A proposal by Labour MP Rosianne Cutajar to pay mothers to raise their children for at least a year has been welcomed by women’s organisations who suggested that it ought to apply to all parents.
Speaking in parliament on Wednesday, Cutajar said it was time to have a national discussion on Malta’s declining fertility rate, the lowest in the EU.
She said that while support measures such as free childcare did help, they were not enough. Instead, women could be offered a financial incentive to stay at home with their baby for the first year, on condition that they then returned to work.
Anna Borg, who chairs the Malta Women’s Lobby, agreed there was the need “to sit down and review and improve” family leave offers, insisting they are not working. Women’s organisations have long been saying this.
However, she cautioned it was dangerous to suggest that only mothers should be paid to raise children.
“Both parents need to take on this responsibility. We risk reinforcing gender stereotypes and gender roles if we only include women in the equation.”
Both parents need to take on this responsibility- Malta Women's Lobby chair
Renee Laiviera, who heads the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality, said Cutajar’s proposal was “very much in line with the measures that the NCPE has been proposing in that mothers are yearning for more maternity leave”.
NCPE believes that the fully paid 18-week maternity leave should increase to 20 weeks with flexibility on its use in the last four weeks so that mothers could phase in their return to work. Currently, fathers get 10 days of paternity leave. The commission has also been advocating for a four-month paid parental leave on a use-it-or-lose-it basis.
“This would incentivise men to make use of such leave to address perceived gender differences that may result in indirect discrimination of women. Moreover, employees should be allowed to avail of the full paid parental leave entitlement at one go, if they so wish,” she said.
A 2024 NCPE study analysed how work-life balance issues impact perceptions and attitudes towards fertility intentions.
“Challenges in reconciling work and childcare responsibilities were evident and revealed significant gender disparities, with work-family conflict disproportionately negatively affecting mothers and their fertility intentions,” she said.
Eighty-three per cent of female respondents said that 18 weeks maternity leave was inadequate and advocated extensions of varying lengths of up to 12 months. Half said extended maternity leave should be fully paid.
The study also reveals a strong call for increased paternity leave, extended parental leave and specific leave for parents when children are sick.
“Calls for longer maternity, paternity and parental leave are important to allow parents to stay with their children in the first 12 months,” Laiviera said.
More than 40 per cent of respondents sent their child to formal childcare, a quarter of them before the age of one. Most of those who didn’t preferred to take care of the children themselves.
Findings highlighted that the caring gap comes with a price. A significant number of women (46.1%), nearly twice the number of men (24.6%), indicated that the imbalance impacts their fertility decisions, Laiviera said.