The experiences of inactive women in the local context : a qualitative study

Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore the difficulties that a woman may experience to re-enter into the world of paid work. A qualitative research was conducted to have a better picture on what holds these women back from re-entering paid work. The main three key terms that I had chosen to dig deeper into are inactive women, work and gender. The analysis of the qualitative data gathered in the interviews was carried out using the process of thematic analysis that was developed by Braun & Clarke (2006). In this qualitative research one main theme emerged, that is, inactivity as constraint choice and the subthemes were divided into two sections that were discussed according to the theories of microsociology and macrosociology (Giddens, 2001). One of the main challenges that these women are facing is the lack of support from their spouse. Since juggling family needs and paid work for them is too demanding, they opted out of engaging themselves into paid work. This qualitative research has shown that males are privileged with an "invisible weightless knapsack" even if they do not recognise such privilege as Mcintosh suggested (Mcintosh, 1988, p.1). It emerged that these women are still living in a patriarchal culture where the woman is seen as the housewife and the man is the main breadwinner of the family.