Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/975483
maltatoday SUNDAY 29 APRIL 2018 News 5 WIN €1000 Every month when using Findit.com.mt DIRECTORY | DEALS | QUOTES | REVIEWS Next time... use Findit! As Freddie found out, doing your own tax returns is not always the best idea… JAMES DEBONO A Europe-wide survey suggests that the Maltese are less likely to have climbed the social ladder from the rungs once occu- pied by their grandparents, than the aver- age European. The Eurobarometer survey carried out face-to-face with respondents, shows that 40% of respondents in all 28 EU member states think they have advanced on the social ladder when compared to maternal grandparents. 41% are in a better position than their paternal grandparents. The survey shows that 31% of Maltese believe they are still in the same position on the social ladder as their grandparents, compared to 26% of other Europeans. Only 32% of Maltese think that they ad- vanced on the social ladder when compared to their maternal grandparents while 34% think they have advanced from the position of their paternal grandparents. There are five countries where at least half place themselves higher than their maternal grandparents on the social lad- der: Sweden (57%), Denmark (56%), Lux- embourg (51%), Croatia and Greece (both 50%). This compares to 21% in Latvia, 32% in Malta and 34% in the United Kingdom and Lithuania. The Maltese are less likely to have expe- rienced downward mobility: only 14% said they had experienced downward social mobility from the position occupied by grandparents compared to 17% of Euro- peans. Nearly half of the Maltese (48%) say that they occupy the same place on the social ladder as their parents compared to 43% of all Europeans. While 30% of respondents in all EU-28 states say they have climbed the social lad- der, just 27% of Maltese have said they did likewise. The Danes (43%) and the Swedes (41%) were the most likely to have advanced up the social ladder while the Italians are the least likely to have done so (23%). But while the Maltese are less likely to think that they have climbed the social ladder, they are more likely than other Eu- ropeans to place themselves at the top of the social ladder. 32% of Maltese compared to 25% of all Europeans place themselves on the top three positions of the social ladder while only 3%, compared to 9% of all Europeans, place themselves at the bottom three posi- tions. 61% of Maltese place themselves in the middle rungs of the social ladder. jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt 31% of Maltese say they fare no better than their grandparents did Climbing the social ladder While the Maltese are less likely to think that they have climbed the social ladder, they are more likely than other Europeans to place themselves at the top of the social ladder 31% of Maltese think they are still in the same position on the social ladder as their grandparents