Glenda Simms, Contributor
THE SUNDAY GLEANER carried an article on January 18, 2004 which dramatically brought home to everyone the futile search for decent jobs in these tough economic times. In the article entitled '25 jobs, 1000 applicants', we are shown a section of some 1,000 job seekers who crowded the entrance of the Jamaica Conference Centre in response to Air Jamaica's search for 25 flight attendants.
The majority of the job seekers were described as young women who were desirous of finding a 'good and glamorous job'. Unfortunately, the majority of these young job seekers would have been turned away. Many would be very disappointed and others would probably vow to keep trying until they find another opportunity to line up for the next interview which might never come.
It is not surprising that young women had turned out in such large numbers for those few jobs. The reality is that Jamaican women of all ages are struggling not only to find jobs, but to make ends meet even in situations where they have relatively 'decent jobs'.
In the November 30, 2003 edition of The Sunday Gleaner, fellow columnist Ian Boyne wrote an article entitled "Jamaica's Grave Economic Challenges." It is interesting to note that Mr. Boyne used the condition of individual women to demonstrate the impact of poverty, not only on the poor, but also on the middle class.
He described the financial difficulties of a professional colleague who had a "high profile job, social status and only one child to look after." He emphasized that this woman lived precariously from pay cheque to pay cheque in order to pay her rent, cover the cost of her child's school fee and assist with the medical bills of her ailing father.
He also pointed out that this professional woman has no savings and does not have extra money to spend on clothing, entertainment or other luxuries. Furthermore, Mr. Boyne argues that such financial constraints are forcing young girls to start "keeping much older men" because this is the only way that "school fees are paid and books are bought."
Following in this vein, Mr. Boyne asserts that "good and faithful wives" are sleeping with other men in order to make ends meet. Using the contemporary realities of women's lives to demonstrate the impact of hard economic circumstances is both appropriate and timely.
In Jamaica, poverty and financial constraints are major systemic barriers to the achievement of gender equity and women are more and more feeling the impact of the hard times. This is so because women continue to bear the brunt of the lack of responsibility to their children on the part of many men.
Research has shown that 45 per cent of the households in Jamaica are headed by females and that these households are poorer than male-headed households. In this scenario, women's lives are prime examples of the impact of poverty and economic dislocation.
The situation of women in the economy must be urgently attended to in any plans for income generation and job creation. This urgency lies in the reality that men and women still live their lives in a culture that assigns them major responsibility of child-rearing, nurturing and caring to women and girls.
The concerns highlighted by Mr. Boyne were elaborated on by Avia Ustanny in the January 18, 2004 edition of The Sunday Gleaner. In her discussion, Ms. Ustanny pointed out that in female-headed households in 2002, the level of consumption had fallen by as much as 14 per cent while in male-headed households the consumption had declined by only 1.7 per cent.
Related to these statistics is the fact that most female-headed households have children while those headed by men do not necessarily have children. To a large extent, the childlessness of male- headed households is linked to the fact that far too many men do not take responsibility to their offspring seriously and the Jamaican society does not sanction them or hold them responsible either legally or morally.
In addition to the responsibility that women must take for the raising and upbringing of children, they also are expected to take on the care of their ageing parents and other relatives.
Many women's lives fit the description of what sociologists call the 'sandwich generation.' These are the women who are sandwiched between the demands of their children and the demands of their parents. Far too often, women are expected to stand all the financial costs and the psychological burden of caring and sharing in the family.
The issues of unemployment and underemployment must also be taken seriously if women are to move out of the financial strictures in which they now find themselves.
In the information gleaned from the Planning Institute of Jamaica, Ms. Ustanny points out that women try twice as hard as men to find gainful employment. However, despite this effort 'women's unemployment rate' in Jamaica is still twice that of men.
In a real sense, the lives of Jamaican women reflect the lives of women in many First World and other third world countries. A case in point was a story entitled, 'A Poor Cousin of the Middle Class', written by David K. Shipler and published in the January 18, 2004 edition of the New York Times.
It is the story of Carolyn Payne, described as a woman who embraces the work ethics of America in that she has worked hard, owned a house, pursued an education and put the needs of her children above her own needs. In spite of her world view, she joins millions of Americans who are at the bottom of the labour force. These are the working poor who do the jobs that fuel their nation's economy but also who are unable to enjoy the products that they sell, stock, package or assemble in the factories, warehouses and restaurants of the United States of America.
Some might argue that the reason the working poor are in their present plight is because they do not have the requisite skills to move up in the system. But the case of Carolyn Payne defies this conventional wisdom.
Shipler describes Carolyn as a woman who has achieved two of her three goals. She had earned a college diploma and she had managed to own a house but she has never been able to find a good paying job that could move her into the ranks of those who, at the dawn of the new millennium, experienced the economic boom of the United States.
Carolyn Payne is the counterpart of Ian Boyne's female acquaintance. They are the "aspiring middle-class" who should more objectively be described as the "working poor".
They, like their sisters who live in abject poverty, see the difference in consumption between the most affluent and themselves. They wonder why, in spite of their efforts, they continue to be so burdened by poverty.
While it is true that women have made great gains socially, politically and economically in the Jamaican society, far too many of them are forced by circumstances to continue to struggle to barely survive in these tough economic times.
Dr. Glenda P. Simms is the executive director of the Bureau of Women's Affairs.
