Saudi women employees are advocating a move to lower their retirement age from 60 to 50 years even though the proposal was shot down by the Shoura (Consultative) Council on Dec. 3. During discussions on the proposal before it was put to vote, Amer Al-Lowehiq, a member of the external affairs committee at the Shoura Council, said the proposal was in accordance with the Saudi labor law which stipulates that any one can take voluntary retirement after putting in 20 years of service. “What we have suggested during the meeting was to give Saudi women a chance to retire before completion of the 20-year period,” he said. “Saudi women should have the right to get an early retirement at 50 years instead of 60 years, if they feel that they can't continue in their jobs because of health or other domestic problems,” he said. He mentioned that this recommendation was not obligatory on every woman but for the one who desires to stop working at that age. He added that the retired women will not be given full salary in pension. Dr. Talal Al-Bakri, chairman of social affairs committee at Shoura Council, opposed the move advocating equal rights for both men and women. Umm Majed, from Al-Khmesah Wa Al-Sitteen Madrasa (65th School), said after 15 to 20 years of working women should focus on themselves and their families. “I think that a woman after 50 needs to be free from her work and to look at her personal life. I prefer women to get the pension at 50 years to give attention to their husbands, grandchildren and worship,” said Majed. Laila Awad, a Saudi employee in a private company working for over two decades supports the move. “It should be optional for a woman to work after 50 if her health and other factors allow her,” she said. Lowering the retirement age can be helpful in solving the unemployment among women, she said. But, continued Laila, this is not a conventional reason to let the aged employees leave their jobs although they are still able to work successfully. Hamad Al-Qadhi, a strong proponent of the move in the Shoura Council, said early retirement for women would achieve two very important objectives. First, he said, thousands of unemployed Saudi female graduates would have an opportunity to find jobs especially since the fields for women's work are very limited in the Kingdom. He said the number of unemployed Saudi women according to the most recent statistics has reached 300,000. The second objective is that many working women really want to retire early so as to devote their time to their families while still receiving a monthly pension income. Al-Qadhi said he wished the recommendation had been passed and had become a resolution by the council to be referred to the authorities concerned. He said the subject of early retirement for women could be presented to the Shoura Council once again whether through a report like that of the Ministry of Civil Service or the Retirement Commission, or according to Article 23 of the Council's regulations.
