Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1480753
12 SURVEY maltatoday | SUNDAY • 2 OCTOBER 2022 KURT SANSONE INFLATION is the biggest impact the war in Ukraine is having on Maltese, although many believe the situation here is better than overseas, a Malt- aToday survey shows. When asked what impact the war in Ukraine has had on them, 80.7% identified price increases as the main is- sue of concern. This was evi- dent across all age groups and among men and women. This was followed by 9.6% who said the main impact has been the feeling of fear that Malta will get involved in the war and 2.4%, who fear going abroad. The fear of Malta getting in- volved in the war was highest among pensioners, where 15% listed this as a concern. Asked to quantify the impact of the war, 42.1% fell within the 'high' category, while 31% in the 'low' category and 27% were neither here nor there. Respondents were asked to say whether the Ukraine war had an impact on their life on a scale from one to 10, with one being the least and 10 the most. Responses were then grouped into three categories: low (from 1-4), medium (5-6) and high (7-10). Women were more likely to fall within the 'high' category than men. Whereas 47.3% of women said the war had a high impact on their life, only 36.7% of men fell within the same category. In fact, there were more men than women who said the im- pact of war on their life was low – 34.6% of men versus 27.3% of women. The highest impact from the war was recorded on mid- dle-aged people between the ages of 36 and 65. The results show that an absolute majority of 51.3% among those aged between 36 and 50 deem the war to have had a high impact on their life. Likewise, 48.5% of those aged between 51 and 65 said the war left a high impact on their life. Among pensioners (65+) the war's impact was categorised as high by 36.4%, while among the young (16-35) this dropped to 33.8%. In fact, the young were also the cohort registering the low- est impact from the war with 41.8%. Willing to make financial sac- rifices? Asked what financial sacri- fice respondents were ready to make in support of more sanc- tions against Russia to help the Ukrainian people, a relative majority fell within the medi- um category. While 42.7% fell in the middle of the scale, 38.5% said their willingness to make a financial sacrifice for Ukraine was 'low' and only 17.3% said they were willing to do what it takes. The survey also found that a relative majority believe the situation in Malta is better than other countries. Malta better than the rest Asked specifically whether they believe the situation in Malta was better, worse or the same as other countries, 44.7% chose 'better'. Another 30.1% said the situ- ation was 'the same' as other countries and a quarter of peo- ple (24.6%) said it was worse. Despite higher prices for food and services, Maltese consum- ers have been shielded from the astronomic increase in en- ergy prices seen abroad. Gov- ernment will have forked out €470 million this year to keep the prices of electricity, house- hold gas, fuels and wheat sta- ble, and is planning to fork out more than €600 million next year in similar subsidies. Methodology This survey was carried out between 23 August 2022 and 7 September 2022 for a target sample of 619 respondents. Stratified random sampling via age and gender discriminants was used to replicate fidelity of the population. The target sample was achieved via phone interviews. People aged 16 and over were interviewed. A margin of error for a confidence level of 95% is estimated at 3.8% for a population catchment within these demographics. Margins of error are higher in the stratified statistics. Ukraine war's impact on rising prices weighs heavily on Maltese