The government is planning to offer “a protective package” to secure women’s employment in the labor market, which includes flexible working hours (instead of reducing it), kindergartens in offices, and payment of insurance premium, said Vice-President for Women and Family Affairs Shahindokht Molaverdi.
Elaborating on the programs to encourage women’s participation in the job market, she said: “Various issues relating to women are discussed in the Majlis (parliament); we hope lawmakers allocate more time to review such plans.”
The plans, including reducing women’s working hours, and avoiding night shifts for them, are mostly discussed in the Majlis within the framework of population policies and family growth, Eghtesad News reported.
The mission to empower women as defined by the women and family affairs department is in accordance with the government’s “approach of moderation.” The department’s objective is to provide “balance between work and life.”
People all over the world have come to the conclusion that there must be a balance between work and social life for women. At present, all European countries are moving towards this end, she noted.
Life-Work Dilemma
European states pay great attention and make effort to prevent “women’s dilemma between life and work,” Molaverdi said. “We are planning to do the same here,” she added.
Iranian women face additional pressure, especially working women. “We are planning to reduce this pressure to facilitate their social participation.”
Reducing women’s working hours can put their jobs at risk as companies “are unwilling to hire employees at lesser working hours and lower efficiency,” she said. Instead of reducing working hours, “we are planning to make working hours more flexible for them.”
Also in the ‘civil services management law’, there is a clause which stipulates that “both men and women can reduce their working hours by a quarter.”
Plans to establish kindergartens in government offices are on the agenda to facilitate women employment. “In this regard, we have considered initiatives, similar on the lines in Turkey.”
In her recent meeting with the Turkish minister of women affairs, she said she was informed that the Turkish government is paying insurance premium in the private sector to encourage employers to hire women. “We are also planning such initiatives in our protective package. Our priority is women’s economic empowerment and our target groups are all women, including female university graduates and women heads of households, especially in deprived areas,” she added.
