Women need to work harder!

“Women in developing countries need to work harder!” was something I overheard on the train today morning. And it got me thinking…

Women now have the freedom to choose what they wear; who they vote for and what job they do regardless of their gender. The developed world has come very far in providing equality to both sexes. However the developing world is still struggling for equal opportunities.

In India 75% of the garment workforce is made up of women. Due to the nature of the work men tend not to like to get involved in traditionally feminine roles of knitting and sewing. The women’s work goes unrecognized and underpaid. The cost of the average men’s jacket is £30, only 10p of that £30 will go to the garment worker. This is not enough to sufficiently support a family.

Another thing is that the garment workers are mothers and their priority is their children, which means they feed their children first, even if that doesn’t leave much food for them. This leads to poor health and shorter life expectancy. This indirectly makes the women the breadwinners and the ones in-charge. So the women are often found juggling motherhood, garment worker and housewife duties all at the same time, with no decent pay-off at the end.

“Women do two thirds of the world’s work, receive 10 percent of the world’s income and own 1 percent of the means of production.”- Richard H. Robbins, Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism, (Allyn and Bacon, 1999).

Is it me or does this sound like not much has changed for women on the other side of the world? If women should see more fruits from their labour then equality should be for everyone, not just for a select few…