Blame the system, not parents, over childcare pressures, PN MP says on Gozo Bishop’s remarks

While acknowledging that young children ideally should spend more time with their parents in their early years, PN MP Mark Anthony Sammut said that criticism of childcare unfairly targeted parents who are navigating an economic system that no longer allows most families to survive on a single income.

Speaking in Parliament on Monday, Sammut referred to recent comments made by Gozo Bishop Anton Teuma where he condemned parents who send babies to childcare centres.

Sammut said that ideally, young children would indeed spend more time with their parents, particularly in their formative years.

However, he argued that the criticism should not be directed at parents who rely on childcare because, in many cases, both parents are compelled to work to make ends meet.

Sammut said that for many families, living on a single income is no longer a viable option, leaving parents with limited choices.

In this context, he said, it was wrong to point fingers at parents rather than at the system that has created these pressures.

“Instead of blaming parents, we should be asking ourselves how we got here,” Sammut said, adding that politicians have a responsibility to examine how economic growth has shaped family life and whether it is genuinely offering people real choices.

He argued that policymaking should focus on creating conditions where families are not forced into decisions by financial necessity, but are instead supported to choose what works best for them and their children.

Sammut spoke of a number of proposals put forward by the Nationalist Party aimed at improving work-life balance.

These include the introduction of a full year of paid leave for families, as well as extending and strengthening maternity, paternity and parental leave, paid at the average wage rate.

He said that such measures should also apply to self-employed parents.

Sammut also referred to a PN proposal for a subsidy that would allow parents who wish to care for their children themselves, rather than place them in childcare, to be financially supported in doing so.

Beyond childcare, Sammut said housing affordability remains a major obstacle for young couples seeking stability.

He noted that Malta ranks below the European average when it comes to home ownership among young people, arguing that this further undermines families’ ability to plan their lives with confidence.

Sammut said that if Malta wants to continue growing its economy, it must also ensure that families are given real, practical choices in their everyday lives.

Sammut also referred to the recent Storm Harry which battered the islands with gale-force winds, and said that during that time, the power station stopped working, and the country relied on the first inter-connector and emergency generators, accusing government of managing by crisis.

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