Malta stuck in 83rd place in gender gap survey

Malta again ranked 83rd out of 135 countries in a global gender gap survey that measures whether men and women enjoy equal opportunities.

Women’s organisations are particularly worried because the island places in 110th place in the economic participation and opportunity category, falling six places from 104th last year.

“In spite of the number of incentives introduced to attract women to the labour market and the slow increase in women’s participation rate, Malta is still falling back in this sector,” the Malta Confederation of Women’s Organisations said.

Although the government’s decision to increase maternity leave from 14 to 18 weeks was a step in the right direction, other initiatives were needed to help raise Malta to “a respectable placing in the Global Gender Gap Index”, the confederation said.

The survey ranks participating countries according to a score system to measure gender gaps on economic, political, educational and health-related criteria.

Iceland, Norway and Finland filled the top three spots on the overall equality chart while Pakistan, Chad and Yemen were the bottom three.

When it came to economic participation and opportunity, Malta ranked 118th in the labour force participation subsection.

On average, women earn half as much as men who get an average annual salary of €25,000. When it came to wage equality for similar work, Malta placed in 59th place.

On a positive note, Malta ranked when the educational attainment criteria were taken into consideration, sharing the prestigious spot with another 21 countries.