Focus on single mothers and missing fathers, minister tells Church

It is not unusual for Archbishop Joseph Mercieca's pronouncements to stir a hornet's nest on the subject of working mothers and as his term draws to an end he has felt the need to raise the issue once again.

In his Independence Day homily, he expressed concern over the damage done when both parents were constrained to work to pay off debts and as a result were often unable to bring up their children properly.

Social Solidarity Minister Dolores Cristina, on the other hand, feels the Church should focus more closely on the problems of missing fathers and single mothers than deal only with the issue of stay-at-home mums.

Reacting to the homily, Ms Cristina told The Times that if all mothers stayed at home there would be a dearth of teachers, social workers and nurses, among others.

"These are the professions where women employees are predominant and where their 'maternal' qualities enhance their competencies in their chosen profession," she said.

Her concern lay mostly with the large number of children growing up in families where the mothers did not work, where the sole income was derived from social benefits and where there was no input from the father.

"Children growing up in an emotional state of poverty where instability is a fact of life is also one of the realities we need to contend with nowadays. That's where my major worry lies," she added.

During his homily, Mgr Mercieca called on the government to provide stay-at-home mothers state support and cautioned against the creation of a climate where mothers who opted not to work, in order to dedicate time to their children, were seen as failures.

It's not the first time that the Archbishop has made similar statements on this issue. On the opposite end, the government is working hard on numerous initiatives to practically double the female employment rate to 60 per cent by 2010, a target that seems unlikely at this present point in time.

As a result, mothers are caught in between the Church and the government and many end up in an endless cycle of guilt.

Ms Cristina insisted that working mothers should not be made to feel guilty and as long as their responsibilities towards the family were fulfilled the fact that they worked outside the home should not be an issue.

"It is a personal choice that should be respected. Just as the choice of the mother who stays at home should be, and is, respected in this country. I was a stay-at-home mum for 20 years. It was my choice and no one made me feel inferior for making that choice."

On the subject of state support, Ms Cristina said she had strong reservations about "payment" to mothers who remained at home, primarily because this could actually be "counterproductive and create a larger cohort of 'mums for benefits', as they are termed in other countries".

"Obviously, the financial implications are a major consideration. Frankly, I can't see a lot of women giving up a well-paid job, which they enjoy and which meets the economic necessities of their families, for a state benefit that will, in no way, meet any of their requirements."

Ms Cristina added that while it was indisputable that the family lay at the very core of society, it was undoubtedly true that social reality was something that shifted and changed through time and could not be handled in a static manner.

Sina Bugeja, the executive director of the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality, also reacted to the Archbishop's comments, saying his message had yet again identified work as the problem interfering with good child rearing.

"While I respect the Archbishop's opinion, I believe that we need to be very clear on the way forward for the further development of this country," she said when contacted.

Work did not need to mean parents were away from children for immeasurable lengths of time. If alternative work arrangements were adopted, parents of young children would be in a better position to balance their family and work responsibilities, she said.

"We need to acknowledge that young parents bringing up children are offering a huge social contribution and, as such, society must give them the space and the support they need to do so properly. This will be better understood if we realise that, at the end of the day, we are talking of a finite number of years."

Ms Bugeja pointed out that statistics in Malta showed that mothers who chose not to work were not having babies either, therefore work was not exactly interfering, a social issue that had to be further researched.

She also expressed concern at the manner in which the Archbishop made a distinction between those who could afford not to work (which was seen as positive) and those who could choose not to work but still followed a career (which was seen as negative).

"While the dividing line is so complex that it merits very serious analysis, the complexes generated can be huge. Why are we not seeking plausible solutions where both genders can maintain their personal development and also give the children the care they truly deserve? Why are we still pointing fingers in one direction," Ms Bugeja asked.

"Frustrated persons do not make better parents and if we want to bring in choice into the equation, then we must make sure there is real choice," she insisted.

Social scientist Frances Camilleri-Cassar said that while Malta emulated a progressive agenda forged in EU standards, to this day the Church placed strong expectations on the government to support and reinforce the male breadwinner model, in which women were primarily seen as wives and mothers.

Dr Camilleri-Cassar, an experienced researcher with special interests in welfare states and gender regimes, said the reason why social policies had been largely ineffective in Malta was ascribed to the legacy of the traditional male breadwinner, embedded in the island's patriarchal system with influential back-up by the Church.

"Malta still draws its influence from the Catholic Church and its emphasis on the traditional gender arrangement that frees men from care work," she said.

The Church's rhetoric about the critical role of the mother in the rearing of children was an argument against individualism and reinforcing normative expectations of male and female roles in the family.

"The state claims that Maltese women are moving into paid employment. However, there is little evidence that men have moved with comparable enthusiasm into the area of care in the family. This must happen if genuine equality of opportunity is to be realised in practice and not remain on paper," Dr Camilleri-Cassar said.