. In January 2008, Government introduced one important reform measure directed to incentivise persons who retire to remain in the higher female emancipationlabour market. The increase measure consisted of enabling pensioners to earn the full pensionable income upon reaching pension age, whilst remaining in female participation has been achieved through employment. The impact of this measure can best be gauged from the fact that in 2007, prior to the introduction of a series of initiatives such as fiscal incentives and family friendly measures. Notwithstanding the financial crisis and the subsequent recessionthis reform measure, the number of people looking persons that reached pension age and who were in employment (exclusive of the self-employed) stood at 2,122. By 2010, out of a total of 41,281 males, and 14,807 females who were receiving a retirement pension, 19.2% and 13.2% remained in employment respectively – a figure which increased by a further 9% with regard to males and 8.1% with respect to females in 2011. However, during 2012 a net decrease was registered for work these categories of workers. In fact, during 2012 the rates of males and females that remained relatively stable over in employment for the time period coveredwhole or part of the year whilst also receiving a retirement pension stood at 18.9% and 12.3% respectively.147 In 2013 the number of pensioners in employment was 10,968.148 This could be attributed to the fact that retirement age is now increasing gradually in line with the pension reform. It is worth noting that a positive trend has been recorded in the employment rate of the elderly – in fact for the 55-64 cohort a notable increase since 2009 to reach 36.2% in 2013 (vide Table 1.26) has been registered which was also reflected in the smaller cohort of 60-64 years (where an increase of 5.9 percentage points was registered). Nonetheless, it is to be noted that the employment rate of older workers remains far below the EU-28 rate of 50.1% (55-64 age cohort in 2012), which partly can be attributed to lower retirement ages in Malta and the limited participation of females within that age cohort in the labour market, which is mainly attributed to traditional ties. Nevertheless, in the years to come, the total and older females’ employment ratio is expected to improve as a result of legislated increases in statutory retirement age and the improvement registered in female employment in the 40+ years age cohort. In addition, as already mentioned above, the fact that the female retirement age will increase at par with that for males, more females will remain in the labour market. Table 1.26 – Employment rate 55-64 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 % % % % % % MT 29.3 29.1 31.9 33.2 34.7 36.2 Males 46.5 46.3 50 51.5 53.1 53.9 Females 12.4 12.2 14.1 15.1 16.3 18.7 EU-28 45.5 45.9 46.2 47.3 48.8 50.1 Males 54.9 54.7 54.5 55.1 56.3 57.5 Females 36.7 37.7 38.5 40.1 41.7 43.3 To enable higher levels of participation of elder workers in the labour market, in line with Country Specific Recommendation 2, Government launched the National Strategic Policy for Active Ageing for 2014-2020.149 The Strategic Policy offers different policy recommendations to augment the levels of older and ageing workers in Malta including continuing vocational education and training for older adults, improvement in healthy working conditions, age management techniques and employment services for older workers, amongst others. In this regard, Government has established an Inter- Ministerial Committee for Active Ageing to ensure a more comprehensive and holistic approach towards active ageing.
Appears in 1 contract
Sources: Partnership Agreement