A high proportion of Maltese women who are of working age choose to stay at home and look after their family rather than going out to work, recently-published EU statistics confirm.

The Eurostat figures show that Malta has more than double the EU average of inactive women. Last year, a total of 58.9 per cent of Maltese females aged between 25 and 54 - considered to be the main working age and also the age when families are founded and children are raised - did not hold a job.

The main reason given by 45.9 per cent of them was family responsibilities.

The Maltese results are high when compared to the EU, where the average number of inactive women in the same age group during 2006 stood at 23.6 per cent. Only 10.2 per cent said they stayed at home for family reasons.

The closest country to Malta, although still at a good distance, is neighbouring Italy where 35.7 per cent of those aged between 25 and 54 years are inactive.

On the other hand, the most active women in the labour force are found in Slovenia (13 per cent inactive), Sweden (13.7 per cent) and Estonia (14.3 per cent).

When the age group is widened to include 15 to 64 year olds, the number of inactive women in Malta surges to 61.7 per cent.

According to Eurostat, 69.5 per cent of inactive women in Malta have less than upper secondary education.