GozoNews.Com

International Women’s Day is celebrated round the world today, commemorating the economic, political and social achievements that women have made over the years. In particular, this year, commemorates “100 years of active women in paid and unpaid work.”

In 2006, just over half of the total population in Malta were women. The employment rate for women aged 15-64 for this year stood at 35 per cent, nearly half of that for men. The last seven years saw a slight increase in the employment rate of women, from 33 per cent in 2000 to 35 per cent in the year under review.

The trend observed in the seven year span being reviewed is that women are more likely to be engaged in the labour force than previously. This is reinforced by the fact that there was an increase in the number of women with a tertiary level of education. The percentage of women with a tertiary level of education rose from 5% in 2000, to 10% in 2006.

In 2006, 65 per cent of men were employed, while this figure stood at 29 per cent for women. Men are more likely to work in the private sector than women. It was also observed that women were less likely to be in managerial posts.

Employment rate amongst single women during 2006 was nearly twice that as calculated for married women, while the employment rate for married men exceeded that of single ones by nearly 20 per cent. When considering employed persons with children aged 16 and under, women were more likely to be inactive (68 per cent), while their male counterparts were more likely to be employed (93 per cent).

In 2006, the gender pay gap was 3 per cent in Malta, which is the lowest amongst all EU 27 countries, whose average stood at 15. The highest registered value was that of Estonia at 25 per cent.

In 2005, there were 8,437 persons working on a voluntary basis in social welfare-oriented Non- Profit Organisations. Women made up 62 per cent of total workers and 60 per cent of total volunteers