THE PERCENTAGE of Cypriots under ‘poverty risk’ is 16 per cent, one percentage point under the EU average, according to an EU survey published this week. The poverty risk is above 20 per cent for countries like Greece, Bulgaria and Spain. What is even more remarkable is that the poverty line for Cyprus is set higher – average annual income of €11,300 – than affluent countries like Sweden and Denmark.
Of course statistics never show the full picture. For instance 46 per cent of Cypriots cannot afford to pay for a week’s holiday, once a year, compared to the EU average of 37 per cent. But in what could be described as an illustration of different priorities, only one per cent of Cypriots cannot buy their own car; in Romania this figure is 50 per cent. Yet 29 per cent of Cypriots cannot afford to adequately heat their homes, a significantly higher percentage than the EU average of 10 per cent.
While most stats suggest that Cypriots are doing pretty well, unfortunately the same cannot be said of our pensioners. Almost 50 per cent of people of 65 years of age live below the poverty line, making Cyprus pensioners the worst off in the EU apart from Latvia, the poorest country in the Union. Labour minister Sotiroulla Charalambous said that the survey was based on 2007 figures and that the government had since increased pensions. This is correct, but it is doubtful the increases would have significantly reduced the number of elderly people below the poverty line.
A couple of days ago, the Employers’ and Industrialists Federation (OEV) released pension figures which showed the cause of the problem. There is a huge discrepancy between the pensions received by public servants and private sector employees – the average monthly pension for the former is €1,692 and for the latter €574. The average civil service pension is almost three times higher than what is received by the retired private sector worker.
Had the public servant worked harder, more productively, longer hours or paid higher contributions to social insurance during his working life to receive a pension that is so much higher than a private sector worker? Certainly not. The exact opposite is probably true, because in Cyprus we have institutionalised inequality, successive government having handed out an assortment of privileges, over the years, to public sector workers. The higher pensions, to which only the state (that is, the taxpayer) contributes, were negotiated by the public sector unions decades ago. Vote-seeking politicians were happy to oblige, oblivious to the social injustice their decisions had created.
This is very much a case of social injustice, whichever way you look at it. If the state paid lower pensions to public servants, it would be able to afford to pay the rest of the people over 65, a more respectable monthly pension. It is unbelievable that we have a group of privileged workers, receiving pensions from the state that are three times higher than other workers. Even more outrageous is that the taxpayer picks up the tab for these ultra generous pensions given to the privileged few.
How grossly unjust, that pensioners currently living below the poverty line, had in fact paid taxes during their working life, so that public servants could enjoy an ultra-comfortable retirement, while they were condemned to struggle to make ends meet.
The majority of Cypriots among the 46 per cent who cannot afford a week’s holiday once a year or among the 29 per cent who cannot afford to heat their homes adequately are pensioners. And the reason is civil servants, teachers, policemen and municipal workers are paid princely pensions, to which they do not contribute, by the state.
President Christofias has increased pensions, since he was elected, but the discrepancy remains. The staggering inequality among pensioners can only be corrected by reducing the pensions of the public sector workers (the state has limited funds) and distributing the savings to the elderly living below the poverty line. This is how he could pursue the EU fight against poverty and build the fairer society that he dreams of. As a communist, he should know he needs to attack privilege to realise his dream.
