Recently, the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE) awarded an equality mark certificate to a number of companies that are making gender equality one of their core values. This is another programme of the European Social Fund promoting gender equality that is both ethical and practical. It is ethical because every human being’s dignity deserves to be respected, and it is practical because resources should not to be wasted.

Considering that Maltese society is facing significant demographic shifts due to an ageing population and lower fertility rates, more female participation in the labour market has become essential if we wish to achieve more economic growth to sustain and improve our quality of life. There will be no great leap forward overnight, but it is a bigger cultural shift than some would like to think and change will be substantially rapid. The positive thing about it is that as a country we can plan and manage the change, even if some social disruption seems to be more or less inevitable.

The government has launched a number of initiatives over the years to enhance female participation in the labour market, mainly family friendly measures. Admittedly, we still have a long way to go to reach the desired labour participation targets; however official figures show that female participation in tertiary education is now around 60 per cent and the rate of working females in the 25-34 age group is significantly higher than that in the older age groups. We are slowly but steadily moving towards our objectives.

Teleworking, maternity leave and reduced hours are all steps to achieve a better family-work balance which would surely entice more women to remain in a job. The possibility of parent, be it mother or father, to be home at certain times in a child’s life gives peace of mind to that majority which still cherishes the family.

Kindergarten classes and childcare centres are clear examples of support to the young family. Kindergartens are spread all over Malta and the number of childcare centres are continually on the increase. Three more centres were opened last year in Bormla, Siggiewi and Pembroke and a number of other centres will be opened this year. During the last two years, 2,131 taxpayers benefited from reductions of up to €1,000 in connection with expenses for sending their offspring to a childcare centre.

This fiscal benefit should also be considered in tandem with the one-year tax relief for those mothers who return to work after giving birth. Last year there were 3,020 such cases. Others returned to work after five years and also had the right to a reduction in income tax returns for every child born after 2007. Figures show that 7,521 females benefited from reduced rates and saved a total of €7.4 million in taxes.

It is evident that the incentives were effective and obtained positive results. To this end, we need to create more of these incentives and practices while finding more and better ways how to organise work, that is, if we really wish to respect every person’s dignity and tap the whole potential of the available talent pool.

Mr Puli is Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Employment & the Family.