The budget measure to create a maternity leave fund has been welcomed by the Malta Employers Association, the Chamber of Commerce and the Malta Council of Women's Organisations, who said the development will decrease discrimination against female applicants.

Finance Minister Edward Scicluna announced on Monday that, to combat the reluctance by some employers to employ young women for fear that they would have to partially pay for their maternity leave the government will launch a new maternity fund. The contribution made by employers for the payment of maternity leave would be worked out on the basis of all their employees, and not just the women.

He also announced that women in the last four weeks of their maternity leave will be paid the equivalent of a minimum wage by the state - an increase of €6 weekly. There will also be a drastic improvement in maternity leave for self-employed women, who will enjoy an increase of €73 per week to reach the minimum wage in the last weeks.  Adoptive parents will also have a maternity leave equal to that of natural parents.

MEA President Joe Farrugia said a positive element of the fund is that it will do away with discrimination between male and female employees because maternity leave will start being paid from the fund, rather than directly by the employer. "Women will be encouraged to join the labour market because this measure will lead to a level playing field between female and male applicants." The negative aspect, Mr Farrugia said, was the fact that employers still have to pay for maternity leave, even if indirectly.

The Director General of the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Kevin J.Borg, said he agreed in principle because the budget measure will remove discrimination. He warned, however, that contributions to the maternity leave fund might be disproportionate in some sectors. "It is a positive measure and becomes cost-effective in companies or sectors where there is a balance between male and female employees. However, in sectors where there is no balance, employers could become needlessly burdened with spiralling labour costs. The government has to intervene in these cases."

Lorraine Spiteri, the Chairperson of the MCWO, said the fund will be set up so that the expense will be shared by all employers and not just by a few whose female employees are on maternity leave. "The present system was reducing women's employability and causing employers to unlawfully discriminate against female workers. The new fund system will also impact positively on the labour market since it will have a larger pool of talented workers."

Ms Spiteri also noted that maternity benefits will increase from €160 per week to the minimum wage and self-employed women and adoptive parents will also be entitled to 14-weeks of maternity leave. Other positive measures for women include the €400 grant per child for low income earners and the incentives for employers to create jobs for people with disabilities.

The MCWO said it was pleased that a number of proposals it had put forward have been included in the budget, namely those that incentivise women and encourage them to take up paid employment. "We are pleased that the free childcare scheme was such a success that it will be extended since we know that this was one obstacle towards a mother's decision whether to work or not. This is also an investment in early childhood education. Together with the breakfast club and after-school activities more mothers will find it easier to retain their jobs."

The Confederation said it believes that it is important today for women to be economically independent and that single mothers on social benefits need help to have training and find a job while using the free childcare scheme for their children.  "We hope, however, that care will be taken in special cases where some single mothers may still have very poor chances of finding a good job due to their low standard of education or mental health and therefore might need extra support to be weaned off social benefits. 

In the meantime the Confederation again urges the government to enact the legislation to regulate childcare centres which till now are still unregulated."