Maltese satisfied with life but more pessimistic on future

The Maltese seem more satisfied with life compared to a year ago, even though the rising cost of living, the inadequacy of pensions and the global economic climate are tilting their perceived future prospects towards negative territory.

In the latest EU-wide survey on the social climate, 85 per cent of the 500 Maltese respondents interviewed last June said they were satisfied with the life they were leading, an increase of four percentage points over a similar survey in June 2010.

The results, released in Brussels yesterday, show the level of life satisfaction in Malta to be higher than the EU average, where 81 per cent had the same outlook as the Maltese. The most satisfied in the EU are the Danes at 96 per cent.

Despite the overall satisfaction, the Eurobarometer survey, conducted in Malta by Misco, revealed growing pessimism among the Maltese about the future, particularly with regard to the general economic situation and the country’s administration.

While the majority, 66 per cent, described the current state of the Maltese economy as bad (seven per cent more than last year), only 15 per cent felt the economy would improve in 12 months’ time.

The relative majority, 36 per cent, said they expected the situation to worsen while another 33 per cent said it would remain the same.

The highest negative results – clearly indicating the biggest problems in the mind of the Maltese – are related to the cost of living.

A total 92 per cent described it as too high (eight per cent more than in June 2010), while 63 per cent said they expected the situation to worsen in 12 months’ time.

Asked to compare the situation with five years earlier, the overwhelming majority, 89 per cent, said the cost of living was much cheaper in 2006.

Energy and housing seem to be the main problems. Nine in every 10 respondents described the cost of energy, particularly fuel and electricity, as unaffordable (an increase of four percentage points on June 2010), while 85 per cent, an increase of eight per cent, said housing had also become too costly.

Asked to say how the island’s public administration was being run, the majority, 47 per cent, said “bad”, an increase of five per cent over 2010, while only 40 per cent were satisfied, a drop of six per cent in 12 months.

On a positive note, the majority of Maltese seemed to be very satisfied with the provision of health services, with 81 per cent (an increase of four per cent) describing them as very good.

On the other hand, pensions seem to have become a problem, with the majority, 47 per cent, saying they were not adequate.