A total revision of family leave policies is essential if Malta is to address what has been described as “the greatest challenge of our time”, its rock bottom fertility. “For starters, we need to revise family leave policies, e.g. extend maternity and paternity leave, revise parental leave, and ensure that parents have a solution when their children get sick,” Borg said. One proposal under consideration is a vacation leave donation scheme, which would allow workers to gift unused leave to colleagues welcoming a child. The country’s fertility rate stands at 1.06, meaning each woman is having just over one child, far below the replacement rate of 2.1.