The Maltese are the most likely EU citizens to complain about harassment or discrimination based on their political opinions, according to a European Commission survey.
The survey, which was partly about fairness and inequality, found that two per cent of all EU citizens mentioned political harassment or discrimination. In Malta, however, that figure stood at eight per cent.
Austria ranked second with six per cent followed by the Czech Republic and Hungary with four per cent each.
The Eurobarometer survey was conducted in December among 28,031 respondents across the EU.
It also found that the Maltese and Austrians were the most likely to report discrimination on the basis of being under 30 years of age.
The survey also measured discrimination in other forms, such as gender (with Sweden topping the list at 12 per cent); being over 55 (Bulgaria); social class (Belgium); ethnic origin (Belgium), and disability (France).
Nine per cent say political connections crucial to get ahead
It also looked at patterns of social mobility over successive generations, comparing the respondents’ social status to those of both their maternal and paternal grandfathers. In this respect Malta placed towards the bottom.
On average, three of every five respondents across the EU placed themselves higher than their paternal grandparents. Denmark and Sweden topped the list with the majority (53 per cent) declaring to have bettered their position, but Malta was fifth from bottom with its rate being 34 per cent.
As for maternal grandparents, the finding for Malta was similar at 32 per cent.
Respondents were also asked to rank the most important factors for getting ahead in life. In the EU, being in good health topped the list (48 per cent), followed by good education (33 per cent), hard work (27 per cent), knowing the right people (22 per cent) and being lucky (21 per cent).
As for Malta, the most striking finding was that only 17 per cent believed that working hard would affect their chance of getting ahead in life. The figure is slightly below the 20 per cent who said that knowing the right people in Malta is a crucial factor.
However, when the interviewers were more specific and asked if having political connections was crucial, nine per cent replied in the affirmative, which was one per cent below the EU average.
In the case of education, the rate in Malta was 44 per cent while luck was only mentioned by 14 per cent or respondents.
When it came to educational and occupational attainment, two of every five respondents across the EU were manual workers, while one in every five were white collar or managers, with the rest being self-employed.
Interestingly, Malta had the third highest number of respondents saying they had a managerial job, at 34 per cent, with Sweden topping the list at 38 per cent.
In all countries except for Sweden, the majority of respondents consider their neighbourhood to be of average prosperity, reaching up to 85 per cent in Malta and 84 per cent in Slovenia and Cyprus.
The share of respondents that claim to live in a poor neighbourhood range from 31 per cent in Slovakia and 25 per cent in Bulgaria to two per cent in Denmark and three per cent in Sweden, Luxembourg and Malta.
The Maltese are:
▪ Among the least likely in the EU to have bettered their position over their grandparents.
▪ More prone to view knowing someone as more important to getting ahead in life than working hard.
▪ Among the highest ranked for the number who have a managerial job.