State allocation of maintenance in the best interest of the child

Abstract

This thesis will focus on the maintenance the state is providing for children with the aim of finding out if the state grant covers adequately for the well being of the child. This dissertation will deal mainly with children whose parents live on social assistance, children whose family's income falls within the bracket just above that of the social assistance and children with special needs. The main question that this study aims at answering is whether the government with the current legislation, subsidiary legislation and regulations does actually fulfil its responsibility towards ensuring that children coming from low income families enjoy the same childhood as those coming from, families which are financially secure. This dissertation will tackle the welfare state: the state of affairs in Malta and the current situation in countries where there is no welfare state. Then it will go into the definition of maintenance provided by the civil code referring to food, clothing, health, habitation and education. In the opening section, this dissertation will firstly deal with the obligations parents have towards their children. Subsequently it will deal with issues of allowances by examining those grants, allocated to people living on social assistance. Secondly, it will try to find out whether the amount allocated by the government is enough for the family to fulfil its obligations regarding the bringing up of the child. In addition to this, this study will try to find out other ways in which the government through social security and other related legislation can help these families more. Another chapter will be dealing with the different components of maintenance and therefore it will go through the obligations of the state when it comes to food, clothing, health, habitation and education. It will go through the legislation and the rules dealing with each of these components. In the chapter dealing with housing the different schemes the housing authority issues from time to time will be discussed. This section will be dealing with legal access to and the distribution of governmenthousing and with the types of houses in which children coming from the above mentioned categories live. This thesis will examine the articles of the Education Act and accompanying policy measures. It will also be discussing whether the assistance provided by the government to needy parents is adequate enough to cover what well-off parents can provide for their children. Research for this thesis will be done by going through legislation, rules and other guidelines. The aim. of this dissertation is that of promoting equality between children by proposing amendments to the present laws.