Statistics published earlier this week by Eurostat confirmed that the current employment scenario in Malta is miles away from what it should be. Month after month, year after year, Eurostat reminds us that not enough is being done to create employment, particularly when it comes to jobs for women.

For one thing, the employment rate in Malta is still low overall when compared to other countries. In 2005, only 53.9 per cent of the Maltese aged between 15 and 64 had a job, which means that nearly half the population is, more or less, being “supported” by the other half.

This contrasts sharply with the rate of employment in other countries such as Denmark (75.9 per cent), The Netherlands (73.2 per cent) and Sweden (72.5 per cent).

Malta’s rate is among the lowest in the EU-25, as it is only Poland that performed worse, with a rate of 52.8 per cent.

It is no wonder that the countries with the highest employment rate have performed better in economic terms, and that countries at the lower end of this scale have struggled. The fact that Malta finds itself some 10 per cent below the EU-25 average says it all.

What stands out in these statistics is that whereas male employment in Malta is very much in line with the EU average, it is female employment that “spoils” the result. The Eurostat figures show that Malta has the lowest female employment rate, at just 33.7 per cent, well below the second worst country (Italy at 45.3 per cent) and far, far away from the best performing country, Denmark at 71.9 per cent.

Of course, this means that Malta also has the worst result in terms of the gap between male and female employment – at 40 per cent, it is again much higher than the second-placed country (Greece at 28 per cent), not to mention the top nations (Finland and Sweden, both registering a meagre four per cent).

Why is there so much difference? Is it only a question of culture? Or is the problem deeper? Are there enough employment opportunities to enable more women to work?

The problem is complex and it is not easy to resolve. For one thing, for a long time it was thought that the place of women was at home. The Church’s ideas in this respect did not help much.

It was only in recent years that more and more women chose to, first of all, further their studies beyond the compulsory schooling years and, after that, enter the employment world. Many of them did not give up their role at home, and today are able to pursue their working career as well as run their family, of course together with their husband or partner.

This is encouraging, especially in a country like Malta, where human resources are the only asset the country possesses and therefore every single person counts.

But although the number of working women has increased over the past years, only one-third of them are part of the workforce, and therefore a lot more needs to be done in this respect.

The problem is, however, whether there are enough jobs available for them. Because it would be a sad story indeed if many women would like to work and yet, there are no opportunities for them to do so. Such a situation hurts the individuals concerned and at the same time, is also a drawback in general terms, for the country as a whole.

What is sure is that, for Malta to move forward as a nation and for its economy to grow, more jobs need to be created.

That 40 per cent gap is too big for a country that is founded on work and that is based on its human resources.