Parents start out ideally wanting to have two children but are having fewer because of the challenges of managing their work-life balance, equality commissioner Renee Laiviera has observed.
Laiviera, the commissioner of the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE), spoke to Times of Malta about the findings of a study and a recent conference focusing on the “perceptions and attitudes of women and men in Malta towards work-life balance, with a specific focus on family size.” This issue has gained considerable attention in recent days.
“One of the things we found very interesting was that parents initially said their intention would have been to have two children, but they actually had less,” Laiviera explained. She attributed this discrepancy to the challenges of managing their work-life balance.
The NCPE has received many messages from conference participants regarding their struggles with work-life balance. “We could hear it from people, so we wanted to look into it,” Laiviera said.
The study, conducted by professors Anna Borg and Liberato Camilleri and commissioned by the NCPE, revealed that parents need more support and cannot shoulder additional responsibilities.
However, Laiviera expressed optimism for the future. “It’s the right time for change,” she said, stressing that family-friendly policies could serve as a strong incentive to attract and retain talented employees over the long term.
“As the labour market is saturated, engaging new employees is difficult. Now is the right time to offer attractive financial packages with a work-life balance. It is a way to attract good employees,” she continued.
The NCPE study proposed several family-friendly policies to improve work-life balance in Malta. These include extending maternity leave, increasing and improving paternity leave, promoting spatial and temporal flexibility, providing employee leave for sick children, ensuring equal work-family rights for both public and private sector employees, and exploring the feasibility of shorter workweeks.
“We aren’t recreating the wheel,” said Laiviera. This is not the first time Malta has been called upon to explore shorter workweeks for example. Last year, MEP Thomas Bajada argued that Malta and Europe should seriously consider introducing a four-day workweek.
Laiviera pointed to France, which has implemented a 35-hour workweek for years. “They continue working and producing, and the economy is functioning. This is why they are thinking that at least once a week people can save time travelling and spend more time with their family,” she said.
She emphasised that family-friendly policies must be accessible to both men and women. It is crucial to avoid stigmatising men who request access to these measures.
“We need a new way of thinking because society and our lives are changing,” Laiviera said. “We are not bringing up our men or our boys to understand the crucial role they have in the family.”
While Maltese society has largely accepted that both men and women must contribute financially, the same understanding has not extended to caregiving roles in the home. Women still bear the brunt of child rearing and household responsibilities.
“This is, in part, why we have these issues, and these need to be addressed,” Laiviera explained.
She believes one way to tackle this imbalance is by challenging gender stereotypes from an early age. To achieve this, the NCPE has proposed training teachers at the pre-primary level in equality, to help children develop critical thinking skills and break away from traditional gender norms.
“It’s part of your education. It is education in school, education at home, and education wherever we are because this is society,” she concluded.