How does it feel? Economic optimism dims but healthcare prospects improve

But the survey also shows that the Maltese were the most likely to see an improvement in their healthcare system and also the most likely to expect further improvements in the next year.

Those judging the country’s economic situation positively have dropped by 8 percentage points when compared to last year, while those judging the general employment situation positively have dropped by nine points.

On the other hand, the number of people who judge their own personal employment situation positively has remained unchanged at 59%, 3 points higher than the EU average.

This shows a discrepancy between the actual employment situation and bleaker perceptions on the situation in general.  While the Maltese are not losing their jobs, they seem to think that other people are.

Prospects for next year are somewhat bleaker than last year’s prospects for this year.   The number of those who think the economic and employment situations in the country will improve over the next 12 months was 6 points less than that registered in last year’s survey.

Interestingly the Maltese are less optimistic than other Europeans. Compared to the Maltese, Europeans in general are 6 percentage point more confident that the job situation will improve and 5 percentage points more confident that the economy will improve.

48% also think that the country’s economy is worse of than five years ago while 89% think that energy is less affordable than it was five years ago. Only 8% expect energy to become more affordable and just 7% expect to fare better with the cost of living.

But a substantial 28% expect healthcare services to improve. Expectations on healthcare are highest in Malta despite the fact  the Maltese were also the most likely to note an improvement in health care over the past five years.

While only 11% of Europeans saw an improvement in healthcare, 48% noticed an improvement. Only 19% of Maltese, compared to 44% of European have seen a deterioration in healthcare.

The Maltese were also 4 percentage points more positive about their health system than last year.  81% of the Maltese judged their healthcare system positively compared to 62% of Europeans. Satisfaction with health care was highest in Belgium where 95% rate their health system positively.