Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1511356
JAMES DEBONO WHICH political party do people trust with running the country's economy and financ- es? A MaltaToday survey has found that a relative majority trust neither the Labour Party nor the Nationalist Party. The survey shows that 41% have little faith in either of the two parties in parliament but the PL is trusted more than the PN by a margin of more than 10 points. The findings show that 35.1% of voters trust the PL to run the country's economy and financ- es as opposed to 24% who trust the PN. The PN's lack of gravitas on this crucial aspect of govern- ance is further underlined by the fact that 12% of its own 2022 voters – and 11% of its current voters – trust Labour on the economy and finance. Additionally, 40% of PN vot- ers in 2022, and 33% of current voters, say they trust neither party on this issue. But the PN also fails to make any headway in convincing non-voters, amongst which the vast majority (72%) say they neither trust the PN nor the PL on this issue. However, even in this category, more say they trust Labour (17%) than the PN (11%). Significantly Labour is trusted more with running the econo- my and finances by those aged over 65 (49%) and least trusted by those aged 16-35 (25%). The latter category of voters is the least likely to remember life under previous PN administra- tions. Yet despite widespread dis- enchantment with Labour's economic model, the PN scores dismally among un- der-50s, where just 18% trust the PN more than Labour with the country's economy. Among both the 16-35s, and 36–50-year-olds, the absolute majority trust neither party. Indeed, 36-50-year-olds are more likely to remember PN administrations than younger voters and are slightly more inclined to trust Labour on the economy and finances than those aged under 35 (28% com- pared to 25%). On the other hand, a stagger- ing 57.2% of 16-35s trust nei- ther party with the economy in an indication of widespread disenchantment with the eco- nomic model among younger people. Disenchantment with both parties on their econom- ic policy is only slightly lower among those aged 36-50 (54%) but drops to 32% among those aged 51-65 and to just 21% among over 65s. The PN gets its best score among those aged 51-65 (32%), yet trust in its ability to run the country's finances drops to 21% among the elderly. This suggests that while inflation has robbed Labour of one of its most powerful arsenals among younger respondents, its ef- forts to sustain pensions and welfare are more appreciated by the oldest demographic. In an indication that disen- chantment with Labour's eco- nomic and fiscal policies is greater among the middle-class than among the working-class, a relative majority of secondary educated respondents (41%) trust Labour compared to only 23% of respondents with a uni- versity degree. But the PN has not managed to convince middle-class vot- ers that its economic and fiscal policies are any better. In fact, 51% of those with a tertiary ed- ucation and 55% of those with a post-secondary level of edu- cation trust neither party with running the economy and the country's finances. Trust in the PN's ability is lowest among those who con- tinued their studies after sec- ondary level but who do not have a degree. In this category only 18% trust the PN in managing the country's economy compared to 25% among the tertiary and secondary educated. This suggests that work- ing-class voters are more like- ly to appreciate the emphasis in the budget on boosting in- comes of low-income earners and vulnerable groups while middle-class voters, particu- larly those in the lower middle class are feeling excluded. 18 SURVEY maltatoday | SUNDAY • 12 NOVEMBER 2023 PL more trusted on finance and economy but relative majority trust neither party ECONOMY & FINANCES 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 PL PN No one Who do you trust more with managing the country's economy and finances? On a scale from 0 to 5, how do you rate the performance of the Finance Minister? The survey was carried out was carried between 1st November 2023 and 9th November 2023 for which 637 people opted to complete the survey. Stratified random sampling based on region, gender and age was used. A fraction of those who opted to complete the survey chose not to answer a few of the questions for which they are treated as missing values. Missing values analysis was then carried to determine the type of technique to replace the values. A combination of logistic and linear regression with predictive mean matching was used to replace certain missing values completing and enlarging the sample set from which the final results were extracted. The margin of error for this result 3.85% for a confidence interval of 95%. Methodology 2.9 Age Gender Region Education 2022 Voters 55 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 16-35 36-50 51-65 65+ Positively Negatively No difference Don't know Age Gender Region Education 2022 Voters 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 16-35 36-50 51-65 65+ PL PN No one 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 PL PN No one Who do you trust more with managing the country's economy and finances? On a scale from 0 to 5, how do you rate the performance of the Finance Minister? The survey was carried out was carried between 1st November 2023 and 9th November 2023 for which 637 people opted to complete the survey. Stratified random sampling based on region, gender and age was used. A fraction of those who opted to complete the survey chose not to answer a few of the questions for which they are treated as missing values. Missing values analysis was then carried to determine the type of technique to replace the values. A combination of logistic and linear regression with predictive mean matching was used to replace certain missing values completing and enlarging the sample set from which the final results were extracted. The margin of error for this result 3.85% for a confidence interval of 95%. Methodology 2.9 55 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 16-35 36-50 51-65 65+ Positively Negatively No difference Don't know Age Gender Region Education 2022 Voters 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 16-35 36-50 51-65 65+ PL PN No one 25 20 15 10 5 0 Positively Negatively No difference Don't know 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 PL PN No one Who do you trust more with managing the country's economy and finances? On a scale from 0 to 5, how do you rate the performance of the Finance Minister? The survey was carried out was carried between 1st November 2023 and 9th November 2023 for which 637 people opted to complete the survey. Stratified random sampling based on region, gender and age was used. A fraction of those who opted to complete the survey chose not to Methodology 2.9 Age Gender Region Education 2022 Voters 55 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Male Female Positively Negatively No difference Don't know Age Gender Region Education 2022 Voters 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Male Female PL PN No one 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 PL PN No one On a scale from 0 to 5, how do you rate the performance of the Finance Minister? The survey was carried out was carried between 1st November 2023 and 9th November 2023 for which 637 people opted to complete the survey. Stratified random sampling based on region, gender and age was used. A fraction of those who opted to complete the survey chose not to answer a few of the questions for which they are treated as missing values. Missing values analysis was then carried to determine the type of technique to replace the values. A combination of logistic and linear regression with predictive mean matching was used to replace certain missing values completing and enlarging the sample set from which the final results were extracted. The margin of error for this result 3.85% for a confidence interval of 95%. Methodology 2.9 Age Gender Region Education 2022 Voters 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 North North Harbour South Harbour South East West Gozo PL PN No one 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 PL PN No one Who do you trust more with managing the country's economy and finances? On a scale from 0 to 5, how do you rate the performance of the Finance Minister? The survey was carried out was carried between 1st November 2023 and 9th November 2023 for which 637 people opted to complete the survey. Stratified random sampling based on region, gender and age was used. A fraction of those who opted to complete the survey chose not to answer a few of the questions for which they are treated as missing values. Missing values analysis was then carried to determine the type of technique to replace the values. A combination of logistic and linear regression with predictive mean matching was used to replace certain missing values completing and enlarging the sample set from which the final results were extracted. The margin of error for this result 3.85% for a confidence interval of 95%. Methodology 2.9 20 15 10 5 0 Primary Secondary Post Secondary Tertiary Positively Negatively No difference Don't know Age Gender Region Education 2022 Voters 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Primary Secondary Post Secondary Tertiary PL PN No one 10 5 0 Positively Negatively No difference Don't know 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 PL PN No one Who do you trust more with managing the country's economy and finances? On a scale from 0 to 5, how do you rate the performance of the Finance Minister? The survey was carried out was carried between 1st November 2023 and 9th November 2023 for which 637 people opted to complete the survey. Stratified random sampling based on region, gender and age was used. A fraction of those who opted to complete the survey chose not to answer a few of the questions for which they are treated as missing values. Missing values analysis Methodology 2.9 Age Gender Region Education 2022 Voters 55 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 PL PN Non Voters Positively Negatively No difference Don't know Age Gender Region Education 2022 Voters 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 PL voters in 2022 PN voters in 2022 Non voters in 2022 PL PN No one Who do you trust more with managing the country's economy and finances? Who do you trust more with managing the country's economy and finances? Results by age Who do you trust more with managing the country's economy and finances? Results by gender Who do you trust more with managing the country's economy and finances? Results by region Who do you trust more with managing the country's economy and finances? Results by education Who do you trust more with managing the country's economy and finances? Results by 2022 vote