A strategy on active aging is expected to be launched in the coming weeks, an informal meeting for EU Employment and Social Policy ministers, held in Gozo between yesterday and today heard.

Ministers and state secretaries of Employment from Malta and 10 EU states exchanged views and discussed strategies and policies on how to enhance solidarity between generations through the active participation of the elderly.

Family Minister Chris Said and Education Minister Dolores Cristina stressed the importance of the contribution that older people could make to the Maltese economy and shared Malta's experience in promoting active-ageing and in encouraging female elder participation in the workforce.

She said that promoting the employability prospects of older workers by reducing and preventing early exit from the labour market was a priority for the Maltese government.

Dr Said said that Malta was implementing various fiscal measures to attract more people, especially women, into the labour market through a revision of income tax bands, tax credits for women returning to work, childcare provision, fiscal support for part-time workers, and recognition of people working in family business.

With many women having children at a later age, more women were staying at work within the age bracket of 25-34. The percentage of working women dropped within the 35-44 age bracket, this being mainly due to child rearing.

Of particular concern was the fact that many women in Malta were still not returning to work once the children were older and more independent. This implied that Malta faced two main challenges: that of having more women with young children in employment and that of convincing women to return to the labour market once their children were older.