Gender quotas a ‘necessary evil’ as a temporary measure to bring balanced representation – Helena Dalli

European affairs and Equality Minister Helena Dalli described gender quotas as a “necessary evil” to be used on for temporary basis in order to create balance at decision-making levels.

In comments to The Malta Independent, Dalli said:

“It [gender quotas] is not something that is desired, but when you look at each country that has a good representation of women at decision-making levels, at some point in their history, these countries introduced quotas.”

Gender quotas refer to the practice of imposing a minimum number of women within a particular structure, whether it is at board level, on a whole company level, within Parliament or within the government cabinet.

Dalli went on to say that in Malta “we are not different and must learn from other countries.”

She cautioned that it must be introduced as a temporary measure if we want to see balanced representation at decision-making levels within a reasonable time-frame.

Quotas according to gender have courted significant controversy, with critics arguing that it imposes decisions upon the democratic process and perpetuates the idea that 21st century women need extra help to achieve success, while proponents insist it is necessary, albeit radical, measure to ensure better gender representation on a parliamentary level. MEPs Marlene Mizzi (PL) and Roberta Metsola (PN) have expressed concern that the introduction of quotas would call into question the merits of why a woman is in a particular position.

The MEPs were speaking at a discussion held on 2 March entitled ‘Women in Politics and Women in the Media’, which was hosted by European Parliament Office in Malta and the University of Malta’s Gender Studies department. Other MEPs such as Miriam Dalli expressed their views in favour of gender quotas.

Dalli is currently overseeing an initiative entitled LEAD, which is aimed at bringing a gender-balanced list of candidates offered by the Labour Party for the 2027 general election. It forms part of its wider initiative of bringing about gender equality in all facets of local society.

MEPs Metsola and Mizzi have both shown reluctance to the move for fear that women’s credentials and credibility may be called into question.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has expressed his views in favour of introducing gender quotas at the decision-making levels of government and its various entities.

Equal pay for work of equal value

At a press conference held yesterday morning, on Women’s Day, Dalli announced that discussions are underway to address the issue of gender pay inequalities. Reform should be finalised by the end of the year.

Dalli explained that the issue of gender pay inequalities is twofold; there is the issue of a lack of wage transparency meaning female employees cannot ascertain whether they are being paid equally for work of equal value and the issue surrounding global inequalities when working out the average gross hourly earnings of men and women.

For the latter part, Dalli said this is something that will be exacerbated with more women going out to work.

“In fact from statistics we have seen that more women are entering the world of work and this gap is indeed growing.”

She said that this is a consequence from a partial success of bringing more women into the workforce thanks to family friendly initiatives such as free childcare.

It was explained that when Malta had one of the lowest female labour force participation rates, those women in the workforce tended to have careers and could afford childcare. These same women tended to have higher skilled jobs and earned higher wages.

Since bringing in the free childcare initiative, more women entered the workforce and engaged in lower skilled jobs, which pay less. She said that as a result, there are more and more women entering these pay grades, that are accompanied by jobs that maybe allow more flexibility.

This effects the global figures of the global gender pay gap in Malta, which refers to the average gross hourly wage of all men who work versus that of all women who work.

With reference to the situation where women get paid less than men for work of equal value, the government is in discussions to have administrative structures in place that will strengthen transparency while respecting data protection laws.

The press conference was also addressed by the permanent secretary Joseph Camilleri and the commissioner for the promotion of equality Renee Laiviera.

Camilleri explained that discussions are underway with all stakeholders such as employer associations, NGOs and other prominent figures, to find the path forward which would ensure more transparency and a fairer outcome.

Camilleri said that currently, the average EU gender pay gap stands at 16 per cent, whereas in Malta it is currently 11 per cent.