Anthony M. Abela 2000. Values of Women and Men in the Maltese Islands: A Comparative European Perspective. Valletta: Commission for the Advancement of Women, Ministry for Social Policy. 328 pp.   ISBN: 99909-89-04-4  Lm 5.00.
Values of Women and Men compares and contrasts gender values in the Maltese Islands and ten other European countries over a period of fifteen years. It draws on European Values Studies carried out in member and non-member countries of the European Union.  It examines similarities and differences between women and men on leisure and the work ethic, voluntary work, families and parenting, xenophobia and solidarity, political action and social policies, membership in the European Union and other contemporary social issues. Sociological analyses differentiate between specific groups of women and men in diverse social conditions, including single people, homemakers, married mothers and fathers with dependent children, working mothers, widows, separated, single parents, and those with different levels of education, occupations, age groups and other social characteristics. It puts to the test expected gender differences over traditional and individualised values and their related postmaterialist, feminist and masculine-feminine value orientations for the society of the future.

In the present social conditions, dominant social structures of the labour market, the traditional family, organised religion and the welfare state reproduce gendered value orientations and the ensuing disparities between women and men in society. To redress the balance there is a need for the development of gender-attuned social policies based on reliable gender-disaggregated data.  The user-friendly knowledge-base in Values of Women and Men in the Maltese Islands: A Comparative European Perspective is an indispensable handbook for policy makers, leaders and educators in governmental and non-governmental organisations, churches, social movements, students in the social sciences and all citizens who have an interest in contemporary social issues.

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