“This book is another achievement and a valid contribution for the country’s policy makers to refer to when discussing changes to Malta’s social policy,” Prime Minister Dr Lawrence Gonzi said at the launch of the book Gender Equality in Maltese Social Policy? Graduate Women and the Male Breadwinner Model, at the Old University in Valletta.
Social policy should question the male-breadwinner model for the sake of gender equality, author Dr Frances Camilleri-Cassar said.
An agreement signed with the European Commission binds the government to address gender gaps, which include the enactment and enforcement of comprehensive gender equality and anti-discrimination legislation, and the promotion of family-friendly working arrangements. The study asks whether gender equality can be sustained in the context of more traditional features of Malta’s society and social policy, in particular the male breadwinner model of the family that underpins much of the social, political and economic life in Malta.
The study covers various issues that brings together government legislation and reports and European policy literature, and adopts a qualitative approach through in-depth interviews with graduate women, who have young children, about their experiences of gender equality and their work-life balance in terms of paid work and income, care work, time distribution and whether their voice is heeded in social and political institutions. “I argue that while women have achieved some progress in terms of rights, there persists a gulf between the government’s proclaimed gender equality objectives and the lived reality of graduate women: the strong pressure of traditional roles is embedded not only in Maltese and cultural norms, but also in the State’s own social policies,” Dr Camilleri-Cassar said.
Dr Gonzi pointed out that people expect the government to make radical especially where gender equality is concerned. However, he stressed that this attitude should change. “I am slightly concerned that everyone else seems to think they have no valid contribution to make as regards changes in gender equality,” he said.
Women have to choose between career and family and are not thought of as the main breadwinners, Dr Camilleri-Cassar said. On the other hand, their husbands work overtime, get better wages and study for a second degree – usually abroad. Dr Camilleri-Cassar said it seems that women have a deep sense of obligation towards their husbands.
Women never discuss or view work as an isolated problem but make the link between work and childcare. “Gender equality is perceived as women giving up their free time to accommodate their partner,” Dr Camilleri-Cassar said.
The lack of care benefits also causes problems for women who have long working hours she pointed out. There is no convergence between school hours and work schedules for women, and this acts as a subtle career excluder for women.
The interviewees expressed a preference for an allowance that would help pay for childcare while they continue working instead of receiving the children’s allowance in a lump sum.
The study asks whether these claims for gender equality can be sustained in the context of more traditional features of Malta’s society and social policy, in particular the male breadwinner model of the family that underpins much of social, political and economic life in Malta.
The teachings of the Church support the role and image of the man as the breadwinner of the family. This made some of the interviewees have guilt feelings because they have their own career Dr Camilleri-Cassar said.
However, this same model leads to a lack of care facilities with less time spent with the family, which could eventually result in the breakdown of relationships.
“We have to get our fundamental values in place: are we giving both genders an equal opportunity in the workplace?” Malcolm Miller, chief executive officer of Miller Distributors Ltd said at the press launch.
“The players are not on a level playing field due to old-fashioned ignorance and narrow-minded views, especially when it comes to gender equality. There is also the need to review the current policy structures, which also keeps back women from progressing. The high level of commitment women graduates have should be allowed to go further,” Mr Miller said.
“Figures of female employment in Malta are lower than EU statistics and it is encouraging to see that steps are being taken by the government. The increasing number of female graduates will pressure and speed up this procedure, and Dr Camilleri-Cassar will help push this forward through her work,” Mr Miller said. “We are proud to publish this book and thank Dr Camilleri-Cassar for this fully researched work.”
The book is a revised version of a study written as a doctoral thesis at the School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Nottingham.
Dr Camilleri-Cassar is a social scientist with key research interests in welfare states, the labour market and gender regimes in an enlarged Europe, and qualitative research methods. She is the co-ordinator of the gender and development studies programme and contributes to courses in gender welfare regimes and the labour market at the University of Malta.