In a seminar which was geared towards discussing the role of Maltese women in politics, a worrying snippet of information was revealed. Maltese women have the second lowest fertility rate in the EU at 1.38 births per woman.

As quite often happens in such seminars, the little kernel of information proves to be more relevant and worrying than the subject that was to be discussed.

However, quoting from an EU report that was compiled over five years, it also emerged that Maltese women are also more likely to interrupt their careers for childbearing – though often at the expense of their careers, leading them to drop out of the workforce.

This factor explains why Malta remains behind the rest of Europe in women pursuing life-long careers.

Family-related leave in Malta is also not generous. Malta’s maternity leave is a mere 18 weeks here, compared with the UK’s 58 weeks.

But there are positives. The result came about as a result of former male MEPs vacating their seats in Brussels to startup a career in local politics, half of the current crop is now female – with three women clinching spots in Europe following casual elections. The fact that half of Malta’s MEPs are women is positive in itself, but the fact that they were ‘second choice’ to the men which held the posts before them is not so positive.

But as one MP who is a woman and serves in the House of Representatives put it: “I do not feel that a woman should be in parliament just for the sake of bringing about a gender balance.” We totally agree with Kristy Debono’ sentiments.

We believe that just like in the world of work, women should be in parliament on merit, and not just to make up some quota.  Women have a lot to offer, but unless the mentality in the country changes, and changes drastically, we are going to continue to suffer a lacuna in equality. Sadly, the mentality is still often that the woman’s place is in the home and to look after the children. It is changing, slowly but surely and the term house-husband and life-sharing responsibilities is coming into play. But it needs a lot more. One of the major issues which affects the decision for a woman to stay at home is lack of childcare facilities and lack of flexible working arrangements. At the same time, men are often expected by their employers to put their jobs before the needs of their marriages and families. And so a vicious circle is created and the status quo remains to be the best option. The previous government did introduce a number of measures for women to go back to work – such as tax breaks and childcare facilities. But there is still so much more to be done. The current government also speaks of wanting to encourage women to enter (or return to) the workforce – but it all boils down to those two things: affordable child care and flexibility.

We need to address the disparity across the board. At the end of the day, when it comes to politicians, it is the voter who judges and voters are both male and female. But when it comes to work and employment, the state has the duty to provide the infrastructure to allow women to flourish, grow and make a valid contribution to our society.