The Carer's Grant started at €500 per year and was later increased to half the national minimum wage.
The Carer's Grant was launched in 2008 at €1,500/year (under PN), raised to €2,000 in 2014, and progressively increased so that the 2025 budget explicitly benchmarks it to half the national net minimum wage (~€5,190/year). Abela's '€500' starting figure is incorrect — the scheme launched at €1,500. The 'now half the minimum wage' framing is accurate and primary-source verified by Twettiq tal-Baġit 2025 Measure 46.
The Carer's Grant was launched in 2008 at €1,500/year (under PN), raised to €2,000 in 2014, and progressively increased so that the 2025 budget explicitly benchmarks it to half the national net minimum wage (~€5,190/year). Abela's '€500' starting figure is incorrect — the scheme launched at €1,500. The 'now half the minimum wage' framing is accurate and primary-source verified by Twettiq tal-Baġit 2025 Measure 46.
We tested Abela's claim against the 2008 Maltese Budget speech that introduced the Carer's Grant under PN, Twettiq tal-Baġit 2024-2025 implementation reports, Department of Social Security Carer's Grant rate schedules, Maltese Budget speeches 2014-2026 and DIER minimum-wage gazettes. The methodological question is whether the starting amount Abela cites matches the 2008 launch level and whether the 'now half the minimum wage' destination is primary-source confirmed.
Verdict lands at Mostly True because Twettiq tal-Baġit 2025 Measure 46 explicitly benchmarks the Carer's Grant to half the national net minimum wage (~€5,190/year), confirming the destination, but Abela's '€500' starting figure understates the actual 2008 PN-era launch level of €1,500 by 67% and materially distorts the 'how far it has come' framing. The deep-dive lays out the year-by-year rate trajectory, the Twettiq 2024 Measure 38 step-up, and the half-min-wage benchmarking; this editorial note is methodology only.
Did the Carer's Grant really rise from €500 to half the national minimum wage
Abela's specific framing — started at €500/year, now half the minimum wage — has the right end-point but a wrong starting point. The actual numbers are interesting in their own right.
What the Carer's Grant actually is
The Carer's Grant (in Maltese: Għotja tal-Persuni li jieħdu Ħsieb fid-Dar) is a non-contributory benefit paid to family members who provide full-time unpaid care for a relative who has been certified as severely disabled or chronically ill, in lieu of institutional care. It exists to recognise the economic value of unpaid family caregiving and to help offset the income loss from leaving paid employment to care.
Actual scheme history
- 2008 — scheme introduced under a PN administration at €1,500/year (~€29/week).
- 2014 — raised to €2,000/year by Labour.
- 2017 — €4,000/year.
- 2019 — €4,500/year, alongside expanded eligibility criteria.
- 2022 — €5,200/year (€100/week).
- 2024 — €6,200/year (~€119/week) — broadly half the annual minimum wage at that point.
- 2025/2026 — further alignment with the half-of-minimum-wage benchmark.
The 2024 minimum wage at €213.54/week translates to ~€11,100 annual gross. Half of that is ~€5,550, which is in the ballpark of the 2024 Carer's Grant. By 2026 with the minimum wage at ~€229/week (€11,925/year), half is ~€5,960 — and the Grant tracks at around that level.
So Abela's '€500' claim?
The starting figure quoted is wrong. The Carer's Grant was never €500/year — it launched at €1,500. Abela may have been thinking of a different earlier benefit (such as the disabled child supplement, which was lower) or simply misremembering. The correct figure for the scheme's introduction is €1,500.
What about the 'half the minimum wage' framing?
The Grant is now structured to track at roughly half the annual full-time minimum wage. This is a defensible structural anchor — it recognises the income foregone by leaving the workforce to care full-time. The 'half' framing is broadly correct as of 2024–2026 budgets, though the exact ratio fluctuates slightly with the rate of minimum-wage adjustment.
So is the claim accurate?
The end-point ('half the minimum wage') is right. The starting point ('€500') is wrong — it was €1,500. The trajectory of progressive increases under PL is real and substantial. Mostly True, with the caveat that the headline starting figure is incorrect.