The cost of living, pensions and unemployment top the list of Malta’s current concerns and have outranked issues such as the environment and economic growth as the main preoccupations.

Fifty-three per cent of Maltese, in fact, have cited the cost of living as their primary current concern, followed by pensions at 34 per cent and unemployment at 29 per cent. The same three preoccupations also top the list of Maltese concerns for future generations, according to figures published yesterday in a special Eurostat survey, carried out last November and December, for an EU study on the European Social Reality.

Politically, the Maltese have been shown to have a low degree of trust in political institutions, with 52 per cent holding no trust whatsoever in any political institution. In what could be construed as higher disenchantment with Malta’s political systems, only 28 per cent of Maltese, among the lowest scores in the EU, considered politics to be an important factor in their lives, while family was given a 100 per cent weighting by the Maltese.

Malta was also reconfirmed as Europe’s most religious country, with 88 per cent of survey respondents affirming its importance in their everyday lives, as against the EU average of 52 per cent. Malta was followed by Poland at 87 per cent and Cyprus at 86 per cent.

From the survey’s results, pensions appear to be a major source of concern among the Maltese.

Only 42 per cent, in fact, expressed confidence in the future of the pension system, in line with the EU median but far below public sentiment in Scandinavian and northern European countries such as Denmark (74 per cent), Finland (67 per cent) and The Netherlands (66 per cent), yet significantly higher than those in the lower percentile such as Germany (25 per cent) and Hungary (29 per cent).

Asked how they would choose to guarantee the financing of their pensions, 45 per cent of Maltese said they would prefer maintaining the existing retirement age and increasing their social security contributions. Twenty-one per cent, meanwhile, replied they would prefer working and contributing for longer, while only five per cent said they would prefer retaining the current retirement age even though they would receive a lower pension.

In terms of the welfare system as a whole, 54 per cent of Maltese felt the system was excessively expensive, 48 per cent felt it provided wide enough coverage and 30 per cent thought it could serve as a model for other countries.

In terms of immigration, Malta was found to have the most negative views in the EU.

Malta, in fact, came in last place for its views on immigration, just behind Greece and Cyprus. Interestingly, the other two EU states most affected by immigration, Spain and Italy, have a significantly more positive view than Malta on the issue.

The Maltese also appear rather upbeat about their expectations for the coming 12 months, with only 10 per cent believing their lives in general would become worse and 35 per cent believing their lives would improve over the coming year.

Seventy per cent, meanwhile, felt their financial situation would remain pretty much the same over the coming year, while 14 per cent felt it would improve. Fifty-eight per cent felt their personal job situation would also remain stable, while 12 per cent thought it would improve.

In terms of overall job satisfaction, Malta differs from the views of most “new” EU member states in that Malta cites a relatively high degree of job satisfaction – ninth place overall, in line with northern Europe and Scandinavia and out of synch with the general opinions of southern Europe.

While 75 per cent of Maltese felt that in order to get ahead in life, a good education was the most essential factor, only 27 per cent felt that working hard entered into the equation while “being smart” was given importance by 34 per cent.

Eighteen per cent felt that knowing the right people was the determining factor in succeeding in life, 11 per cent felt being male helped, while five per cent believed the key lay in coming from a wealthy family.

The Maltese are overwhelmingly satisfied with their quality of life, with a very high 94 per cent of respondents responding as such, placing Malta in third place in overall just below Lithuania and Finland, tied with the Irish and well above the EU average of 86 per cent.

A further 87 per cent, meanwhile, said they felt satisfied with their standard of living, placing Malta in ninth place out of the EU27, still above the EU average of 83 per cent.

The Maltese also ranked last in their satisfaction with childcare facilities, with just 28 per cent saying they were satisfied with the system, far below the EU average of 55 per cent.

In terms of schooling, the Maltese were more positive about their schools than about childcare facilities, with 66 per cent feeling they were satisfied with their children’s scholastic system, as against the EU average of 71 per cent.