The declining birth rate in Europe tells us something important – that women are voting with their wombs because two full-time jobs are just too much – the Collapsing Careers book written for the British public argues that motherhood destroys careers in the current workplace and change needs to be made.
Society may be to blame for this and I will not picture here all the injustices – but there are solutions that each of us can take home and can make the world a better and safer place.
Relying on a man is and always was an utopia. One way or the other, women have always had little jobs outside the house – except the extremely wealthy ones. Women have always expressed themselves creatively – through each craft they did. Those that wanted to dedicate their lives to study could more often than not escape marriage and achieve recognition as nuns.
This doesn’t mean I minimize the achievements of women’s movement! Historically, women were in a far worse situation than nowadays if their man died or left them – and their current situation is not rosy either!
I only wanted to picture the false myth that in the past women were only mothering and now they have the additional career to take care of too.
Life is harsh and if you’re ignorant, it’s that much harsher. Education is the first step towards a prestigious career – but more importantly, it is vital for your own well-being so don’t believe that ignorance is bliss.
For their own well-being, young women of today must not be deluded about the existence of the glass ceiling – yet at the same time, neither should they rely on a man for the rest of their lives. I appreciated the importance suggested on building career skills that you can rely on on the long term – ideally after maternal leave breaks.
Women need to dominate the STEM fields for their own well-being – we earn less and we survive much more so we must start out well from the beginning. (STEM derives from Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics – which are considered the best bang-on-the-buck in education investments; I would add medicine, law and economics too)
Because of our biological differences, women need not only earn a decent income, but also have their career secure and there’s nothing better for safety than having a careeer that will always be in demand AND delivering high-quality products/services.
Society needs mothers and it needs bright workers too – both male and female – so it is in its best interest to develop flexible workplaces for highly-educated mothers.
Do you think women will inevitably shortcut their career achievements once they have children? Would all that education be worthless if the average workplace continues to be dominated by long hours?
The education of women is vital, regardless of the career aspirations or whether she bears children. It gives us options, and more importantly trains our brains to think, to reason, to analyze. Women have men have different life experiences and sometimes different limitations and opportunities or at least at different times. Motherhood and careers. Big topic. Great post.