How effective are the current labour market policies in attracting women in Malta to employment? : an assessment of three recent measures designed to encourage women to enter the workforce

Abstract

This research study aims to discover the extent to which three recently-introduced labour market policies (free childcare, in-work benefit and tapering of benefits) are encouraging women in Malta to work. It will determine whether these benefits have an impact and serving their purpose or whether there are other underlying but crucial factors imposing this need for women to work. The attitudes and perceptions of working women in Malta, while also balancing their caring responsibilities, will also be discussed. The goal of this study is to establish whether these benefits contribute to women entering the public sphere and having a work-life balance, since most of the caring responsibilities for the home and children are still done by women. A qualitative approach was chosen for the methodology of this study and data was collected by conducting interviews from two cohorts: the beneficiaries of these policies and official representatives responsible for managing such benefits. This was done to gather both a subjective and an objective approach to determine the impact of these benefits from two perspectives. The data was then analysed using thematic analysis and among the themes emerged were assisting mothers, work-life balance, the working mother, and the aftermath of benefits. This study and its findings seek to contribute to the existing gap in research since current data is limited, even though these benefits have been introduced for a decade. However, the subject is still relatively new and such findings, especially the responses collected from the beneficiaries may help provide a clearer picture for the main entities responsible for the management of these benefits regarding any improvements that could be done to the benefits or other initiatives to ensure a better service and assistance to women to achieve their work-life balance and contribute to the workforce.