Pinays Work Longer Hours Than Pinoys - ILO

I got this article from the Department of Budget and Management.  This is so true!  We women are masters in multi-tasking.

This role reversal - Filipino women working longer than their male counterparts - showed that two of three Filipino women workers are more likely to work over 64 hours per week. The phenomena is driven largely by the expansion of the services sector which tends to employ more women than men.

Impact on Women. While longer working hours mean being able to help make ends meet, it has a considerable effect on women's health and on time spent with the family. A major concern relative to the situation is that women, in addition to their paid work, also engage in unpaid domestic tasks such as taking care of the children and of sick members of the family.

Work-Family Equilibrium.Attaining a balance between career and family and alleviating women's 'multiple burden' need to be confronted at all levels. The study provides certain policy points to vance decent work/ working time which include the reduction of long working hours to lessen the risk of occupational injuries and illnesses; the adoption of family-friendly working time measures, i.e., flexi-time, emergency family leave, part-time work, etc.; and the adoption of reasonable statutory hours, among others.

While these measures may help workers devote more time for their families, these do not provide answers to women's multiple burden.This is a more difficult challenge that could be adressed at the cultural/ societal level.

A Shared Responsibility. Promotion of shared responsibility ( between men and women) in the household and family care could greatly alleviate women's load in the household. However, this is easier said than done. Cultural biases and the stereotyped role of women as homemakers somehow impede men's greater participation in domestic work ( such as caring for children, housekeeping, etc.)

To help break the cultural biases and traditional gender division of labor, and ensure men's equal share in household responsibilities, both men and women should be made aware of the unequal relationship between them through gender awareness and sensitivity.

Institutions of mass socialization such as media and formal education, if used well, can be agents of societal, cultural change. As a start, books depicting women as homemakers and men as income-earners should be revised to avoid sexism.

Though it may take some time to attain gender equality, efforts to eliminate the gender gap have been provided in the government's national budget to address gender issues and concerns. Non-government organizations and other civic groups are also vigorously pursuing gender-related initiatives.

Going 8 Years With All the Humps and Bumps Along the Way

Edwin and I will be celebrating our 7th wedding anniversary on November 15.  At 3 pm 7 years ago, I vowed to love and hold, in richness and in poor, in sickness and in health, till death Edwin and I do part.  I don't remember much of the ceremony because my mind was too preoccupied with wedding worries and mentally counting if the number of guests who came are within our budget.  No wonder rich brides hire wedding coordinators and pass to them the hassles of the preparations.  Simple brides like I was then took on the challenges of the preparations like a kamikaze warrior.  But grand weddings do not equate happy endings.  The expensive wedding video cannot hold captive the appreciation of suffering marriages.  Better make the wedding simple so that the stress of the wedding do not stress the actual marriage.

The precana seminars bulleted the stages of marriage quite perfectly.  The first stage we all agree is honeymoon.  The period of bliss and happiness.  Where burnt hotdogs and soggy vegetables are acceptable and does not get you in hot water.  When the honeymoon stage is over, misery follows.  We become miserable because couples fall into a pattern.  We do not have time for each other because our time is consumed by work, taking care of the children and from keeping ourselves sane.  When we do not address misery, hurt and anger set in.  We fight over things we deem important when they are not.  We fight because the other did not pay cepalco and got the electricity cut.  We fight because the husband got so used to seeing the wife around that she became the cabinet .  When we have used up all our energies and nothing is left but acceptance.  When we have accepted, we begin to trust and love again.

Edwin and I have gone past the honeymoon stage and we are on the next volatile stage.  Our marriage is showing signs of strains and the many stresses we have been through.  I told Edwin last night that I miss the talks we used to have when the world was still dark and the night has kept the worries for the next day at bay.      We still have many years to go and I hope to spend each year in anticipation of the next.  A friend of mine said that when the initial glitters has faded, real love sets in.  I hope your right, Tan.