Saudi women who work in the private sector are complaining that they work longer hours for less pay compared to those who work for the government. They say that while their work can stretch beyond nine hours a day in the private sector, women who work in government jobs often do much less than eight hours a day and get paid much more. Recognizing the problem, Dania Al-Ghaleb, a social researcher and trainer at Al-Maharat Center, which trains Saudi women on various skills, said it's a question of how working women are perceived in the Saudi society. “We must change our perceptions about working women,” she said. “Those in charge punish women whenever they ask for the simplest of rights, so they intentionally give them more work than they can handle.” Ghaleb said women should be given time to bring up their children by themselves, rather than risk handing them over to a maid that may or may not be trustworthy. “Bringing up children needs a lot of effort, specifically from women,” said Ghaleb. “There is no way to ensure that the maid or nanny will adequately take care of such an important responsibility.” Ghaleb added that women can work better from home, as opposed to having to be physically present at the office. She cited a French study which showed that women who work from their homes spend more than 45 billion hours a year working, which is one billion hours more than what both genders combined put in while working outside their homes. According to Ghaleb, working for long hours reduces a single woman's chances of getting married. She added that the work eventually gets in the way of taking care of her husband and children. Aasem Al-Hakim, a preacher at Shiekh Jafar Al-Tayar mosque in Jeddah, said women are required to take care of their children first and foremost, before thinking of any other thing. He added that Shariah requires them to stay at home and raise their children rather than going out for work. “Islam bans women from going out to work when their basic duty is to bring up their children, which is not an easy task in itself,” he said. Hakim added that women who demand gender equality while lobbying for fewer working hours than men contradict themselves. A study conducted by the Arabic daily Okaz, the Saudi Gazette's sister publication, had shown that 90 percent of the women who responded to the study agreed on reducing the working hours of mothers, so that they would have more time to take care of their children. “Hopefully, this statistic will help us accomplish our requirements,” said Thuriyah Al-Ksabery, a Saudi physician who has three children below the age of school. “I often spend more than 10 hours out of my home, yet at the same time I cannot just leave my work and sit at home like a showpiece, without doing my part in the society,” she said. Hakim said that in this day and age, there should be a special program for women with children that would allow them to fulfill their responsibilities towards them. “I advise women to work in administrative fields, where they can spend only a few hours at the office and continue their work from home,” he said. “The internet and the other telecommunication methods have simplified everything.” There are other women who had no objections about their working hours. However, they hope to have nurseries in every school, or an institution to help them ensure their children's safety. “I cannot be sure about my little daughter's safety with the housemaid,” said Ghaliyah Al-Malki, a human resourses officer at a private company. “At the same time, I need to work to support my children, specially after the huge increases in prices that we are suffering from. My husband's income is too low to support the whole family on his own.” __
