Yet another question about marriage

You do realize that having so many women in the workforce will put a lot of men in a position to where they can't support a family on what they make, and either the wife will have to work or the family will have to go on welfare.

Bismillah irrahman irrahim

Assalamu alaikum

well Umar (ra) was the first to start benefit system like many other great firsts he introduced to create one of the great societies.

Now on the opinion about if the husband can afford all the basics then i too think that is alhamdulillah the great blessing. Sister can just be home, learn deen inshaAllah and raise a good muslim ummah. But Allah swt allowed or left it on women to decide so there is some wisdom behind it. There is a hadith which states that treat your women well as they some time feel like slaves. Because they have to take husband's view in almost every thing and they feel bound. So i think when Allah swt left some ways they must be for some good reason.

Like most other things if we try to make laws the way we think are best, it could lead to complications. What if some1 sart saying about education of women as such a high percentage does not use the qualifications. I am sure you can see where i am going with this. We are been told the forbidden, the allowed and the best option. What you saying comes under best option but best is not reachable by every1.

wassalam

BH

I do not know which country you picture this preference happening in. Shall we do some wishful thinking? Lets take the US/Canada as a first example. If we put your theory into the picture, it would apply only to the muslim women, non-muslims ofcourse will not agree to this. So, As of today, in 2006

 How many muslim women work? You say I would guess 40%, but since you say �so many�lets take it as 60% for sake of this argument.

How much of the workforce do they comprise of in the US and Canada? My guess here is 10%.

What are the usual professions that muslim women opt for? Medicine (usually general practice, dentistry, gynaecology, pediatrics, Nursing), teaching, IT, research, working in stores, running businesses, Office work including clerical work etc, daycare providers. In many of the above professions, they are not even a threat to their male counterparts as

1)men traditionally do not want to have these careers.

2)some of the above professions rely on individual aptitude, a muslim woman lawyer taken off work does not mean that a man will be filled in it. The law firm may simply not have that position anymore as this post was unique to the lady. Same for a clinic.

 This leaves us with work which men and women both like to do, IT etc. Let�s eliminate the 10% of muslim women that form this workforce. How much will it help muslim men get promotions and free up the hiring competition? I would say less than 1% because of the rate of unemployment and ability to get cheap labour from abroad. I dont think your suggestion will give you the result you want viz, job security and job growth for men who are family supporters. 

In an different scenario, it will not work either. Lets see a country that works something like your theory.

In Saudi Arabia, about 60% of university graduates are women. They account for 2% of the workforce. Most women do not work for family reasons.

Even with such little competition from women, Saudi men have steadily rising rates of unemployment. Among other reasons, mindsets and poor work ethics drive employers to hire workers from abroad This forced the state to put a �saudiazation law� which entails that 20% of the workforce should be Saudi. This did not solve the problem either as many companies hire extra local people in non-important positions like security gaurds and the top posts still go to skilled immigrant workers

A job has to be done and the employer will choose the person most suitable to do it. Reservations and preferences do not work. Ultimately the cream gets hired and then it rises to the top.

I have thought about this for a while and have a possible solution.

Anytime a position is open and a qualified married man with a family is available to fill it it should be given to him over a woman who is married and has a husband who can support her.

If a woman holds a job that requires a special skill, she should be able to continue to hold the job until a qualified married man is available to be trained and/or already knows how to do the job.

If a woman does not have a husband to support her but she has children, the above should not apply. 

Personally, I think that an unmarried man should give deference to a married man when it comes to promotions, ect. though he should be allowed to hold a job paying enough for him to afford what is of common use.  I think the same should apply to an unmarried woman without a family.

If the economic situation does not allow such through means of the private sector, let all who need it have access to zakat.