Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1363129
8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 18 APRIL 2021 MALTATODAY SURVEY 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 ALL PL now PN now No vote Male Female 16-35 36-50 51-65 65+ Primary Secondary Post-sec Tertiary Gozo Northern N Harbour S Eastern S Harbour Western 73.37% 81.47% 62.61% 87.10% 72.54% 74.18% 79.69% 67.07% 75.26% 72.31% 69.68% 77.58% 77.02% 66.55% 88.42% 70.89% 70.52% 73.09% 70.56% 75.53% Top concern: COVID-19, how it fares across all demographics ALL PL now PN now No vote Male Female 16-35 36-50 51-65 65+ Primary Secondary Post-sec Tertiary Gozo Northern N Harbour S Eastern S Harbour Western 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% 12.90% 7.53% 3.49% 7.34% 2.03% 3.76% 1.55% 25.53% 7.59% 12.90% 11.64% 7.42% 2.85% 2.19% 2.28% 14.11% 7.63% 9.53% 6.64% 2.40% 21.40% 6.62% 2.72% 9.47% 9.36% 2.20% 2.54% 10.51% 7.62% 4.39% 3.33% 11.87% 12.88% 3.14% 2.43% 6.21% 8.65% 2.16% 3.01% 9.77% 7.40% 2.00% 3.81% 24.62% 4.30% 11.58% 19.19% 3.99% 2.15% 16.73% 9.07% 2.19% 11.67% 10.82% 2.01% 8.11% 9.69% 4.66% 4.07% 2.14% 7.84% 6.74% 3.65% 1.86% 4.00% Corruption Other Cost of living Illegal immigrants Opposition Construction Excluding COVID from concerns Main Concerns - April 2021 COVID-19 and corruption remain the two major overriding concerns for the second month in a row, a MaltaToday survey shows. The coronavirus pandemic is the top concern for 73.4% of people across all ages, regions and sex, while corrup- tion is the topmost concern for 12.9%. The April results show that the lev- el of concern over COVID-19 is de- clining. Only a month earlier, the pandemic was a concern for 81.3% of people. The eight-point decrease reflects the decline in coronavirus infections and fewer hospitalisations as a result of restrictive measures introduced after cases surged in February and March. On the opposite end of the spec- trum, concern over corruption sees a six-point increase after it registered 7.1% in March. Concern over corruption is higher among Nationalist Party voters than Labour Party voters. However, cor- ruption now appears as a concern among PL voters unlike March when the issue did not feature at all. Whereas 23.6% of those who voted PN in the last general election indi- cate corruption as their topmost con- cern after COVID, only 4.5% of those who voted PL consider the issue a top concern. Held between 5 and 9 April, the sur- vey came on the back of corruption and money laundering charges filed against former chief of staff in the Office of the Prime Minister, Keith Schembri, and several other people. 'The Opposition' appears as a con- cern for 1.6% of people, all Labour voters. Illegal immigration makes a return to the top list with 1.7% of people indicating it as their topmost concern. A breakdown of results by age shows that COVID-19 registers as the high- est concern among those aged be- tween 16 and 35 with 79.7%. In this age group, corruption is a concern for 9.5% of people. The coronavirus pandemic scores its lowest result among those aged be- tween 36 and 50, appearing as a con- cern for 67.1%. Within this age group, corruption ranks a high second at 21.4%. On a geographical basis, concern over COVID-19 is highest in Gozo with 88.4%, followed by corruption at 11.6%. In the Southern Harbour region, apart from COVID-19 (70.6%) and corruption (8.1%) that rank first and second respectively, other issues ap- pear to be of concern more than in other areas. The cost of living is a concern for 4.7% of residents in this region fol- lowed by illegal immigration at 4.1%. This survey was held concurrently with MaltaToday's political survey that was published last week. The re- sults showed how support for the PL stood at 41.8%, a 2.6-point increase, and that for the PN at 35.6%, a three- point increase. The trust barometer showed Robert Abela with a rating of 47.2%, a sev- en-point increase, and Bernard Grech at 35.8%, a one-point increase. Methodology The survey was carried out between Monday 5 April 2021 and Friday 9 April 2021. 647 respondents opted to complete the survey. Stratified ran- dom sampling based on region, age and gender was used to replicate the Maltese demographic. The estimated margin of error is 4.9% for a confi- dence interval of 95% for the overall results. Demographic and sub-group breakdowns have significantly larger margins of error. Corruption registers as a concern among Labour voters KURT SANSONE