Syria.. Women are the “backbone of laboratories” in regime-controlled areas

Damascus

- An official in the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor in the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad revealed the percentage of female workers in the country, stressing that for every man there are 7 women in the labor market, and said that women constitute about 85% of the total workforce in regime-controlled areas.

Despite the absence of official statistics on the percentage of women's employment in Syria, the official in the ministry said - in a statement to the "Athar Press" website, which is close to the regime, last Tuesday - that the indicators and data available to them indicate a clear increase in the number of female workers due to the exit of a large proportion of men from the labor market for various reasons. .

The involvement of Syrian women in the labor market has recently increased due to the deterioration of the living situation and the continuous economic collapse that the country has been witnessing for years, and women are sometimes forced to engage in unfamiliar or stressful and harsh jobs that negatively affect their physical and psychological health in order to earn a living.

Factories manufacturing detergents, leather tanning, and women's bags, which are the most attractive to women in Damascus and its countryside (French)

Unfamiliar professions

Women in the capital and its countryside often resort to jobs and professions that do not require experience, but in return they require great effort and long working hours for low wages that barely suffice for food.

Detergent manufacturing, potato peeling, food packaging, leather tanning, and the manufacture of women’s bags are the most attractive to women in Damascus and its countryside, as they provide the largest number of job opportunities for women and children.

Some women resort to jobs that Syrians generally deem unsuitable for women, such as driving public taxis, delivering orders, working in real estate offices, and other jobs that are usually practiced exclusively by men.

"It is true that society does not see my work as appropriate, but it is an honorable job that secures the needs of my children and spares me the humiliation of asking people, and this is enough for me," said Raghad, 38, an employee in a real estate store in the Damascus countryside.

In her interview with Al-Jazeera Net, she added, "I tried several jobs, all of which were low-paid and not sufficient to secure the basics of living, so I went to a relative of mine who owns a real estate office. I was surprised at first, but after proving myself at work and renting some apartments, he trusted me and confirmed me in the work."

Although she achieved a reasonable financial return from her work in the real estate office, Raghad still faces many challenges to support her family, since her husband disappeared on a travel road about 4 years ago without knowing anything about his fate.

Regarding these challenges, she says, "I have to go home every day to prepare lunch, and receive my children who come back from school to feed them, then go back to work. After work ends, I go home and sit with the children to do homework and help them wash and feed them. This routine has become very stressful."

Like Raghad, many women in regime-controlled areas are forced to play the role of father and mother together in light of the absence of the breadwinner, the exacerbation of the living crisis and the high prices of food and consumer goods.

A report published by the United Nations in 2021 indicates that 22% of Syrian families are headed by women, due to the loss of many families of their male breadwinners.

Homework and vocational courses

The phenomenon of women working in their homes with simple jobs, such as embroidery, preparing vegetables (chopping parsley or digging zucchini) and selling them in sacks to shops and restaurants, or marketing goods electronically, and other jobs that Syrian women practice from their homes to support their husbands in bearing the burdens of living and facing poverty, has spread widely.

Others go to various vocational courses, paid or free, to learn trades and professions that enable them to engage more effectively in the labor market.

"My main motivation for attending the sewing course was that I have a profession through which I can earn money and support my husband with household expenses," she told Al-Jazeera Net Najla, 38, one of the beneficiaries of a vocational sewing course in Damascus.

And she adds, "Last year I joined a sewing workshop, working on the sewing machine, but today I started taking responsibility for shifts on the sewing machine, and I am proud of what I do despite the extreme fatigue and low pay."

Many educational centers and humanitarian and charitable associations are active in providing vocational and training courses for women in professions and crafts, such as sewing, soap and detergent manufacturing, sweets preparation, hairdressing and other skills, crafts and professions, to enable them to enter the labor market.

However, the most important challenge that female workers face remains low wages, as the average monthly salary for workers in factories and factories in Damascus and its countryside is about 110 thousand pounds ($16) per month for part-time workers, while the full-time wage (13 hours) reaches 225 thousand pounds ($32). .

The legislative decree issued in 2021 had set the minimum wage at 92,000 ($13).

UN estimates indicate that 90% of Syrians have been living below the poverty line since 2021, while a recent report by the UN Food Program revealed that 70% of Syrians may not be able to provide food for their families in light of the current living conditions.