58% of people below 34 favour introduction of divorce
James Debono
A cursory look at surveys charting the Maltese attitudes to divorce indicates a waning opposition to divorce.
MaltaToday’s latest survey, where for the first time the respondents who said they were against the introduction of divorce fell below 50%, shows a considerable change in attitudes since the 1995 European Values Study that found 57% against divorce.
A clear majority of men and respondents aged below 34 today favour the introduction of divorce, according to a survey by MaltaToday last week.
It is women and those aged over 55 who still pit the balance in favour of the anti-divorce lobby.
Overall those objecting to the introduction of divorce prevail over those favouring its introduction by just 1.5%. While 47.9% favour the introduction of divorce, 49.4% oppose its introduction.
Although overall people are equally divided on this issue, only 33.8% of those over 55 and just 38.1% of women favour the introduction of divorce. Those aged 35-54 are equally divided on this issue with 49.2% favouring the introduction of divorce and 50% opposing it.
But when taking the overall number of respondents aged between 18 and 55, a clear majority of 51.3% favours the introduction of divorce.
These demographics suggest that in the next few years Malta could have a pro-divorce majority as a younger generation takes over from a traditionally-minded generation of older people.
The survey shows that older women constitute the category mostly opposed to divorce. But while 70.8% of women aged over 55 oppose divorce, 54.5% of women below 34 years of age favour its introduction.
And across party lines, 55% of Labour voters favour the introduction of divorce while only 32% of PN voters do likewise. While this shows that a majority of Labour voters support party leader Joseph Muscat stance on this issue, a sizeable minority of Labour voters don’t.
On the other hand the more conservative PN leadership has to contend with a sizeable minority of supporters who favour the introduction of divorce.
The survey was held between Monday 1 September and Wednesday 3 September. A total of 300 people were contacted. The survey has a margin of error of +/-5.7%.
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