There was a time when young people in Malta felt the need to leave the island for a while simply to experience something different. Some went abroad to study, others to work, while many wanted to escape the limitations of island life, discover different cultures, and gain some independence before returning home. For most, leaving was an adventure, not a permanent goodbye. After a few months, a year or two, they would return to Malta, ready to settle down and build their future here.

Today, that picture is changing. Increasingly, young people are not looking abroad for a temporary experience but are seriously considering making another country their permanent home. This is because they are struggling to see the future they want for themselves in a country that has become increasingly crowded, expensive and, for some, suffocating.

This is a sentiment the government cannot afford to ignore.

Malta has traditionally been a country where family ties are strong. Leaving one's parents, relatives and friends behind is not an easy decision. Indeed, many parents of young adults aged between 18 and 25 were in the past reluctant to tell their children to leave. They wanted them to remain close, start their own families and build a life within the community in which they grew up.

Yet, these days, some of these same parents are increasingly encouraging their children to look overseas for better opportunities. Not because they want them to go, but because they fear that staying may mean sacrificing too much in terms of quality of life, financial security, and personal fulfilment.

One of the most obvious obstacles is the property market. For many young people, buying a home has become a desperate, distant aspiration. Property prices have reached levels that make it difficult for someone starting a career to purchase a modest apartment without substantial financial assistance from their family. Renting is hardly an attractive alternative, with accommodation costs taking up a considerable portion of a young person's income.

Even those who manage to secure a mortgage face the prospect of spending the next 30 or 40 years paying for their home, a life sentence. Home ownership has always required sacrifices, but there is a difference between working hard to achieve financial independence and committing a large part of one's adult life to meeting housing costs. Young people are entitled to ask whether this is the future they want, particularly when other countries offer a more affordable balance between earnings, housing, and everyday expenses.

The issue extends beyond money. Overcrowding, construction, traffic and the pressures placed on public infrastructure have changed the experience of living in Malta. A country that once offered familiarity, convenience and a strong sense of community can increasingly feel as though it has little room left to breathe. For some young people, the disadvantages are becoming harder to overlook.

There is also a demographic dimension. With birth rates declining, the possibility of an ageing population becomes more concerning if younger people also choose to establish their lives elsewhere. Losing young workers means losing skills, ambition and future contributors to the country's economy. It also raises questions about who will support an increasingly older population in the decades ahead.

The government should take this seriously. The challenge is not simply to persuade young people to stay, but to give them convincing reasons to do so.

Malta cannot expect loyalty from a generation that feels disconnected from the place it calls home. Family ties may delay the decision to leave, but they cannot indefinitely compensate for the lack of affordable housing, quality of life, and a credible future.

If young people are beginning to see emigration not as an adventure but as an escape, the country needs to ask itself some difficult questions. The answer cannot be to dismiss their concerns or assume that their attachment to Malta will always be strong enough to keep them here.