It is easy to dismiss the results of the EY survey on youths in Malta as merely the symptom of a generation that wants to spread its wings. That conclusion would be simplistic and dangerous.
Let’s recall the figures gleaned from the large sample. Nearly 60 per cent of young people in Malta would rather live in another European country. That’s a 12 per cent increase on last year’s results in the number of millennials who dream of moving abroad.
The EY survey showed a whopping nine in 10 young people believe Malta’s environment is getting worse, with the majority blaming too much construction. The results paint a picture of a young entrepreneurial generation with a strong environmental conscience concerned about the country’s international image and economy.
The EY survey comes hot on the heels of a study by the Church’s research institute which underlined political disengagement as well as the need to promote critical thinking skills. Again, environment featured highly among the priorities of the young people surveyed.
Fact: digital natives are more willing to relocate and take bigger risks than their parents. They’ll jump at an opportunity, even if it’s on the other side of the world.
Spending time away from one’s country is beneficial as it gives exposure to different cultures, builds personal development and self-confidence and imbues people with skills to take up job opportunities. A key fear during the 2003 EU referendum was that membership would lead to a brain drain. To a certain extent that came true, but most of us now acknowledge the benefits of membership far outweigh the disadvantages.
Who could blame a generation subjected to a recipe of greed, disrespect, tribalism, years of relentless overconstruction, blatant nepotism and governments exploiting their power of incumbency
What we are facing nearly two decades later is a generation of young people who are contemplating leaving on a one-way ticket because they are giving up.
And who could blame a generation subjected to a recipe of greed, disrespect, tribalism, years of relentless overconstruction, blatant nepotism and governments exploiting their power of incumbency. It is ridiculous to acknowledge that we are forced to catch a plane if we want to soak in nature, without noise and hunting pellets raining on us.
While the government persists with throwing money at problems, and dishing out jobs at taxpayers’ expense, it is time to start diversifying the economy.
The country also needs to carry out a soul-searching exercise as to why its investment in education is not rendering results. We could start by putting an emphasis on critical thinking rather than measuring success by exam passes.
In other words: we need to change the economic model and go straight to the heart of the issues that impact our quality of life. The government has a duty to analyse the implications of what threatens to become a veritable brain drain and try to entice young talented Maltese people to come back home.
To do that, we cannot keep paying those working in entry-level jobs a pittance. Or do we intend to persist with the exploitation of foreign workers? The issue of expensive housing is another reason why youths are contemplating leaving Malta leaving us with an ageing population problem that could risk crushing the welfare state. At some point, these realities have the potential to spiral out of control.
Budget 2022 was ironically themed: ‘The Malta we want for our children’. Little does the government seem to realise that the horse has bolted, and more children are packing their bags to move away from the Malta we destroyed. And while expats who once loved the country are now also leaving in frustration, the only thing we can try to do is rebuild a Malta our youths aspire to live in.