Working has Become an Economic Necessity for Saudi Women
Christine Lagarde, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), once wrote in a blog that “nations should remove laws that prevent women from working in order to boost their economies. In too many countries, too many legal restrictions conspire against women to be economically active.”
Lagarde believes women can play a major role in economic growth if “they face a level playing field instead of an insidious conspiracy.”
Before the increase in the price of oil in 1973, women in Saudi Arabia used to be more economically active than they are today. At that time, most women used to take care of their sheep. They used to milk them, harvest crops and sell goods in the market. All this was carried out in addition to their household chores. However, women were not abused because they did not work as employees but rather as mothers, sisters and wives.
The situation started to change when the price of oil rose. With the economic boom of the 1970s, a breadwinner earned more than enough to provide for his wife and children and was able to open a bank account and save money. Consequently, women did not have to work. Year after year, female unemployment became widespread and the norm. Habits can, over time, become norms and members of the public can at times treat norms as laws.
For many years, Saudi women did not need to work or make a living because men took care of all of that. This is exactly what happened. Women staying at home became a social norm and the majority of people became accustomed to seeing women at home and not at work. When women decided to go out to work and when they expressed the desire to drive, fatwas were issued prohibiting them from working and driving.
The Kingdom’s economic condition today is not dissimilar to the time before the 1973 economic boom. A family is unable to rely solely on one breadwinner to provide for it. Women should be involved and be able to go out to work because doing so has become an economic necessity.