Child caring : an obstacle to the participation of married women in the Maltese labour market?

Abstract

The females in the labour market were studied within the sociological conceptual framework and focus was placed on child rearing and its pressure on the mother to terminate employment. The aims and objectives were: The elaboration of the hypothesis within the conceptual framework of the research has been arranged in terms of six main indicators: • The ascribed gender of the woman and the socialisation of the children. • The traditional family and the traditional mother as well as the perception of family life in various family theories • The social change that took place due to the Industrial Era and the female labour force. • The contemporary role of the women and the changing in the women's role and her participation in the labour market. The role conflict that emerge when the woman is juggling work and family. • The pressures and the sense of guilt that emerges when being a working mother. • Child Caring and the working mother. How does childcare affect their career and life in general? • What is being done? Present and past actions and discussions taken that encourage mothers to continue working. A field study was done by conducting 90 structured interviews to working women having different educational background. These interviews were segmented in 3 clusters of women - those occupying a professional working position, those working in semi/unskilled jobs and those solely housewives. A triangulation of the research was done to strengthen the research by doing 10 in depth interviews. The age groups were varied in order to provide more a clearer picture of the actual situation. A pilot study done beforehand assisted the researcher to reconstruct the questionnaire and make adequate changes. The researcher's main focus of the research was to determine the respondents' subjective opinion through their experience. Of the all the respondents, 92.2% agree that married women should go out to work and not solely be a housewife. 58.9% argued that the mother should say at home and not be economically active. 72% of the females, which do not have children yet and occupy semi/unskilled employments, agree that they will terminate their employment when having children. Total majority of housewives 96.7% have secondary level of education. 90% of females occupying semi/unskilled occupations have secondary level of education. 86.7% of housewives and 70% of semi/unskilled think that the mother should not be economically active. 20% of professional women think that the mother should stay at home. 60% of housewives do not consider work in the near future. 83.3% of semi/unskilled women perceive employment as a means for financial assistance rather then self-fulfilment. 60.4% of all respondents do not agree that the father of the child can take care of the child as much as the mother. 90.5% of the employees who are single would not terminate their employment upon marriage. 86% of employees who are single and occupy semi/unskilled jobs would terminate their employment when having children. 72.2% agree that most females terminate employment because of child rearing. The proposals that were mentioned after concluding this research included the need of more childcare centres equipped with safety standards. More educational courses should be organised which would assist the women who had terminated her employment for a number of years to update her skills such as in computer skills. Furthermore, the women should be given more information and opportunity at work such as being offered flexible hours, reduced hours and whenever possible offering work at her home. The need for more information about childcare centres in clearly needed since the respondents seem to have a rather negative perspective of these centres.