Wives working informally in husbands' business : who gains?

Abstract

There seems to be the idea that working for one's spouse is not really work, but natural thing, to help one's family. However, due to the increase in separations women should be warned of the long term ramifications of working informally for their husbands. This study will enquire into how a small number of female participants view their contribution to the family business. The main objective is to observe how they analyse their in put into the family business, what benefits they get out of their contribution and also how aware are they of the long-term ramifications of working in the twilight economy. This study adopts a qualitative approach with the use of semi-structured interviews conducted with ten wives who work informally in their husbands' businesses. Other interviews were also held with Ms. Anna Borg, the Senior Executive of the Gender Equality Unit of Employment and Training Corporations and Sir Mark Musu. The latter is a former employee of the Department of Social Security, however now he is the Director EU and International Affairs in the Ministry for the Family and Social Solidarity. Also an informal interview was held with Dr. Charmaine Grech, B.A. LL.D Research Officer. During the analysis of the data, issues like husbands' wanting their wives to work with them, lack of wives' education, which eventually leads to participation to secondary labour market; the fact that such work provided them with flexibility to continue their caring responsibilities which according to ideologies like the Catholic Church are essential. The fact that policies do not encourage payment to family members and lack of public awareness, regarding the disadvantages of working in the informal economy arose. Also such issues lead to the contribution to women's participation in the informal economy, which might eventually lead to a greater chance of poverty.