On the back of calls for concerted action to help single mothers enter the workforce, an expert on gender issues is warning the system also victimises married women.

JosAnn Cutajar, senior lecturer at the University of Malta’s Department of Gender Studies, said family caring responsibilities were keeping women out of work and depriving them of their right to social benefits.

While women educated beyond the compulsory level are staying at work longer, the numbers start to drop as they become carers – whether it is for children, elderly or disabled relatives.

If they do not give up their job, women may still be pushed to work reduced hours.

Women’s participation in the labour market remains low, at 48.7 per cent.

Just over six per cent of employed women work full-time with reduced hours and close to 20 per cent work part-time.

Participation in the labour market decreases between the ages of 45 and 54. This disrupts their social security contributions, which affects their right to benefits, including pension provision.

“Women do not have access to full pensions. They are derived pensions,” Dr Cutajar said.

She was highly critical of a social welfare system that looked at women as embedded in the family, saying this victimised them: “The assumption is that there is a husband to depend on.”

Dr Cutajar said it was time for a social welfare system that allocated benefits to women on the basis of individual rights rather than derived rights.

The situation became more difficult if the marriage broke up, especially when women have given up their job to raise their children.

Women are often penalised for having been left by their partner

Women tended not to remarry and those who did could lose their right to a pension from their former husband.

“Women are more likely to be separated or divorced and these are more likely to be over 35. This is where women start losing out,” she said.

“They may have devoted their time to stay at home to take care of the family. But then something happens to the relationship and what happens to them?

“These women are often penalised for having been left by their partner,” Dr Cutajar said, adding that men were more likely to marry again. This situation is putting women at risk of poverty.

Compared with other EU countries, poverty in Malta was not very evident but it existed.

Single-parent households, the unemployed and the elderly were particularly at risk and in each category women were especially vulnerable, Dr Cutajar said.

“Women are more likely to face unemployment in Malta. The proportion of female low-wage earners is also high.”

More than 20 per cent of female workers earned less than €5 a day, Dr Cutajar said quoting a study from Caritas Europe.

She called for action to protect precarious workers, saying the aim should be “to make work pay”, adding it was important to focus on education and training to enable women to re-enter the labour market after their caring role was over.

Facts and figures

• Single parent households, the un­employed and elderly face an increased poverty risk, especially women.

• More than 22 per cent of women earn less than €5 an hour.

• Employment history of women in Malta is affected by their marital status and taking care of children, disabled and elderly relatives. This affects their social security contributions and pensions.

• Women of childbearing age are remaining longer in the labour market; participation falls between the ages of 45 and 54.

More qualified women tend to remain longer in the labour market.

• When women manage to retain full-time employment, they are receiving the average gross annual salary.

• The lowest paid are women in entry-level occupations, earning €7,998 a year, while the highest earners are men working in insurance and finance sectors.

Source: JosAnn Cutajar, senior lecturer at the University of Malta’s Department of Gender Studies.

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