Our economy has changed. Our expectations are much higher than ever before. Fortunately for us, a much larger percentage of our population has achieved tertiary education. This means that career development and self fulfillment in modern Malta have become fundamental ingredients of our aspirations.

This is good news. But it also means that we need to respond to the inevitable challenges that arise out of this radical change. One such challenge revolves around our ability to balance success at work with success in our family lives, especially those who are still at the early stages of parenthood.

I consider parenthood as one of the most beautiful adventures in life: It represents parents' privilege to raise children as individuals with their own personality and with a set of values that guides them through their lives.

But this most beautiful adventure is today challenged by the fact that parents - indeed, both parents - must be able to dedicate quality time to their family, simultaneously with their commitment to their own career or job.

Notwithstanding the fact that this appears to be a daunting task, I personally believe that today's modern world has given us certain tools to make this equation work.

Technology has opened up opportunities that were unheard of a few years back. Teleworking in a services-oriented economy makes sense - both for the parents and for the employer. Flexitime and job sharing are slowly becoming a reality in some specific areas of both private and public sectors. European standard child care facilities are becoming increasingly available for parents who want to make use of these services. Indeed, Malta's very generous kindergarten setup is also a key feature in this scenario because it provides child caring and child education as from age three onwards, free of charge.

Clearly, the upbringing of our children should never be totally surrendered to outsiders or to our extended families. It is a privilege that parents should jealously retain.

But in a society, where our career is also part of our own personal development, of our own quality of life, of our own chemistry, then we must also make full use of the tools that society and the government are making available to us.

There are situations where state intervention and state support is absolutely vital for parents to be able to seek and find the right balance. This is particularly so in families that include persons with severe disability or impaired elderly persons who require considerable attention and support.

Until recently society attributed such caring roles exclusively to women. Times have changed. Realities and circumstances have made way for a totally new approach that requires adequate policy responses at every level of society.

Failing to strike an appropriate balance between our families and our contribution through work would be a great loss for our families and for our society. We are in the balance together... let's do our best to get it right.