Prevalence of married women in lower rungs of the income ladder

Only 367 women, compared to 1,650 men declare an income higher than €50,000 in Malta.

And nearly half of the €50,001-plus tax declarations are compiled by households who opt for a joint declaration of income, which suggests that these households have a single or main breadwinner which is traditionally associated with a male figure. 

On the other hand the statistics suggest a prevalence of working married women in the lower rungs of the income ladder.

In fact women constitute the majority of married taxpayers earning between €8,501 and €16,000, who still opt to present a separate tax computation. 

A total of 3,814 taxpayers declared an income of more than €50,000 in 2010, information submitted in parliament by Finance Minister Tonio Fenech reveals.

Together these individuals paid total of €88.7 million in taxes.

47% of these declarations were filed by couples who present a joint declaration, which is an indication that most of these households have one breadwinner.

Of the remaining 2017 who are either singles or file a separate computation despite being married, only 367 are women-which is equivalent to 18.1% of these two categories.

Males also predominate among those earning between  €40,001 and €50,000.  In fact males constitute 77.4% of those within this income bracket who are either single or file separate computations despite being married. 

Moreover single women tend to be more represented in this category than married women.

While women represent 28% of single taxpayers they only constitute 19% of those who are married and file a separate tax return.

37.5% of taxpayers in this category opt for a joint declaration of income, which indicates that a large segment in this category are made up of households with a single breadwinner.

Women are slightly more represented among those declaring an income between €35,001 and €40,000 especially among singles. 

In fact among this category women represent 34% of the 738 singles declaring this income and 26% of married couples opting for a separate declaration. 

Couples making a joint deceleration represent 36% of taxpayers earning this income.

Statistics show that the highest percentage of women among singles is found among those earning between €17,501 and €25,000 where women account for around 42% of taxpayers in this income group.

On the other hand the highest percentage of women among married taxpayers is found among those earning between €8,500 and €10,000 where women account for 64% of the cohort.