Challenges that society faces to help mothers

Motherhood and the work-life balance were brought to the fore over the past weeks by different quarters in different circumstances.

A lecturer on demography at the University of Malta, Maja Miljanic Brinkworth, asked on The Times whether mothers of reproductive age can afford not to work.

Anna Borg, who lectures at the Labour Studies Centre, stressed the point that both work and having children were part of life.

Gozo Bishop Mario Grech expressed concern that there are parents, particularly mothers, who want more child centres so that, as soon as their maternity leave is up, they can send their children there.

He insisted that society should be organised in such a way that mothers who prefer to stay at home with their small children would not be forced to do otherwise.

Bishop Grech’s comments must have been inspired by the Church’s deep-rooted teaching on the distinctive natural bond between mother and child and the need that society fully supports mothers in this role. In fact, he stressed the role of society in this regard.

The Church’s stance is that it will be to the credit of society to make it possible for a mother – without inhibiting her freedom, without resorting to psychological or practical discrimination and without in any way penalising her – to devote herself to taking care of her children and educating them in accordance with their needs, which vary with age.

This belief also sees the Church pointing out that having to abandon these tasks in order to take up paid work outside the home is wrong from the point of view of the good of society and of the family when it contradicts or hinders the primary goals of the mission of the mother.

In the balance there are also, of course, the valid arguments about women’s right to work and so also contribute to the economy. This especially in a society faced, among other things, with an ageing population and an ever-increasing burden on social services.

Here, the Church’s stand is that women have the right to full opportunities and to be able to find and keep their rightful place in all sectors of society. It insists that women should be assured equal opportunities in every sphere of society, from education to the practice of professions and the acquisition of jobs, and that everything should be done to encourage women to develop their talents.

Bishop Grech’s comments hence boil down to the challenge society has to ensure that mothers have a real choice of whether to work outside the family home or not, especially when they have small children to take care of.

This is a challenge which, of course, requires one and all to keep in mind that the emphasis on the mother’s role in the upbringing of children should not overshadow the importance of the father’s specific responsibility. Their roles are complementary meaning, among other things, that both parents need to strike the right balance between work and family.

Society realises such needs and is rightly seeking to address them in the best possible manner. One very recent example is the Budget’s effort to introduce new measures from which families with children will be the best beneficiaries.

Bishop’s Grech message should thus be considered as encouraging further family-friendly policies and actions. This is also achieved through supporting effectively the hard work women do in fulfilling their vocation as mothers and in the gestation and upbringing of their children.