Unemployment

Press, 12 November 1981, Page 18

Unemployment

Sir,—S. Donaldson's suggestion (November 9) that the solution to unemployment is to have married women “get back to their kitchen sinks” is blatantly sexist. Women have no special talent that makes them any more suited to work in the home than men. It is only because everywhere women turn they are told that because it is in their physical constitution to have children that somehow they should also look after these children. The care of children is made to seem totally incompatible with holding a job. Turning married women out of the work force in favour of school-leavers will not provide a solution to the problem of unemployment, but will merely serve to obscure further the real cause of the problem, namely the exploitative, patriarchal capitalist system—Yours, etc., KEITH MARSHALL. November 9, 1981.

Sir,—S. L. Donaldson (October 8) obviously still thinks of women as chattels and an economic resource. The correspondent states that the solution worked in the Depression; again use women when econ omically necessary, push them out when it’s not. Why not push the men to the kitchen sink? Many of their wives are in good positions and we all know that a particular sex is not a necessary qualification for dishwashing. Women join the work force on their own merits and have every right to stay there on the same basis as men. Many men also go to work for Japanese cars, weekend cottages, etc. A family could exist on half their salary; why not give that to the young? And what about the salaries of the always male, 70plus Governors-General? The answer is not in setting’ one section of the community against another. The answer is in reallocating resources, re thinking of priorities fur Government spending (e.g. the defence budget) and upgrading

the worth-while human values of caring and sharing, cooperation and nurturing — Yours, etc., JAN ANDREWS. November 9, 1981. Sir,—S. Donaldson (November 9) displays sexist colours in giving an answer to the unemployment crisis. The correspondent wants “all married women back to their kitchen sinks” so that others might find work. Why pick on women? S. L. Donaldson could discriminate equally against the over sixties brigade, or even against ethnic minorities. Women have the right to develop their own individuality and contribute to the economic viability of the family unit. In these times of economic stringencies more women have to work just so that they can keep their children well fed, clothed and educated. Talk of the money being used for Japanese cars, microwave ovens and private schools is naive. S. L. Donaldson avoids the root of the problem by the suggestion. There are not enough jobs because our present Government does not care about people and spends more time courting “sink big” projects. I suggest that a step in’the right direction for solving the unemployment problem would be a change of government at the end of the month. — Yours, etc., ROSS HENDERSON. November 9, 1981.