Don't turn family leave into a bidding war, businesses tell politicians
The Chamber said parties were risking descending into a populist competition over who offers the most family leave benefits
More family leave will not necessarily raise birth rates and could negatively impact the productivity of Maltese businesses, the Malta Chamber has warned polticians.
In a statement released Friday amid growing political anxiety over Malta's rock-bottom fertility rate, the Chamber warned against what it termed a "populist competition" between political parties to promise the most generous family leave benefits.
"Such a sensitive and important subject should not descend into a populist competition over who can promise the most generous benefits or the longest periods of leave, without first understanding the implications on productivity and our country’s competitiveness," it said.
"Unsound measures will ultimately be borne by businesses and taxpayers, and risk undermining the competitiveness and productivity of Maltese businesses."
It said that while it supports initiatives to improve work-life balance, any new policies must be "designed carefully and sustainably".
Increasing leave entitlements is not a guaranteed solution to Malta's deepening demographic crisis, it said, and urged policymakers to avoid turning the issue into an "electoral bidding war".
Fertility rate lowest in EU
Malta's fertility rate remains the lowest in the European Union - a situation which Finance Minister Clyde Caruana recently described as "the greatest challenge of our time".
The low fertility figures have spurred politicians from both sides to propose significant extensions to existing leave entitlements.
The Nationalist Party is pushing for a full year of paid leave for new parents, combining existing maternity and parental entitlements.
Similarly, Labour MPs, including Ramona Attard, have recently joined calls for a national discussion on longer maternity leave, noting that Malta's current 18 weeks (paid for 14 weeks) is well below the EU average of 23.5 weeks.
Current entitlements include 18 weeks of maternity leave, 10 days of paid paternity leave, and four months of parental leave per parent (two months of which are paid).
And this week, the government launched a public consultation process on parental leave while babies are in intensive care.
'Root causes ignored'
On Friday the Chamber said this focus on leave is a "piecemeal approach" that risks shifting attention away from the deeper, structural issues driving the crisis.
It said research shows that the primary factors influencing family planning decisions are social and economic, not simply the length of parental leave.
These include excessive housing costs and high cost of living, economic instability and constraints, lack of comprehensive childcare solutions and challenges in reconciling work and family life.
"Politicians should resist the temptation of identifying a problem and then immediately proposing a “fix” without proper research, consultation, and analysis."
The Chamber warned that measures that fail to address these fundamentals, such as housing affordability, would only create "costly policies with little meaningful impact".
It said policymakers must "ground policy decisions in evidence-based research that reflects Malta’s realities", and to ensure that any new measures are financially and administratively sustainable to protect both families and business competitiveness.