News | Sunday, 15 March 2009

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Fourfold increase in concern about immigration...

But cost of living and utility bills remain Malta’s foremost worries

• Survey highlights
• Concern about immigration grows from 7.3% in November to 27% in March
• Immigration emerges as the top concern among university educated respondents
• Concern over employment grows from 13% to 19.3% in past four months
• Roads grows from 1.3% to 11.3% in past four months
• Worry over wages doubles from 4.3% to 9.3% in past 9 months
• Environment drops as a concern from 9% to just 1.7% in past 9 months

James Debono
Concern over irregular immigration has increased fourfold in the past four months, a MaltaToday survey reveals.
Although the cost of living and the hike in utility bills remain the top two concerns of the Maltese public, the number of respondents who consider immigration as one of their two main concerns has shot up from 7.3% in November to 27% in March.
In contrast with previous years, when immigrant arrivals were mostly restricted to the summer months, boatloads of immigrants began arriving in winter after being rescued in Maltese waters.
Significantly the survey shows that immigration is a greater concern for university-educated respondents than among those with secondary level education. While irregular immigration is a top concern for 37% of graduates, it is only a top concern among 20% of respondents who did not pursue a university degree.
On the other hand, the situation is reversed when it comes to cost of living and the hike in utility bills, which continue to dominate the concerns of those with a secondary education. The cost of living is the top concern for 60% of those without university degrees: a statistic that drops to 21% among university educated respondents. This is an indication that bread and butter issues dominate the priorities of those with a lower level of education.
In a country where educational achievement is intimately connected to class background, the survey indicates that middle class respondents are more concerned about immigration than working class respondents.
Ironically university educated people- who are the least likely to face competition from immigrants in the labour market-are also the most likely to perceive illegal immigration as a major problem.

Changed landscape
A comparison with a similar survey held in November, today’s results show a drastic change in the priority of Malta’s concerns. This change coincides with a global economic crisis, which has contributed to employment anxieties.
In the past four months, concern with employment has shot up from 13% to 19%: almost double the 11% registered in June 2008. Concern with low wages has also doubled over the past year.
However, one issue which has lost ground in the past months was the environment, which slipped from fourth to eleventh place. Only 1.7% now consider the environment and planning to be a top priority. This suggests the perception of an improvement in the handling of environmental affairs; and also that quality of life issues have taken a backseat amidst the global recession.
On the other hand, concern over the state of the roads has risen tenfold, from 1.3% in November to 11.3% in March. This comes in the wake of a rainy winter, which exposed the structural limitations of the Maltese road network.
Concern over the impact of the international economic crisis is greatest among those with a tertiary education. While 24% of university-educated respondents consider the international recession as a top problem, only 8% of those with a secondary education think likewise.
Concern over utility bills, which peaked at 63.7% in November just a few days after the announcement of the new tariff regime, has now slipped to 32.7%. Yet this is still double the level of concern registered in June 2008, before the new tariff system was announced.

Labour ahead by 8 points
Respondents were also asked to state their voting intentions ahead of next June’s elections for the European parliament. But a staggering 44.4% are either undecided or refused to reveal their intentions, suggesting a lack of enthusiasm for the forthcoming elections among many voters.
Motivation is mostly lacking among PN voters. While 28.8% of PN voters in last general elections are still undecided on whom to vote for, only 18.6% of PL voters are undecided.
Compared to a similar survey in February, the Labour Party has seen its 12.7% advantage over the PN in February decrease to 7.9%. The PN now stands at 17% and the MLP at 25%.
Support for third parties remains low, with 1.7% choosing AD and 0.8% choosing AN. The number of those intending not to vote increased from 7.3 to 10.6%.
While 39.1% of those who intend not to vote in this election voted PN in the last election, only 21.7% voted Labour. This indicates that the PN could lose a greater segment of its voters to abstention than Labour.
Incumbent Simon Busuttil still enjoys a commanding lead of 31% within the PN camp. The other incumbent David Casa emerges as a distant second while the only newcomer to make any inroads is Vince Farrugia who trails Casa in third place.
The race among MLP voters remains very tight with Louis Grech, Edward Scicluna, Joseph Cuschieri, Marlene Mizzi and John Attard Montalto enjoying the same level of support, just a notch ahead of Claudette Abela Baldacchino and Glenn Bedingfield.

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