Malta's in-work benefit scheme : a comparative analysis with the earned income tax credit and the working tax credit

Abstract

Work is the key to alleviate people from poverty and social exclusion. People sometimes fall into poverty traps and are often fully dependent on social services. The latter is a detriment to the economy and given the ageing process, it is imperative that government ensures that the working population is not dependent on social services, but it is engaged in employment. This dissertation will assess the situation of single parents vis-a-vis the labour market, and will attempt to find ways on how to encourage employment and discourage dependencies. The results presented in this study confirm that all the three in-work benefits are useful to accomplish the latter