Study shows women's need to work

A survey conducted on behalf of the Malta Association of Women in Business found that the majority of women - 63.2 per cent - work because they have to, in order to meet ever-rising financial commitments and daily living costs.

However, they said that the final decision to work was theirs, and it was taken independent of peers or relatives.

The association conducted the survey to determine the constraints, conditions, opportunities and perceptions facing gainfully employed women in the workforce.

Respondents were selected from a segment of 450 gainfully occupied women both from within the private and public sectors, namely executives, managers, professionals, business owners, directors and consultants.

The majority (97 per cent) of those interviewed were in gainful employment and of these 87 per cent worked on a full time basis.

Regarding career progression, on average the respondents' careers up to the time of the survey comprised at least two sequential jobs and had been in their current employment for an average of six and a half years. During these six years, the majority of those persons who were promoted claimed to have been promoted only once. A large majority (67 per cent) was never promoted.

The survey showed that the majority of women have participated in career development programmes and that the companies with which they work see their employees as being responsible for their own continuous development.

There are, however, employers who offer their employees the opportunity to develop and provide work-related training.

Regarding perceptions on work and the work place, respondents generally agreed that their partner, parents and children are supportive of their working role, albeit childcare is seen as primarily the mother's concern. It was clear that a lack of flexible working patterns and conditions hinder women with family or social commitments from entering or re-entering the workforce. This is exacerbated by the perception held by many employers that women have too many family constraints to warrant employment.

It was also evident from the survey that there is a general lack of training and re-training programmes for many women who wish to return to work after caring for their children.

Respondents felt that juggling work, study and family commitments was made difficult, as employers are generally inflexible in their working arrangements and hours of work.

Some respondents felt it was not financially viable to work part-time, as no social benefits and conditions exist for those working less than 20 hours per week. These restrictions and constraints revealed a lack of incentive for some women to return to work after taking a career break. Nevertheless, of those interviewed, 50 per cent took a career break of more than two years. 77 per cent of women anticipated taking a career break to take care of their children.

The vast majority of the respondents felt there was a need for more childcare facilities and if financial incentives were forthcoming to cover the cost of childcare, they would be more likely to return to work. The survey also revealed that, apart from a lack of childcare facilities, there were no after-school childcare facilities available.

Survey participants were asked whether they anticipated that organisations in Malta would be more open to the employment and development of women within the next decade and asked to give the reason for their answer. 80.8 per cent (or 311) of the total 385 respondents anticipated that organisations in Malta would be more open to the employment and development of women in the future.

In this context, 21.9 per cent of such respondents (68 responses) believed that this was due to the increasing number of qualified and trained woman. 18 per cent (56) of positive responses related to a change in the mentality both at the workplace and in society in general, contributing to an overall improvement in women's position today that would continue to improve in future.

In contrast, 49 (12.7 per cent) of the total 385 respondents expressed a negative response, of whom 12 (24.5 per cent) perceived that the Maltese mentality and society in general were still very restricted when compared to other societies.

Responses were analysed by Marketing Advisory Services, a professional research firm.

The MAWB Survey was conducted in collaboration with the Employment and Training Corporation which also sponsored the study. The complete report and results of the survey can be seen on the association's website.