Female participation in the workforce

When Malta is compared to other countries, especially with the members of the European Union, there is a low percentage of active women in the workforce when considering all age groups in general. With this in mind a study on the female participation in the workforce was conducted by PKF in the hope of carrying out surveys and interviewing key stakeholders such as Council of Women, GRTU, Chamber of Commerce, ETC, and the Ministry for Education and Employment.

The main scope of the study was to establish the key reasons for low participation of women in the workforce and to suggest solutions based on the data revealed in the surveys.

It is believed that in certain quarters of society, participation of women in the workforce is still subject to archaic Maltese views. In particular, some still abide by the culture where women are the ones who take care of their families and not commit themselves to jobs that distract them from this aim. Moreover, a hint of gender inequality is still present.

Nevertheless, the Maltese female activity rate in the labour force has been improving over the last few years, reaching a national record in 2014 with a percentage of 52.1% of women participating in the workforce, as was established by the National Statistics Office of Malta.

With this in mind, the EU2020 target for Malta having an employment rate of 62.9% is still far from being reached. Timely amendments must therefore be undertaken by employers and the government to attain this set target, since it will affect many different areas, particularly the contribution towards a higher Gross Domestic Product and to a lesser extent can be part of the solution towards increasing contributions to reduce the deficit in the pension fund. 

In our study, the focus was on different areas related to female participation in the workforce. Specifically, in one section of the report we focused on different perspectives of employed and unemployed women obtained through statistical surveys, as well as other observations made through the gathering of online data and statistical analysis. 

First of all, a study on the difference between the number of male and female workers was undertaken. In order to do this, data recorded quarterly pertaining to the number of workers for the years 2008 till 2014 was obtained from the National Statistics Office.

When analysing the number of workers in the wholesale and retail trade, transportation and storage, accommodation and food service activities sector; it resulted that on average the number of female workers was approximately 15,329, which was much fewer than the approximated 33,270 males.

In the information and communication sector, it was established that the average number of female workers was roughly 1,853 while that of male workers was 4,634. In the Financial and Insurance sector, the average number of women was approximately 3,802 when compared with an average of 3,152 males. In the sector consisting of Professional, scientific, technical, administration and support service activities, the average number of female workers resulted to be approximately equal to 4,595, while that of males was roughly 6,993. In public administration, defence, education, human health and social work activities, the average number of female employees was approximately 23,065, while the male average was 20,633. These figures showed us that the number of males is much higher than that of females in some sectors.  

To further justify the above discrepancies or similarities in the number of workers, statistical tests were used to test for significant differences. From this analysis it resulted that the economic sectors with the highest significant discrepancies amongst gender workers, with males contributing more than females, are:

Wholesale and Retail Trade, Transportation and Storage, Accommodation and Food Service Activities

•    Information and Communication

Professional, Scientific, Technical, Administration and Support Service Activities

On the other hand, the two economic sectors which resulted in males contributing significantly less than females are:

Financial and Insurance Activities

Public Administration, Defence, Education, Human Health and Social Work Activities

With the abovementioned results in mind and even with other justifications made through research and meetings held with the different stakeholders, it was indicated that most of the active women are employed within the lower paid jobs and which require no decision-making. Thus, although the female activity rate is increasing considerably, there is still the need to eliminate these dissimilarities between gender employments.  

The next task was based on a general survey about employment, distributed amongst both employed and unemployed women having children under the age of 16. In all there were 151 responses, with the majority being between 26 and 35 years old, making up 54.3% of the total sample. In total 78.81% of the respondents were employed, while the remaining 21.18% were unemployed. Some of the main results obtained from this survey will be mentioned hereafter. 

The most common reason for unemployment resulted to be child rearing, making up 87.5% of all the unemployed respondents. When asked what are the circumstances or motives which will make them consider re-entering the labour market, the three most popular choices resulted to be having own business, in case of financial problems and when children attain majority, totalling 78.1%, 59.4% and 37.5%, respectively. On the other hand, when asked if they are planning on leaving work in the near future, only 14.29% of the employed respondents answered in the affirmative.

All of the respondents, irrespective to being employed or unemployed, were asked if they are aware of the current benefits provided by the government. All unemployed respondents knew about such incentives, whilst 1.8% of the employed are unfamiliar with such benefits. Furthermore, 98.21% and 85.19% of the employed and unemployed respondents, respectively, use at least one of the schemes available. 

Finally, when considering the level of education of the unemployed respondents, the majority have a degree qualification as the highest level of education. Thus, in this relatively small sample, it was pointed out that there are still some women with qualifications who are not contributing in the economic activity of the country, which is somewhat worrying. 

The above results are only part of PKF’s complete report on female participation in the workforce. Summarized results of other parts of the study, with further analysis and recommendations, will be published shortly.

This study is being conducted by the statistics department at PKF Malta. This department was launched in early 2014, and has since grown with the addition of Junior Economists. During this time several surveys and research were undertaken by PKF Malta. In particular, a study relating to gaming, mainly focusing on the introduction of the UK Point of Consumption Tax, was conducted with the help of the Malta Gaming Authority.

Furthermore, the VAT on accommodation increase from 5% to 7%, the impact of Solvency II regulation on Maltese insurers, and the touristic trends in Malta were studied. Apart from carrying out surveys amongst the concerned individuals and entities, several statistical models were used in these studies in order to analyze any related datasets. With these studies, and other ones which will certainly be conducted in the future, the statistics department continues to grow at PKF Malta. 

Janet Chetcuti is a senior statistician at PKF Malta, an audit and consultancy firm