Not all mothers in Malta had the same choices as the Finance Minister’s wife, who, according to him, stayed at home to bring up their children, the Malta Confederation of Women’s Organisations said.
In a hard-hitting statement, the confederation expressed disappointment at comments about mothers in paid employment, which Finance Minister Tonio Fenech made during the first Budget 2011 public consultation meeting on Wednesday.
“Some mothers do not have this choice and work is the only option for them to earn a decent living,” the confederation said.
While it was interesting to note that the minister and his wife were perplexed at how difficult it was for a Maltese mother to work, the confederation questioned what was being done to ease the problem.
Reacting, the Finance Ministry said the minister was misquoted by the women’s confederation, stressing that his message was that for the economy to develop and grow, more people, “particularly women”, had to enter the job market.
The ministry pointed out that Mr Fenech also said he admired and respected mothers who stopped working for a specific period to have more time to give to the upbringing of their children and then returned to work, “once their children reach a certain age”.
It said that, while the minister believed the right to choose between working or not rested with the parents, “when we talk about family friendly measures, we can’t only think of the parents but also of the children and how these measures may affect them too”.
The women’s right group harped on specific comments by Mr Fenech, such as: “I admire many mothers who stay at home”, which, they insisted, implied that a mother who contributed to the family financially was to be admired less.
Another comment – “We need to be careful because if we do not bring up our children ourselves we will end up with a society without an upbringing” – conveyed a conflicting message to society and could give rise to unnecessary guilt and confusion, the confederation said.
Mothers in paid employment contributed towards the economy by paying tax and national insurance contributions but this did not mean they neglected their children in any way, the confederation insisted.
It pointed out that mothers who chose good quality childcare, loved and nurtured their children as much as mothers who did not entrust them to childcare. Agreeing with Mr Fenech that school hours should be extended, due to incompatibility between a typical work day and school, the confederation called for the allocation of “significant” funds in the next Budget to dismantle the hurdles for dual earner couples.
On these points, Mr Fenech said it was the government’s policy to introduce more family friendly measures so that more women would choose to take up a job, the ministry noted.