He said that in the last 20 years, part-time employment figures had ballooned, adding that the number of those whose main employment was on a part-time basis shot up from 3,606 in 1983 to 18,842 last year.

Mr Chircop explained that the conditions of these workers were not as secure as those in full time employment.

He said: “the part that is most worrying is that a large amount of these people are their household’s breadwinners.”

He also noted that opportunities for women with full time employment to find additional part-time work remained the same over the mentioned period. Meanwhile, women whose only income comes from part time work has risen from 2,000 to 12,000.

Mr Chircop criticised the government saying it was wasting time on futile boast that some 60 workers had already found employment in the EU. Instead he said, government needs to address these issues by attracting productive investment.