I have worked hard all my life and at the grand old age of 43, I ask myself at what cost, and to what benefit? Sure, I’ve had a very satisfying career but I am very disillusioned when I think about what I have to show for it. Why pay other people to look after my children, my house and my family when I yearn to do this, to have some time to “stand and stare”? The idea that I should be made to feel that I am a burden on the economy if I choose not to pay someone else to do this work angers me. I think women’s lot is worse today than it was in the past; now, not only do they still complete most of the housework but they are made to feel a failure if they are not “economically” active.

The issue is that there are many unpaid jobs that a “housewife” does in the home. After all it was a full time job for most of our mums and grandmothers. I think the idea that they sat around having coffee mornings all day is so disrespectful. That is not how I remember my mum, grandmothers and friends’ mums. I remember reading a UK newspaper article recently that calculated the money a “housewife” should get if they were being paid. I’ll leave it to “proper” journalists to do the research but, if I remember correctly it was in the region of £35,000 a year.

I question whether my children are having as good a childhood as I did. In some respects, I think going to nursery from six months has been good for them. They are bright, sociable children who are thriving. But, on the other hand, they do not watch their parents or grandparents making an art of housekeeping. The overriding concern of mine, however, is how tired I feel. Is this what I want to pass on to my children? That we are rats on treadmills working for the good of the economy? A good work/life balance is very hard to achieve, especially for women with children.

So, I’d just like to say that my family and I are moving to Malta because of many reasons but primarily because my husband and I think that Malta is better for family life and for that elusive work/life balance.

Johanna

Thus we are less productive, not to mention the subsidies dished out to the psuedo sick, the psuedo poor, the psuedo below the poverty line, the drug addicts, the single mothers, free medicines seekers (kartuna bajda roza,and what not) whether they need them or not (imbasta hadthomlu! sic!) and many other suckers that at present do not come to my mind.

As regards to numbers and statistics, Daphne, you are right. Here is an example. If in the previous year one tourist arrived from Timbuktu and this year two tourists arrived the increase on last year would be 100% but if 10,000 more tourists arrived this year whereas last year’s arrivals were 100,000 the increase in tourism would still be 10% even though 10,000 more tourists would have arrived.

Mathematical figures have to be interpreted, as you have said, otherwise they do not make sense. Unfortunately, Maltese newspapers are only concerned with sensational news items in order to boost sales, that is all. The respect culture mentality for customers simply does not exist!

Oh come on Mr. Darwin! I cannot agree with you less on the third point of your comment. If a woman doesn’t want to work, she won’t. She can have all the opportunities in the world.

However, you cannot say that maternity leave is unnecessarily long or that working women shouldn’t be “helped” (even through private child care and similar initiatives). If, on the other hand, a woman (mother) wants to work but hasn’t a decent support then she may very well decide to reduce her employment hours or in extreme cases even stop working.

Frankly, at 32 years old and working 60 hours a week, I don’t know how I will fit a child when madness seizes me and I decide to have one or two.

So, before you attack family-friendly measures, please ensure that you know what you’re talking about. There are women who want to work and manage to because they have help either from the immediate family or in the form of child care services and other support.

However, one simply cannot have children and continue working full-time without having a support system. And, frankly, Malta sorely lacks a decent support system.

This just drives people into the black economy or people decide not to work at all because its just not worth it. Another issue is that public transport is so poor as it presently functions that many have to take two buses to work, and two buses back home. Not worth the time wasted or the expense to use a private car.

Then we have the construction industry, which is flooded with immigrant workers. The reason is that work practices are so poor, dangerous, with little mechanisation, heavy Maltese stone, that the building trade is no longer viewed as a trade, but modern day slavery – and hence many Maltese refuse this work and rather just claim benefits, children’s allowance etc.

Indeed, the people who know how to “work the system” of claiming on the state are indeed in the south. This is no prejudice but a fact. More people are on benefits from Cottonera, than Sliema, St Julian’s, Pembroke and Mosta put together. FACT .

With regard to excess labour in state corporations, let’s give some credit where it’s due. These corporations have shed THOUSANDS of persons since 1987. Either because they have been privatised, or even as state corporations.

Perhaps an exercise should be done to add up these reductions in excess labour in Malta Shipyards, ex -Maltacom, Kalaxlokk, Water Services, Maltapost, ex Mid Med, BOV, Malta Grain Terminal, Tug Malta, Cargo Handling Co, AirSupplies Co besides many state companies that have been wound down, Interprint, Hal Ferh ,SeaMalta, and lastly the infamous 5500 people employed by KMB and placed in the corp called Auxiliary Workers in the six months, leading up to the 1987 elections. Probably they exceed 20,000 people in total.

Possibly the two state corporations least reformed of excess labour are Air Malta (because of sensitivity to a possible strike) and Enemalta which has quite a history of bad leadership, and in dire need of privatising more parts of this highly inefficient monster.

Indeed, people in the private sector have increased by more than 50,000 persons in the past 23 years, notwithstanding the loss of thousands of jobs in the manufacturing sector, which have moved to low-cost China.

Quite a totalitarian statement…quite “socialist” indeed…it’s none of your business if Doris wants to stay at home and live on her own means….your statement reminded me of communist/fascist antics against the so-called lazy classes….am I more liberal than you are even if I’m a hamallu marmalja lejburist baxx?

[Daphne – I’m guessing you can’t process information or analyse what you read (well, you wouldn’t vote Labour if you could…). That was the gist of my article: WHY it’s our business that Mary and Doris sit at home. Because they sit at home, the rest of us have to pay more tax to make up the shortfall. I’m guessing you don’t understand how money works, either. Government needs X amount of money. It collects this money from the taxes of XYZ. If Mary and Doris start working, XYZ will have to pay less. Do you get it now? Here you have the answer as to why we pay relatively high taxes and get relatively little in return. There are not enough people paying those relatively high taxes. All the women are sitting at home, living off the taxes paid by others.]

I personally think there’s value in both partners working but they have to find some balance. It’s not difficult to find couples who were foolish enough to overburden themselves with debt to have a nice house and cars. They end up spending their first years together at work, perhaps with overtime or traveling. With the addition of children things get worst. After work there’s food to be prepared, homework, some cleaning, check the paperwork etc… and then go to bed exhausted.

Most of the time the burden falls on one partner (studies in Europe show it’s the woman, unsurprisingly enough) so there’s less time together.

http://www2.lse.ac.uk/newsAndMedia/news/archives/2010/08/domestic_duties.aspx

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100808/letters/porn-tv-channels-in-hotels