Less than 100 men took parental leave over the past nine years compared to just under 4,500 women who took the time off work to see to their children, according to figures that broke down the parental leave intake in the public sector.

Between 2014 and 2023, a total of 87 fathers and 4,458 mothers took parental leave. This means that dads took under 2% of the available four-month parental leave, which is offered to both parents after maternity and paternity leave.

The data, obtained from the secretariat for social dialogue, showed that while the number of women taking maternity leave remained consistently high between 2014 and 2023, the number of men taking paternity leave has been on the rise.

However, a large gap still exists when looking at the uptake of parental leave in the public sector with 98% being taken by the mothers. There is no data available for the private sector.

In Malta, mothers are entitled to 18 weeks of maternity leave, which are fully paid to the 14th week, and then remunerated at a lower rate for the last four weeks.

Since 2022, fathers are granted 10 days (up from one day) of paid paternity leave. While 6,228 took maternity leave during the nine-year period, 975 men took paternity leave.

After the maternity and paternity leave period, both parents are entitled to four months of parental leave, of which two months are paid at sick pay level while the rest are unpaid. The daily sick pay levels are €23.03 (married) or €14.92 (single) in 2023.

Parental leave that can be staggered until the child turns eight is granted at the discretion of employers and may be refused for a justifiable reason on their part. Workers in the public sector enjoy longer parental leave of 12 months.

Parental leave was one of the topics explored in a recent study conducted by professors Anna Borg and Liberato Camilleri and commissioned by the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE). The study is titled ‘Perceptions and attitudes of women and men in Malta towards work-life balance: with a specific focus on family size’.

The study looked into the level of awareness between women and men on this leave.

Results showed that while 66.9% of men know that both parents have access to parental leave, just over half of the female informants (52.7%) were aware that this family leave is available to both partners.

“This suggests that women in Malta may assume that men don’t have access to such leave and access it all themselves… This calls for a wider recognition among both women and men of the family leave available and the introduction of incentives and bonuses for couples who divide family leave between them, rather than have the mother, or the father, take on all the leave without sharing,” the study said.

It noted that having a well-paid parental leave is fundamental for reducing the caring gaps between the parents. The same study also showed that, while just under 47% of women said they performed most of the childcare duties, just 1% of men reported taking on the primary role.

The study recommended that parental leave should be extended to six months on full pay and offered on a “use-it-or-lose-it” basis to encourage both parents to take advantage of this leave.

*Figures show how many mothers took the paid 14-week maternity leave. Not all went on to take the additional four weeks.