1The Dual-Worker Family: Combining Working Life with Social Life * Saviour Rizzo is Director, Centre for Labour Studies at the University of Malta. THE DUAL-WORKER FAMILY: COMBINING

Abstract. The lifestyle of the dual-worker family is a complex system of work, family and personal roles. The cultural ambivalences bred by the traditional stereotype of masculinity and femininity add to this complexity. Unravelling part of this complexity was the aim of a survey consisting of a questionnaire distributed to a quota sample of spouses living in a two-earner household. The questionnaire tried to tease out the subjective views of these spouses about their work-life balance and their perceptions and attitudes that impinge on their family and social life. The data indicates that the female spouse is making more sacrifices than the male to cope with the seemingly contradictory requirements of the economic demands of the family and living up to the cultural requirements of a mother or a wife. Although one third of the married women in the sample work part-time, time for leisure is more at a premium for women than for men