As leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), Nigel Farage isn’t averse to making controversial statements. But his latest outburst, stating that women who work in finance in the city should have to choose between their careers and having a family, definitely struck a nerve with us her at HCX.
Farage stated that “in many, many cases, women make different choices in life to the ones men make simply for biological reasons…if a woman has a client base and has a child and takes two or three years off work, she is worth far less to the employer when she comes back than when she goes away… I don’t believe that in the big banks and brokerage houses and Lloyds of London and everyone else in the City, I do not believe that there is any discrimination against women at all. I think that young, able women who are prepared to sacrifice the family life and stick with their careers do as well, if not better than men”.
The thing that really hurts about this statement is not that it’s controversial and outspoken, but that it echoes the thoughts of many who would never utter them out loud; the reality is that a lot of people, women included, believe that at some point or other women have to make the choice between having a family and having a career. This is something that is repeated to young women time and time again; that they simply cannot have it all, that they cannot have children, be a present-mother and have a successful career. Because of this I believe that many women make career choices based on the assumption that they will have to make this decision; they choose careers where they know they can get flexi-part-time work over careers in male dominated environments where extended maternity leave is frowned upon.
However, the whole premise of Farage’s argument is wrong. He blames biological reasons, I blame a work system which is designed to exclude those who don’t fit into its rigid and flawed structures. Yes it’s biologically true that it is women who have babies, it is women who get pregnant, who give birth and who breast feed. But it’s not biologically determined that it’s women who do the overwhelming majority of childcare, it’s not biologically determined that women do most of the housework, that they do the bulk of the world’s unpaid domestic labour or that they are the primary carers for their children; all of that is cultural.
When considering women having to choose between their careers and family, it’s important to understand that our entire concept of work environments and of company structures comes from a male perspective. We have to understand that it is only relatively recently that women have been able to enter these environments at all. They are designed on a work ethic where being present, being at the office as much as possible equates to being productive, which isn’t always the case. They are systems which historically, and arguably currently, rely on male workers who have wives at home to do the childcare and domestic labour free of charge. In less progressive areas like finance, they are not particularly embracing of new systems of working, where women could work at home, job share or split maternity leave with their partners, all things which would make it easier for women to maintain their careers whilst caring for children.
Being more open to new modes of working which would mean that women wouldn’t have to choose between having children and keeping their careers wouldn’t just benefit women. Men should feel that they are free and able to be as much a part of their children’s lives as their partners are. They shouldn’t feel that they have to work all day, every day and miss out on important aspects of their children’s development. As difficult as it is for women to choose between having a family and a career, for many men that decision is already made for them; they simply aren’t afforded the opportunity to spend as much time with their children.
Nigel Farage might have a point; women are expected to choose between having a family or a career. But that so-called ‘choice’ is certainly not down to biology. And it’s not a ‘choice’ that I, or any other woman should be forced to make.
Photo Credits: telegraph; guardian; atlantic.