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Jobless UAE women - Ranks of
jobless UAE women are growing
| | 19-05-2001
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| Dr. Sara Al Sayed of
Zayed University says UAE women are qualified but
legal and social obstacles prevent them from
getting jobs. ©Gulf
News | | Women
often face the difficult choice of either bringing up children
themselves or pursuing a career. It is not easy to strike the
right balance. And that could explain why the high number of
qualified UAE national women is not reflected in the job
market. As many national women find it difficult to land jobs,
the question that springs forth is: are they being punished
for choosing family before career? Head of Special Reports
DURAID AL BAIK investigates.
Memories of that
day are still etched in her mind. She was 22 and had just
graduated. Thoughts of an exciting future flashed past as Her
Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Wife of President His
Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, and Chairperson of
the UAE Women's Federation, presented her the degree and a
gift from the President.
The batch of 1994-95 of the
UAE University was ecstatic. Nadia, a UAE national, thought
the world was at her feet - she, after all, now boasted of a
social sciences degree. The prize-giving ceremony at Al Ain
Sports Club added to the sense of triumph. There she was, in
front of 2,000 people receiving the award. The hard work and
the sacrifice had paid off. The sense of achievement made her
heady.
Soon after graduating, life got better - as she
expected. Nadia's cousin proposed marriage, and she readily
consented....life would now be a bed of roses. That was seven
years ago. She is wiser today.
The couple agreed that
home and family would come first, and Nadia would set out to
work once the children started school. Realisation soon dawned
that she would have to work to meet increasing expenses. But
she is still unemployed today after job hunting for a
year.
She said: "I had three children, and they all had
started going to school. The youngest, aged four, was in
kindergarten - it was time to find work because she could fend
for herself while I was away.
"We were finding it
difficult to survive on my husband's income. We also needed to
build a home to accommodate the big family. But we decided
that we would not take a bank loan. This made it imperative
for me to find a job."
She has knocked on doors of
several offices over the past year, but has been turned away
on some flimsy ground or the other. "All my friends, who had
graduated with me, are working at different ministries and
public departments. They had devoted their beings to a career,
some had sacrificed the family for the job, and others got a
maid to perform a mother's duties.
"I do not regret the
fact that I stayed home with my children for six years. I now
feel that government departments and firms are penalising me
for choosing family before career. "Married women are not
welcome in government departments – they ensure that by giving
a short maternity leave. Private companies don't even give a
proper maternity leave.
"I wonder if it was a waste of
time to go in for higher education and spend four years
there," Nadia said. By making her family the first priority
and not working for six years, she had lost an income of about
Dh750,000 to Dh1 million. Nadia would lose even more because
not many had use for someone who had graduated seven years ago
and who had no job experience.
"The salary offered to
me was either too low or my qualification did not fit the
job," Nadia said. "Government institutions are giving less
benefits today compared to what they used to give seven years
ago."
Sociologists have stressed that a high number of
UAE national women opt for higher education, but the figure is
not reflected in jobs. Dr Sara Al Sayed of Zayed University in
Abu Dhabi, said: "Women are qualified, but legal and social
obstacles prevent them from getting jobs."
She pointed
out that women here face different challenges when compared to
the West. Hence, the approach to problems has to be different.
The nation must maximise the effort of every member of society
to enhance the development of the country without affecting
the social stability the land has been enjoying since the
federation was born in 1971.
"Therefore, contributions
by women to the economy are very important. Like other Arab
and Islamic societies, families in the UAE protect women.
Hence they feel secure financially and socially," Dr Sara
added.
The family is protected in a very unique manner
in the UAE, and does not prevent women from contributing to
the development of the nation. There is little difference
between the woman in Fujairah and the woman in Dubai. They,
however, are taken care of by the governments and their
families.
Women in the UAE have not passed through the
same stages of development like women in the West. "As they
are a part of an Islamic and Arab society, women in the UAE
don't have to fight for their rights. "Prejudice started when
the labour law and employers started believing that motherhood
was not a valuable economic activity."
She said
contrary to popular belief, the doctrine of Islam, mainly the
Holy Quran, neither demeans women nor does it curtail rights.
The roles of the sexes are different in UAE society. "The
woman looks after home and children. She is segregated but not
isolated as she is supported by other women in the
family."
Unlike in the West, domestic violence is rare
in the UAE. "The most common forms of abuse are threat of
divorce and indifference." According to a survey conducted by
Zayed University in Abu Dhabi, Dr Sara said men and women want
less segregation at education institutions and the
workplace.
"More than half the male and two-thirds of
the female college students were in favour of mixing. This
indicates that women will be accepted in the workplace." She
said rules on maternity leave and labour laws need to be
amended so that women continue to work even though they are
planning a family.
"Women should have at least six
months of paid maternity leave and 18 months of unpaid leave
for every child," she stressed. Statistics indicate that more
women opt for higher education than men. They have comprised
66 per cent of the total number of students over the last five
years. However, only 11 per cent of women are in the public
sector and less than eight per cent in the private
sector.
Sociologists argue why such a high percentage
of women go in for higher education but this is not reflected
in the labour market. A survey conducted by the National Human
Resources Development and Employment Authority (Tanmia) in
August 2000 revealed that women were not staying away from
jobs. It was just that they were not getting any.
Over
400 women surveyed said they either weren't getting a job, or
were finding it difficult to keep one because it interfered
with social functions. The last census in 1995 revealed that
the largest unemployed group were national women constituting
8.3 per cent, while jobless men accounted for less than 6 per
cent. One out of 10 national women could not find a job
suitable for her qualifications, compared to two out of 100
expatriate women.
Ahmad Al Sarkal, Acting General
Manager of Tanmia, said one of reasons for the high
unemployment rate among national women is that employers are
sceptical of their performance. They feel that nationals are
not as efficient and cannot adapt to the work environment.
Women are recruited only when the job cannot be done by a
man.
He stressed that the education system is partly
responsible for the high unemployment rate because it doesn't
cater to the needs of the job market. Tanmia was set up to
train nationals and find suitable jobs for them.
Al
Sarkal called upon the government to draw up a strategy and
increase the number of women in the work force. The
authorities must ensure that the effort of every member
society is utilised for the development of the
nation.
He stressed that 92 per cent of women looking
for jobs complained about the two-shift system which affects
their family life. Others complained that salaries were very
low. "Laws and legal framework in both the public and private
sector should be changed so that more women can enter the job
market."
Dr Eideh Al Mutlaq, Consultant of Humaid bin
Rashid Al Nuaimi Establishment for Human Development, called
on the UAE government to amend the local labour law to
accommodate what is known internationally as the Third Choice.
She said: "The United Nations and its affiliated
social and labour agencies have urged governments all over the
world to make changes in their labour laws to help increase
the number of women in the job market in a way that they do
not have to jeopardise family life."
The Third Choice
will create job opportunities for women who will work
part-time, but enjoy work benefits. Dr Eideh said if the
implementation of the Third Choice is necessary around the
world, it is very urgent for women and the stability of the
UAE. It will also correct the demographic imbalance. She
stressed that the existing labour law had created a serious
demographic imbalance.
"Long working hours, the
two-shift working pattern in the majority of firms, the
considerably short maternity leave – only 45 days – and the
lack of day-care nurseries in work places had forced women
either to get maids or stay at home until their children are
old enough to manage on their own.
She said maids
increase the number of expatriates in the country, and they
also have a negative impact on the upbringing of children.
"Maids can be a bad influence on the child. He or she may not
be well behaved and his language also suffers. Besides, maids
also have a negative effect on the cultural
aspect."
National women, for a number of reasons, are
choosing to stay at home. Hence more foreign labour is
employed in certain sectors. "The nation is paying a high
social and economic price." Dr Eideh stressed that the current
working condition in the UAE gives women one choice: either
work or look after the home and family.
She said the
UAE government should immediately force companies and
government departments that have more than 10 women employees
to have nurseries and day-care centres. The cost of running
the nurseries should be borne by the mothers who admit their
children there. Mothers in the UAE must be encouraged to have
children and work. They must not let maids run their homes.
The nation will benefit from working mothers, Dr Eideh
added.
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