The parliamentary secretary for finance Tonio Fenech yesterday found himself in the middle of an audience largely consisting of women during the first public pre-budget discussion, whose theme dealt with the Budget’s focus on women.
St James Cavalier yesterday was the host of Fenech’s discussion on mothers, married and single, entering the labour market.
Fenech discussed the measures proposed to encourage mothers to become part of the workforce and contribute to a growing economy. He said a broader view of the family within the economy had been taken into consideration in the pre-budget document.
Childcare was a hot topic with many women in the audience, who pointed out the fact that mothers cannot easily trust childcare services, whilst others complained of not managing to find centres which complimented work times.
Fenech said: “The reality of the demand in Malta for childcare in Malta is not large enough but the government is encouraging workplaces to provide childcare for mothers who are employees.”
He said childcare at the workplace did not seem to be recognised as being important enough to the employers, adding that the problem does not seem to lie with the workplaces themselves since many mothers opt to leave their children with family relatives. This, Fenech said, was causing the demand to decline considerably but financial incentives should start to encourage mothers to enrol their children in private childcare centres.
But a contradictory comment was voiced by Anna Borg, the senior executive of the ETC, who mentioned a reported 80 per cent of working women were actually interested in childcare facilities.
Fenech suggested having these reports sent to the ministry for further investigation.
Grace Attard of the National Council of Women, voiced concern for young teenage mothers who have not yet completed their studies. “I do not feel that financial benefits should be used as an incentive since these teenage mothers should be given means to continue their studies; but they will not if they do not feel the need.
“Money will hold them back and when the time comes to join the labour market; they will not be qualified enough to do anything more than enter unbeneficial work.”
Further discussion included the issue maternity leave, and how motherhood tends to give employers the impression that women are a liability. Suggestions mainly included having parental leave for the father. Both men and women should be seen as an equal liability as a result of the responsibility, members of the audience said.