Working mothers face uphill battle along career paths

AMMAN — Choosing between pursuing a career or quitting to become a full-time caregiver is a personal conflict mothers encounter on daily basis. However, many mothers say a supportive work environment can help them overcome this struggle.

“Why are you pregnant right now? Your career is developing,” is the first comment that Rawan Kayed heard when she shared the news of her pregnancy with her colleagues at work. 

The comment was “devastating”, Kayed said. However, she had not considered that this would lead to the end of her career.

“I was excluded from many important decisions at the firm where I worked,” Kayed added. 

When Kayed returned to work after her maternity leave, she was “shocked” to find that her female supervisor had transferred her to another “non-strategic department”, claiming that working mothers can’t be as devoted to their work as their male counterparts. 

Balancing work and motherhood is a very challenging task in this part of the world, Um Turki, a mother of twins told The Jordan Times.

“I’m stuck between two hard decisions, quit my job and stop supporting my husband financially, or leave my twins at the day care for over eight hours every day,” Um Turki added. 

The monthly expenditure Um Turki spends on her twins exceeds JD700, and “the cost of a nursery alone is almost JD250”.

Although Um Turki works in the private sector alongside over 20 female employees, she said that the company she works for doesn’t provide a nursery allowance for her twins.

“Discrimination is observed in different forms,” she added.

According to Um Turki, some mothers are denied the right to provide health insurance for their spouses and children, and raises following parenthood are only given to fathers. Also, days taken off work when their children fall ill are deducted from annual leave, she said.

In some developed countries, a mother is given one year off to care for her newborn. However, in Jordan, a mother gets 70 days, including weekends and official days off, “which totals to almost 50 working days”, Um Turki said. 

Article 77 of the Jordanian Labour Law grants female workers 10 weeks of paid maternity leave. However, the Jordanian Civil service regulation provides 90 days of fully paid maternity leave for female public sector employees. 

“We are extending our efforts to extend maternity leave to a period of 90 days for mothers working in the public and private sectors,” Ahmad Awad, head of the Jordan Labour Watch, told The Jordan Times.

Areej Owais, a mother of two, said that it would be possible for a woman to effectively handle both responsibilities simultaneously if support was present.

“It’s about time to accept remote working for mothers and extend mothers’ annual leave,” Owais added.

Current economic conditions make it difficult for families to live comfortably with only one source of income, she added.

Shaman Majali, Social Security Corporation’s (SSC) spokesperson, told The Jordan Times that the SSC supports working mothers by paying a part of their children’s monthly fees at daycare centres registered with the corporation, as long as “the nursery is licensed and registered with the Ministry of Social Development as well as the SSC.” 

According to the Department of Statistics, women’s unemployment rate stands at 30 per cent, whereas women’s economic participation nationwide stands at 14 per cent.