Abstract
M.A. (Sociology)
An analysis of the position of women in the labour field prior to the Industrial Revolution,
indicates the important role she fulfilled and the active participation she had in the
economic life of the community. The dual role of caring for the family and economic
activity was fused into one and exercised at home. The Industrial Revolution coupled with the technological development of that era resulted in pertinent changes which affected all facets of society. One of the more important changes which greatly influenced female labour proved to be the separation of labour and the family. Although, initially women and children worked in factories, their labour was exploited and in due course a movement was started to phase the women and children out of the factories and to relocate the women and children in the home. As a result of the foregoing, women lost an important part of their participation in economic activities which essentially relocated their activities to that of homemaker and childcare. The women of the middle class developed a sense of futility as a result of inter alia the decrease in the number of children and the development of household appliances, which
drastically reduced her home workload and eased her homework. These events resulted in the development of the emancipation movements whereby women again regained amongst others a bigger share in economic activity. Through this movement the women in the first instance succeeded at reinstating the unmarried women into the labour field and thereafter the married women. In the South African context too, the women increasingly entered the labour field. It appears from statistical data that not only is there an increase in the number of women in the labour field but a further increase of married women to the labour field. The married woman who returns to the labour force experiences a number of problems, one of which, is as a result of the addition of a work role to her existing roles. This assumption of the additional role influences her work sphere, the husband-wife relationship, the parent-child relationship as well as external relationships beyond the family core, all which may become problematic and could influence marital integration negatively. Research in other countries indicate that the support which the husband gives to the wife forms an important aspect .of the manner in which the wife deals with the aforementioned
problems and which may effect the marital integration. Further studies indicated that a more equalised division of the home workload results in better time management by the wife. As a result of these findings the question arose as to the position in this regard within the Republic of South Africa. The data were gathered by means of a questionnaire, which included biographical information and Likert type questions with the view to measuring work involvement and work satisfaction, marriage integration, time management and support of husband to working wife. It was completed by 250 respondents, who were working married mothers with dependent children and who were selected by means of snowballing.The questionnaires were completed by the respondents on their own and the data obtained were statistically analysed. Five instruments were developed which together with the biographical data were subjected to hypothesis tests, with the following results: There is a high correlation (r= ,7556; P= ,000) between the support of the husband for the working wife and the quality of marital integration which is experienced indicating that an increase in support increases the level of marital integration. The support of the husband for the working wife (r= ,1651; P= ,009) together with the marital integration scale (r= ,1692; p= ,007) correlates positively with time management. These variables, showing a high positive correlation namely positive time management (r= ,3813; p= ,000), support of the husband for the wife (r= ,1599; p= ,011) and marital integration (r= ,1533; p= ,015) further correlate positively to work involvement and work satisfaction. The findings reflect that the more positive the support of the husband is, the better the quality of marital integration appears to be as well as time management together with increased work involvement and work satisfaction. It appears therefore that there are a number of interwoven variables which indicate that the working life of the wife is not fully detached from her family life and the relationship between the husband and the wife.