Country fiche on gender equality and policy developments : Malta : 1st quarter 2012

Abstract

The third quarter of 2011 evidences a slight increase in employment rates for women (39.3%) and men (72.4%) (aged 15-64) over the same quarter in 2010. Nevertheless, women’s economic activity rate remains persistently low compared with the 2010 EU27 average (58.2%). Women’s participation is still largely characterised by a high and increasing share of part-time work which stood at 26% compared with men’s 6% in the third quarter of 2011. The gender employment gap (33.1 percentage points (p.p.)) is high compared with EU27 (11.9 p.p.).

The impact of parenthood is particularly evident among women in Malta: in 2010, the employment gap between parents and non parents in the age group 20-49 is more than 30 p.p., the employment rates being 46.2 and 77% respectively. This is the highest gap in the EU-27. The absence of affordable childcare and accessible out-of-school care means that Malta remains distant from the Barcelona target. This largely explains women’s persistently low employment rates.

There are no women sitting in the supreme courts of justice. Female representation in national parliament is 8.7% in 2012. Women make up 22% of those active in national government.

Women have a higher educational attainment than men. A significant number of young people still leave the education system with only basic schooling. The rates of early school leavers in 2010 was 32.4% for women and 41% for men, compared with the EU average of 12.2% for women and 16% for men.

The at-risk-of-poverty rate for women tends to be slightly higher than for men. However, the women over 65 appear to be slightly less at risk (21.4%) than men (22.7%).

The policy debate is focused on enabling women to earn an income. However, the inadequate provision of childcare services questions the commitment to this. The draft regulatory legislation that provides the Department for Social Welfare Services (DSWS) with the required legal framework to operate as a regulatory body for child care and child minding services further demonstrates this lack of commitment. It was finalised in 2008 but has not yet been tabled in parliament. As a result, the DSWS lacks a clear definition of its role, functions and responsibilities as the national regulatory body, and is still without the required legal mandate to enforce the national standards established by government in 2006. The national audit office reports childcare facilities in Malta are currently being monitored on a voluntary basis.