Not totally a woman’s world

The productive em­ploy­ment of women outside the home is always part of any economic discussion or statement nowadays made in Malta. The qualification is important because the old discussion point about the economic value of women who do only family work has not been resolved. Not anywhere, let alone in Malta.

Cold economics should not be the only environment in which to discuss female paid employment- Lino Spiteri

Ironically we go on pouring out estimates intended to measure economic activity without acknowledging that unpaid work in the home has a great value. In terms of opportunity-saving it is worth at least as much as the wage one would have to pay an outsider to carry out the work a woman does in the home.

Leaving that prickly issue aside, working women feature in all economic discussions as an objective – to increase their contribution to the Gross National Product through paid work. As usual, that discussion too is riddled with controversy. For instance, the government proudly says that the percentage of women of working age who have full-time jobs has increased significantly in recent years. Government critics respond by pointing out that the measurement is made against a low base, and that the female participation rate is still among the lowest among the member economies of the European Union.

Fact is that, given the fact that many couples are paying off loans to purchase their home, that the cost of essential things is fast approximating that of more advanced economies, that the cost of living is consistently on an upward trend, that today’s style of living necessitates additional expenditure, such as on cars, mobile telephony and holidays abroad, many married women need to take on paid employment.

I do not have the total of those who do at hand. But I do know that the latest gainfully occupied population data (October) show that women make up 50,837 out of a total of 149,467 employed and self-employed workers. Additional details given by the NSO reveal how the need to work is increasing.

Of the females in full-time employment over 14 per cent – 7,261 – also had a part-time job in October. Another 17,686 (not included in the total of females in full-time employment) had a part-time job as their primary employment. Also, the ratio of women to men in part-time employment is substantially higher than the comparable ratio among full-time employees.

Interpreting these figures, one can say that the government’s efforts – among them tax-breaks and nurseries – to draw more females into the gainfully occupied population are proving to be successful. One can also counter, as indicated earlier, that more females are taking a full-time or part-time job, or both, not because of the incentives offered to them, but out of dire necessity.

One might add that, whatever the reason, working females are a very important factor in the growth process, especially when they move into skills where there is an actual of incipient shortage of human resources. Accountancy is one such area.

Looking ahead the number of female students who finish their secondary education and move on to the tertiary level is also significant from the potential output perspective.

The trend suggests that it will be a long time before Malta has an extensive shortage of skilled human resources because it can draw on the pool of females not yet in employment.

Throughout the approach is made in the context of economics and economic growth. That is important, but it glosses over the fact that the rise of married women in paid employment has an important social dimension. It is not uncommon that married women who go out to work find less time to share with their husbands.

By any yardstick, that is a problem and is probably an important cause for the increase in marriage strains or outright breakdowns we seem to be experiencing. More worrying, married mothers of young children who work have less time to spend with their children during their important formative years. Grandparents tend to step into the breach and no doubt they pour immeasurable amounts of love into their caring. Sadly, no matter how great that love is it cannot be a substitute for love from mother to offspring.

There are cases where the strain is double, hitting both the man-and-wife relationship, and that with the children. Those who have to work shifts make up the larger part of this sad phenomenon.

All this is not to say that it is wrong to encourage married women to take on gainful employment, or to reduce their right to do so, which they might wish to exercise irrespective of necessity. It is to say, though, that cold economics should not be the only environment in which to discuss female paid employment.

The authorities should not merely provide incentives for female to take up employment. Good guidance is also essential. Caritas is in the news for its recent study on living conditions and low income. More routinely it carries out other effective work, such as publishing Helping-Hands, a balanced publication for all the family. In its most recent issue it offers seven lines of readable guidance to stress the importance of a united family, and how that may be achieved. The civil authorities have a good example to follow.