Gender Equality in Spains Work Force

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Gender Equality in Spain’s Work Force Class: WS 1124: Gender in a Global Perspective Instructor: Eve Shapiro, Ph.D. Gender Equality in Spain’s Work Force Background Information on Women in Spain Until 1961 women had no equal rights in the workplace. In 1931, an Equal Rights law was initiated under the dictatorship of General Franco, unfortunately for the women of Spain that law never came to fruition. Strong societal views in Spain mandated that women should remain at home in a caregiver, homemaker role. Women were subordinate to men and even needed the permission of their husbands or fathers to obtain a passport. Today the 1961, “Women’s Rights in the Workforce Act” amended the Spanish Constitution. Now the constitution reads “same salary for same work” Gender the 2002 report to CEDAW (The sixth periodic article report) “Citizens of Spain have the duty to work and the rights to employment.” Today Approximately 40% of young Spanish women today, work outside their homes. However, the roles and distribution of the domestic workload have not changed. The Spanish Government is fully cognizant of the issues women face in combining their work and family responsibilities. Therefore, they are now trying to pass a bill to require fathers to contribute to the household and childrearing responsibilities. This bill if made into law would require fathers to take a more active role in the household responsibilities. Education –“The social costs are great if girls are not educated” (Dr Shapiro) Under the dictatorship of Franco, boys and girls were educated separately, and girls were not given the same opportunities as the boys. In Spanish society at that time, men were in charge and women subordinate to them: the wives were seen as “obligated to their families. Women were often illiterate, it was not necessary to educate the
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