60% of Maltese feel Malta is not yet out of the recession

In a survey for newspaper Illum, 56% of respondents working in managerial, professional and administrative jobs feel that Malta is not out of the recession yet. The category which voiced the loudest concerns, at 86%, that Malta is not out of the recession is that of small self-employed businesses. Also, over 60% of skilled workers, unskilled workers and the unemployed feel the Maltese economy has not yet recovered from the recession.

The survey shows that only 10% of respondents feel they are better off this year when compared to last year, especially those in the managerial and professional jobs. The lowest percentage of respondents who feel they are better off this year came from categories of skilled workers and the unemployed at 2%.

A significant amount of 32% said their pay does not last them till the end of the month, a 13% increase from another survey conducted by this newspaper last year. The most noticeable change of 19% when compared to last year emerged among those who stated that their pay lasts exactly a month, with a few sacrifices here and there. Meanwhile, 11% said their pay lasts comfortably for exactly a month.

The category which appears to be most vulnerable is that of pensioners, where almost 40% say their pension does not last them an entire month. Despite this figure, 9% manage to save some of their pension, while only 2% of skilled workers and 4% of unskilled workers or the unemployed manage to save some of their monthly pay.

Read more in today's edition of Illum, available from all leading newsagents in Malta and Gozo