Policies should not expect the family to change for society but society should adapt to the family’s needs, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said yesterday.

“If the family and children are so precious, we cannot accept that they have to adapt to society but society should adapt to them,” he said.

Dr Gonzi was speaking at Le Meridien Hotel in St Julians on the occasion of Mother’s Day, which although celebrated every year, marked a “special moment for the country” in the run-up to the divorce referendum on May 28.

“We need to stop and think how important it is for society to work together to create systems and support structures that help parents help their children to do even better than them.

“I give my word, not only as the Prime Minister, but also as a Maltese, that I will do my best to build the strong and permanent structures for our children so they can move ahead,” he promised.

The country had to stop and think of the heritage it was leaving its children, Dr Gonzi said, insisting their interests “should come first”.

The family was at the heart of the talk yesterday and Dr Gonzi discussed family-friendly measures the government has introduced to create a work-life balance.

Although Malta was at the bottom of the list when it came to women’s participation in the labour market, Dr Gonzi said the problem was when they wanted to work and could not find jobs.

As regards unemployment, the latest Eurostat figures showed Malta was the fourth lowest in Europe.

The problem of achieving a work-life balance was not easy to solve and Dr Gonzi warned against putting all women in the same basket, saying mothers had different situations and the solutions needed to take into account these differences.

Dr Gonzi said he was open to considering the possibility of parents using their sick leave to look after their ill children – not only if they themselves were unwell.

About 500 women benefitted from the tax incentives introduced three years ago to encourage mothers to return to work, he said.

He said both parents were important in the strengthening of the family; they were partners and it was no longer a case of the mother commanding from the doorstep indoors.

Dr Gonzi appealed to unions and the private sector: “What does it take to slightly adapt work and school hours? What is wrong with working from home, rather than the workplace?”

Family-friendly measures were not a ball and chain for the private sector, he said, explaining that if it employed professional, trained and expert women in their field, they would only lose out if these left their job because they could not find a balance in life.

It would be better to adapt to the needs of a human resource that cost it money, he advised.