Recently, an Iranian state-owned company tells employees to get married or get fired. The company believes that married men are better behaved and so everyone better be married by September or they will lose their jobs. This comes as a result of record breaking numbers of single 20-somethings in the country.
In Iran, like pretty much everywhere in the world, more and more people are choosing not to get married. Kindof like how they are choosing not to have kids or to have only one and pushing it: two.
When will politicians realize that until they make domestic life better for women and men, and until they make it possible for women to have lives outside of domestic life, women will not want husbands and children to feed and clothe and take care of just cause it is supposed to be their biological predisposition.
As women are gaining power, as in money from jobs, all over the world, the marriage rate is decreasing. India has a huge workforce of women who are choosing to stay single. They can now provide for their extended families by answering your AirCanada questions over the phone. Who needs an arranged marriage and a butt load more chores when you can work your English and turn it into a nice new handbag. (And not to say our economic imperialism and outsourcing are good, but new economic opportunities are changing many women’s lives for the better).
We have seen that in the Scandinavian countries, and even in the province of Quebec, when you create more daycare spots and make it easier for MEN and WOMEN to work and have children, couples choose to have more children. It’s not fucking rocket science.
Most women either can’t afford to stay home and not work, or they really don’t want to just stay home and not work at all. And so, how about, instead of threatening their jobs, like in Iran, paying them thousands of dollars, like in Russia, or making them marry fundamentalist Christians who force them to stay home and pump out 14 home-schooled children, like in the red states, we concentrate on family policies that make life better for a couple who want to balance work and family, together, with the help from the state for daycare and appropriate vacation time, mat and pat leave, health care, etc.
Seriously, until the men in power figure this out, their countries populations will continue to decline. The way it worked in the 50s will never ever return. So, let’s bring dad into the family picture and let’s bring mom into the workforce picture and start making some real changes in policy, without threats, payoffs or the banning of birthcontrol.
FissyPit 