Career women reminded of their domestic duties

JAKARTA (JP): With the trend toward families having a second income earner, Vice President Try Sutrisno reminded career women yesterday that they should not abandon their domestic duties.

Try also appealed to families and employers to give support and show understanding for the needs of working women.

"Working women should not forget their destiny of being a mother in a household," he said opening a national discussion meeting on the health and productivity of working women.

"Women should aim to strike a balance between the two facets of their lives," he said.

No employer wants to see his women employees neglecting their duties because of household problems. But no employer wants to see the family lives of his women employees destroyed by their careers either, Try said.

"So, in the final analysis, it is women's attitudes, will and capabilities that will determine whether or not they find peace by working as well as leading a family life."

Minister of Health Sujudi in his introductory speech said more than 37 million women, nearly half the number of working-age women in Indonesia, are working. This is an increase in both absolute and relative terms. In 1988, 16.9 million, or 33 percent of working-age women, worked.

Sujudi said health is the main problem facing many women workers.

About 30 percent of all working women suffer from anemia caused by malnutrition, he said, adding that anemia lead to losses in productivity by as much as 20 percent.

Try said career women count on the moral support and understanding of their families.

But working women should realize that the "quality of their service" in domestic chores was bound to be lower than if they were not working, he said.

Try said considering the expanding role of women in national development, the nation should allow women to realize their full potential, optimizing the strengths they have over their male counterparts, and eliminating their weaknesses.

He cited diligence, tenacity, patience and perseverance among the strengths that women have over men. Women's weaknesses are related to their biological and psychological structures, he said.

The Vice President also launched the Movement for Healthy and Productive Women Workers. Details of the campaign were not immediately available yesterday. (emb)