In 2017, when Kauna was preparing to get married, her husband suggested she leave her job to focus on the home they planned to build together. “The job wasn’t paying so well, so it was an easy decision to make at the time. He was also financially okay and it looked like the best decision to take care of the home while he solely brought the income.
” 6 years down the line, her husband lost his job and things went south. “In hindsight, quitting my job was a poor decision on my part. Because when he lost his, I felt utterly powerless.
There was nothing from me that we could fall back on.” Things have slowly picked up for Kauna and her family, but Kauna says she does not feel like she has economic power as a woman, “For you to feel economically powerful in your home and beyond, you must have something to call your own. Something that generates an income, something to keep your boat afloat and running.
I don’t have that right now.” A study by the United Nations Women shows that just over half (52.1%) of married women, aged 25 to 54, are in the labour force, compared to married men, who show the highest rate of labour force participation, at 96.
1%. It is not uncommon for women to sacrifice their career as they grow in order to tend to their families. Sometimes, it comes down to societal expectations for women to prioritise family care over career advancement – factors like early child marriage hampers women’s ability to participate fully in the labour market and .