*** Appreciating Women and Their Work *** Women as Breadwinners Today more women than ever have to work outside the home to help support their family or are the sole support of their family. The book Women and the World Economic Crisis notes a report that stated: “Domestic work is not the only work women do. There are relatively few women anywhere in the world who can claim to be ‘just a housewife.’” And women’s work is rarely glamorous. Although magazines or television soap operas may depict women as executives in plush offices, the reality is usually very different. The vast majority of the world’s women toil long hours for scant material reward. Hundreds of millions of women work on the land, cultivating crops, tending small family plots, or caring for livestock. This labor—usually underpaid or unpaid—feeds half the world. “In Africa, 70 per cent of the food is grown by women, in Asia the figure is 50-60 per cent and in Latin America 30 per cent,” reports the book Women and the Environment. When women do have paid employment, they usually earn less than male workers, simply because they are women. This discrimination is a particularly bitter pill to swallow for a mother who is the family’s only breadwinner, a role that is becoming more and more common. A United Nations report estimates that between 30 and 50 percent of all households in Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America depend on a woman as their main provider. And even in the more developed lands, an increasing number of women have had to become the main provider. Rural poverty throughout much of the developing world is accelerating this trend. A husband who finds it a constant struggle to feed his family may decide to move to a nearby city or even another country to obtain work. He leaves his wife behind to care for the family. If he is fortunate enough to find a job, he sends paychecks home. But despite his good intentions, this often does not continue. The family he has left behind may sink deeper into poverty, and their well-being now depends upon the mother. This vicious circle, aptly described as the “feminization of poverty,” throws an enormous burden on millions of women. “Households headed by women, estimated to be one-third of the total worldwide, are many times more likely to be poor than those headed by men, and the number of such households is increasing,” explains the book Women and Health. But difficult as it is, putting food on the table is not the only challenge women face.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 08:27:53 +0000