The recent Eurostat publication showed that nearly half of the Maltese young people in the 25 to 34 age bracket still live at home. Although this factor could be due to cultural factors, yet the economic aspects should not be overlooked. In Spain and Italy, as the economic situation worsened, the number of young people living at home with their parents increased.

The data also reveals that over the past five years, more young Maltese adults are opting to extend their stay at home, with an increase of 6.3 per cent of this age bracket deciding not to move out.

The questions we need to ask ourselves are: Is Malta a country for young people? Is Malta an ageing country which does not encourage the talent and initiative of its young people? Does Malta have an educational system which prepares our youth for the working world and for the value added jobs? Do the majority of employers in Malta encourage innovation?  Is the “status quo” preferred to risk taking?

In many European countries, it is the young people who have paid the highest price of the economic crisis. In Italy, the number of unemployed of people below the age of 24 increased from 21% to 29% in less than three years, which is four times the average rate of increase of unemployment in Italy.

Governments have to be careful that young people do not remain on the sidelines for too long and heavily dependent on their families. A long and diluted period away from work and not adding any value to a nation’s competitiveness could have negative consequences.

No country can ever have a bright future if its policies are not driven by continually improving the education of its young people and preparing them adequately to find high value jobs. Any policy needs to include a vision for the younger people. It needs to invest in an educational system which helps the younger generation enter the working life; it needs to promote a system which favours venture capital in such away as to value new entrepreneurial ventures, a system which promotes the mobility and flexibility of our younger generation, a system which does away with the present rigidness of labour contracts, a system which rewards the achievers and a system which simplifies the setting up of new companies both fiscally and administratively.

I personally think that our young people need to be given opportunities to excel. Why not consider doing away with taxing young people under the age of 30 who decide to set up their own company and give rise to employment opportunities to others?  This would definitely send a message that the country encourages and supports the entrepreneurial initiatives of our young people. This would be an opportunity to instil energy, talent and innovation into our new companies. This would create new jobs which otherwise would not have been created.

Such an initiative would also push our youngsters to be more proactive and stop relying on their families.