Women need to think ahead when it comes to making their career choices. Working fewer hours or opting for lesser-paid jobs or precarious work due to family responsibilities is leading to a gender wage gap and is increasing their risk of poverty. Stephanie Fsadni finds that men also have a role to play.

Although by law men and women are to be paid equally in Malta, women are in reality earning less, mainly because they are working fewer hours or are opting for lesser-paid jobs.

Mary Gaerty and Grace Attard, president and vice president of the National Council of Women respectively, give various reasons why women may make such choices.

“The traditional role of the woman as child nurturer is deeply ingrained in our culture,” says Gaerty. “Maltese women still take it upon themselves to care for the children.

“They thus tend to go for jobs whose working hours are more family-friendly, like teaching,caring or cleaning,” adds Attard. “Graduands may also opt for lower- paid jobs.”

Since Gaerty became president of the council four years ago, she and her colleagues have pushed for more family-friendly measures such as free childcare centres and maternity leave for the self-employed. She is proud to say that these measures have been adopted and more women have in fact joined the workforce in recent years.

Families can now avail themselves of childcare centres, that are free for children under three years of age; there are after-school clubs for children between three and 16 years of age, and some other schools offer extracurricular activities. However, these are not available everywhere and this is where men’s role is especially important.

“Men have to become conscious that the family belongs to the couple. We have to sensitise them that they are parents too,” says Gaerty, while admitting that over the years they have become more aware of their responsibilities in raising the family.

Teleworking has helped women working 40 hours or less, but Gaerty highlights the fact that a woman cannot advance in her career if she does not dedicate herself “almost fully” to her job.

“This is more possible if there are shared responsibilities. You don’t find many women in politics or boards, because a woman raising kids cannot arrive home at about 9pm or 10pm on a daily basis, unless she has someone to lean on.”

Gaerty has realised that women who move up the career ladder have husbands or partners who support them, and that those who do best are those whose father believed a lot in them.

The National Council holds a number of courses mainly targeted at early school leavers, both women and men. These include courses in Maltese,English and ECDL (European Computer Driving Licence). There are also courses for those who would like to set up a business.

Participants often say that they would have liked to pursue a career but that their partners demanded that they stay at home.

“Then you should see their expression when they get a certificate,” Gaerty says.

Lined up are courses on self-empowerment.

“Many women do not realise the amount of skills they have acquired over the years. And we often find that the job they do does not match the skills they have,” she says.

“There is also a very low percentage of female entrepreneurs. We have to believe in ourselves more and be ready to take more risks.”

Gaerty makes it clear that choosing not to work because of the family is not something bad per se because the attachment to the family is a positive thing.

“If women choose to be stay-at-home mothers, I like to call them home managers,” she says.

“We don’t push women to work but believe that if she were more financially independent, she would make better choices.”

She refers to women who have a troubled family life, and may even suffer domestic abuse, but may be afraid to leave the household or stay with the husband just because they are not financially independent.

Attard is concerned about the fact that women are living longer than men but, in general, they are less healthy.

You find women over 50s especially who care for family members like ageing parents. So they either don’t work, work part-time or fewer hours per week

“Women’s health is worse because in actual fact they work more hours. But currently there is no policy to recognise unpaid work at home and this has an impact on one’s pension.”

Women are thus at a higher risk of poverty. The council is also addressing the situation where women stop working to care for their elderly parents.

“You find women over 50s especially who care for family members like ageing parents. So they either don’t work, work part-time or fewer hours per week,” says Gaerty.

She also mentions women who separate, are unemployed and do not pay the national insurance contribution.

“If they don’t get a percentage of the husband’s pension, it’s a big problem.”

The council emphasises that women should not accept precarious work.

“Imagine you were a cleaner or a carer and do not pay the NI contribution, and you get hurt and are not able to carry on doing what you do for a living. You will have nothing to fall back upon,” says Gaerty.

“Such workers are only entitled to social pension, not contributory pension.”

It’s also important that when women stop working to have children, they pay the NI contribution.

Gaerty and Attard believe that proper guidance and counselling at school level as regards career choices would help women make better decisions as regards their future. They, for example, would like to see more girls taking up STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

“You can do so much with STEM subjects, like engineering, pharmaceuticals. Few take technology at university level,” Gaerty points out. “Few as well go into research.”

She says that in Malta we lack female role models but the media can help.

“Young women need to see that women who took particular subjects got more interesting jobs. Also, families have to encourage children to take certain non-traditional subjects.”

As regards employers, Attard emphasises that they should not primarily consider the amount of hours women put in but their productivity.

“This way one would encourageemployers to take on more female managers/executives. Women are naturally multitaskers and work hard,” she says.

Gaerty adds: “We are often told byemployers that when women return to the workplace after maternity leave, they outdo themselves to make up for the weeks away from work, because they are so grateful.”

Eurostat figures

The gender wage gap in Malta was the second lowest in the EU, according to data issued by Eurostat.

The gap stood at 16.1 per cent in the EU, according to 2014 figures. It ranged from less than five per cent in Slovenia and Malta to more than 20 per cent in Estonia, Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany and Slovakia.

In 2014, a fifth of women in the EU aged 25 to 49 and without children were working part-time compared to one in 12 of men. The gap widened with the number of children: almost half of women with at least three children were working part-time compared to seven per cent of men in the same situation.

About the National council of women

The National Council of Women of Malta was founded in 1964. It is a non-governmental organisation comprising individual members and national organisations. It is non-partisan, non-sectarian and independent. It is a coordinating body that aims to present a broad and comprehensive view of women’s opinions on matters of public interest. It aims to improve the quality of life for all. In particular, it works to promote equality of opportunity for women and enable them to participate effectively at all levels and in all aspects of the life of the community.


The National Council of Women provides a forum for women of different backgrounds and experiences to come together as individuals and as representatives of affiliated organisations, to exchange information and ideas, formulate policy, educate and promote change. It is made up of different committees that focus on diverse areas: environment, health, social, music, education and youths. The council is also affiliated with 36 different organisations, including the Malta Girl Guides, Emigrants’ Commission and the Malta Union of Teachers.

The Council offers a number of free courses leading to O-level qualifications in Maltese, English and ECDL. There are also courses for those who would like to set up a business and empowerment courses. For more information, visit www.ncwmalta.com or visit the National Council of Women Facebook page.