The proposal for a directive on the introduction of measures to extend maternity leave by four weeks is a crucial matter that merits careful consideration because it is both a health and safety issue and a basic family-friendly issue. The NCW is very concerned about the position against this extension taken by the Malta business community, as it reflects a lack of will to seek an adequate solution.

This initiative is an opportunity to strengthen legislation that not only enables women to recover adequately following confinement, but also encourages them to breastfeed and helps them forge a strong bond with their newborn child. Giving an additional four weeks to working mothers who have just given birth means that they can breastfeed in a decent, calm and healthy environment – at home – for at least 18 weeks, which is six weeks short of the 24 weeks recommended by the Social Platform, the European Women’s Lobby, the WHO and UNICEF, based on the benefits for children to be exclusively breastfed during their first six months of life, as a health protection measure for both mother and child.

It will encourage mothers and fathers to have more and healthier children. It means that our society is really committed to addressing the negative impact of demographic changes, knowing that the size of the average family has been reduced to an average of 1.5 children. It means that we are taking practical measures to address the deterioration of our pensions system for our teenage sons and daughters – the pensioners of the future.

Rather than penalising women for their biological condition (motherhood), in practice we would be expressing our gratitude to mothers for giving birth, nurturing our babies and ensuring their physical and emotional well-being

The National Council of Women is fully aware of the impact of the recession on business, but it believes that women should not bear the brunt, which is already leaving its mark on women working part-time or in precarious conditions, especially when we all know that the participation rate of women in employment is less than 38 per cent, which puts Malta at the very bottom of the EU list. The NCW believes that the measures taken to ensure the progress achieved so far in the area of gender equality should be sustained and developed during and after the economic and financial downturn.

Social considerations should be given priority over short-term gains. After all, businesses are run by men and women who, at the end of a day’s work, go back to their families and therefore they, and their sons and daughters, will suffer the negative consequences.

The NCW and trade unions have sought adequate solutions, believing in a win-win outcome. One proposal is the gradual introduction of one extra week of maternity leave per year for four years.

Businesses should also be urging the government to speed up a legal framework for temping agencies. They should be negotiating measures to share the costs and to provide schemes and incentives through, for example, the ETC to support both SMEs and big business in the implementation phase.

The NCW is confident that the government’s commitment to the family at the centre of all national policies will once again be reflected in its final position and will give its support to this extension at the European Council of Ministers meeting to be held on 30 November. This proposed directive will again be debated in the European Parliament before the end of the year, and the NCW therefore urges all Maltese MEPs to ensure that their respective political groups vote in its favour.



Grace Attard is president of the National Council of Women