Robert Abela continues to selectively manipulate figures to create an impression that does not reflect the realities being experienced by young people in Malta and Gozo, the Nationalist Party said Tuesday.
In recent weeks, the Prime Minister has tried to make us believe that nine out of every 10 young people under the age of 35 in our country are homeowners. He has even boasted that this statistic is far better than the European average.
However, the 91% figure that Abela is deliberately repeating - and which he mentioned again over the weekend - does not refer to individual young people who own their home. It refers to households in which all members are under the age of 35. The study quoted by Abela - and which was also misrepresented by a fact-check carried out by the Times of Malta - excludes thousands of young people under this age who live with their parents or with other adults.
This distinction is crucial and has been confirmed by the Central Bank itself, which had to clarify the matter in response to Robert Abela. Presenting this figure as though it means that almost all young people in Malta are homeowners is misleading and incorrect, the PN said.
In simple terms, Robert Abela was misleading the public because the study looks at family units, not individuals. It was not attempting to establish how many young people under the age of 35 own their home; rather, it simply shows that in households where all members are aged 35 or under, 91% are owners of the property in which they live. This does not mean that 91% of all people under that age are homeowners.
Everyone knows that the reality is very different. Today, thousands of young people in Malta and Gozo have no choice but to continue living with their parents or to share accommodation with others - not because they want to, but because property prices have skyrocketed beyond any reasonable level, while wages have lagged behind. These young people are struggling to purchase their first home or even to rent decent accommodation, the PN added.
The real statistics that Abela chooses not to quote show that the average price of an apartment in Malta now exceeds €400,000, while more recent statistics on rental prices show that rental affordability has become practically non-existent for those seeking to rent, with rents rising at a far faster rate than wages and the cost of living.
It is clear that the figures cited by Abela were not used out of misunderstanding or due to a technical error. This was a deliberate attempt to downplay a serious problem affecting an entire generation. The Prime Minister knows that the Household Finance and Consumption Survey carried out by the Central Bank deals with households, not young people as individuals, yet he still chooses to use these figures to give a false interpretation and create a misleading impression, the PN said.
The issue is not the Central Bank's analysis, but how it is being used. When speaking about the future of young people and their right to affordable housing, what is needed is honesty and concrete solutions - not manipulated statistics and political rhetoric. What we are witnessing is not serious leadership, but an attempt to conceal real problems that young people are experiencing every single day.
Instead of addressing the problems faced by young people who want to become homeowners, Robert Abela is lying about them, the PN concluded.