About: Decent Housing, Financial Limits, Flexible Working Hours, Equal Rights in the Home, Living Apart because of Work, Marriage and Late Work Shifts and more on Mywage Zambia.
Read our selection of articles on Work and Family:
- Housing in Zambia is too expensive
Decent housing a luxury for many Zambians says a new report by the JCTR. >> - Live within your means!
Know your financial limits and make it through 2010 by learning to live within your means. >> - Zambia needs more flexible hours for mums
Leaving your new-born child after maternity leave can be distressing. Unlike in Zambia, New Job Trends in other countries give women alternatives to raise their child and still work. >> - “Men want to help with house chores but…”
Some women are demanding Equal Rights in the home. Others remain more traditional about roles. Read how men feel about equality and house chores. >> - Zambian Couples Trading Marriage for Work?
As the cost of living rises in Zambia, many families can no longer live on one income. Some married couples are being Forced Apart, working in different towns and sometimes countries. >> - No love for waitresses
Women in the Hotel Industry are struggling to find marriage partners because of late work shifts. >>
Housing in Zambia is too expensive
By Meluse Kapatamoyo
A new report by the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR), a catholic think-tank, has raised alarm over the high cost of housing in medium density areas across Zambia, especially in the capital city, Lusaka.
This situation is making decent housing unaffordable to the majority of Zambians, forcing the poor to reside in poorly constructed houses with inadequate space to decently accommodate all family members.
The JCTR through its Satellite Homes Research, a qualitative survey of living conditions in high density areas of Lusaka, has over time revealed that this right is ignored.
“While it is irrefutable that housing is a basic need, the adequacy of it is perceived to be a luxury and often ignored,” said Miniva Chibuye, coordinator of the JCTR Social Conditions programme.
The right to adequate housing has specifically been enunciated under article 25(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and codified in other major international agreements. The Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights provides, in part, that “Parties to the present Covenant recognise the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions.”
It is for this reason that the JCTR’s Basic Needs Basket (BNB) (which measures the cost of living for a family of six in urban areas) reflects the cost of a three-bedroom house in a medium density area such as Chelston and Kabwata.
“A three-bedroom house is considered to be culturally decent and adequate for an average family of six. It is also the appropriate size to promote a decent standard of living for the girl-children, one for the boy-children and one for the parents,” said Chibuye.
The UN Global Shelter Strategy, to which Zambia is a signatory, states: “Adequate housing encompasses adequate security, adequate privacy, adequate space, adequate lighting and adequate location with regards to work and basic facilities.
According to JCTR, over half of Lusaka’s population live in unplanned high density areas with little or no maintenance of existing infrastructure.
The cost of housing over the past year in the medium density areas has however increased. For example, a three-bedroom house now costs on average K1, 500, 000 in comparison to K1, 100, 000 in 2009.
Additionally, the January BNB for Lusaka revealed that the nominal prices of food had increased by K20, 300 from a total of K822, 100 at the end of December to K842, 400 at the end of January. Increases were recorded in mealie meal and protein rich foods such as beans, meat and eggs.
Adding the cost of housing and other essential basic needs as energy, water and sanitation, the cost of living as at end of January 2010 amounted to K2,696, 030 up from K2, 276, 730 in December 2009.
Live within your means!
By Meluse Kapatamoyo
The Energy Regulation Board (ERB) recently announced a 15 percent increment on all petroleum products. In the capital, Lusaka, diesel is now trading at K6, 300 (US$1.50), with petrol selling at K6, 691. Kerosene was increased to K4, 409.
As is the trend in Zambia, a country with the most expensive petroleum products in the region, an increase in pump prices also means a swell in essential products. For workers this means time to “tighten your belt” and start living within your means.
Clothes
It’s the truth. Buying clothes can be addictive, even when one does not have money! That is why sales ladies can walk into your offices and sell overpriced clothes to you on credit. As an incentive, they’ll give you two months to pay. But most of the items you would not even buy if you found them in a store! Number one price cut, especially for women: getting clothes on credit! You want it on credit because you do not have the cash to pay for it. When those ladies walk into your office, look away. If the temptation is too much, walk out. You will be saving yourself the pressure of running from your debtors when they come for their payment.
Cellphones
Let’s break the myth, an SMS is not cheap. Not when you have not learned how to use it properly. According to communication experts, cellphone companies have become wealthy from just one tiny word on SMS - “Okay”. When someone sends you an SMS saying: “I’ll meet you at…” or “I’m on my way”, we respond “Okay”. It’s time to wise up – tell friends and family if they send a SMS that does not require a specific response, you will not be replying. In fact, like calls, send an SMS only when it is necessary. This includes jokes that say send to five people.
Eating Out
Let’s talk about the amount of money spent on lunches at work. Over the years, scrumptious and more expensive meals have been introduced in restaurants and the temptation is often too much to resist. But you will be shocked once you total up how much you spend on lunches at work alone. Advice: Carry a packed lunch from home, such as a sandwich and some fruit to nibble on. It will be very likely that your lunch will be much healthier than most take-away meals, and you will save money too.
Entertainment
I have come across people that just love to party, not only on weekends but also on Wednesdays (often known as “ladies night”). It is okay to hang out with your friends but nobody says it has to be at a club, which can prove very costly. Why not rather visit with friends, and share a pizza and your favourite drinks? And since we are talking living within your means, let’s face it. Few workers can afford to have DSTV entertainment in their homes, but many do. The monthly payments can best be channelled to other sources or better, placed in your savings.
Cash in Hand
Credit cards give the fake impression that you have a lot of money when you do not. The rule is, leave your credit cards at home and only take cash when you go shopping. That way you are more aware of how much you are spending.
Zambia needs more flexible hours for mums
By Meluse Kapatamoyo
Zambia’s labour law on maternity entitles every working pregnant woman to four months leave. But even with what is considered ample time granted for the mother and child to bond, most mums still feel guilty about leaving their new babies to return to work.
The guilt is also compounded by the lack of qualified help to care for their babies. And the option for such a woman is to either to put their motherly instincts aside and go back to work, or quit their job to raise the baby.
But women in other countries are not so unlucky. They have various options at their disposal and only quit their jobs because they want to.
In the United Kingdom, for example, some companies offer their employees a choice to work from home while taking care of their children. This, however, is only done if they can work as efficiently as they would when working in the office, because working from home does not mean working fewer hours.
Another popular trend is job sharing, a trend in which two people get to share one job. Your responsibilities are shared and even if this means sharing your salary too, it is regarded as a great option for mums. Not only do they get to raise their children, they still continue contributing to the well-being of their families.
In Zambia, even working half-days is synonymous to civil servants and a few international organisations operating in the country and is normally restricted to Fridays. A few companies are now using working half the hours of a normal working day as way of easing mothers back into the system after their maternity leave.
Men want to help with house chores but…
By Meluse Kapatamoyo
Views on whether or not a man should help out with what are considered as “womanly duties” in a home differ from one woman to another. And while a man may get kudos from some women for ignoring tradition and deciding to help out with household chores such as cooking or washing dishes, he is rebuked by others who still believe the kitchen is a woman’s domain.
Married for just one year, Stephen Mwaamba shared his experiences with Mywage: “I am the kind of man who has no problem doing household chores. I clean dishes, cook and even bake sometimes. My wife and I have fun doing things together but the negative comments other women make when they come to visit, put me off.
“I have had female members from both sides of our families warn me against being too helpful. Some have even suggested she will lose respect for me if I continue to stand with her in the kitchen. Yes, I do get a handful of compliments but they come from some of our friends.
“One day I went to the market to buy some vegetables, but when I leaned over to choose which type of tomatoes I wanted, the woman selling the tomatoes noticed my ring. She calmly asked me where my wife was and I said ‘home’. Her next statement surprised me, because while sounding very sympathetic she said ‘You are a man, behave like one. Don’t let a woman walk all over you’.
“Another woman who had been listening to our conversation suggested I seek the elders’ intervention because my wife had used voodoo on me (according to her).
“I was quiet baffled because I thought women would be appreciative of men who refuse to bow down to tradition but strangely enough, despite them demanding equal rights in a home, they are still not sure what it is they really want.
“We have one set of women who want things to change; another still believes that even though a woman’s place may also be in the boardroom, her usual place will always be in the kitchen. And until women decide what they really want, there is little men can do to help make their lives easier.”
Zambian Couples Trading Marriages for Work?
By Meluse Kapatamoyo
With very little employment opportunities available especially in urban areas, some couples are choosing to work far from their matrimonial homes rather than staying without a job at all. But as many couples have come to find out, living apart brings dire consequences to a marriage.
Rachael Nakweti, a 29-year-old Rachael teacher working in rural Zambia, shared her experiences with Mywage Zambia:
“When I first heard that I was among those selected to be on the teacher’s pay-roll, after fours years of waiting, I was ecstatic. But my joy turned to sadness almost immediately when they told me that I was to take up my teaching position in another province. That is like 14 hours away from where I lived with my husband.
“I was only seven months in marriage and two months pregnant then. I thought about turning down the job but couldn’t let the opportunity pass me by especially after not working for so long. Although my husband was in full-time employment, we were barely making ends meet. And with the baby on the way, we needed the extra income.
“My husband and I convinced ourselves that somehow we would make the marriage work. We would exchange visits as often as we could. So, I left for Northern Province.
“The place turned out to be worse than I had expected. There was no running water in the house and no electricity. And if didn’t manage to catch a ride, I had to walk 26 kilometres to buy basic necessities like soap, sugar and cooking oil.
“At the time, I thought that was the worst time of my life but little did I know things would get even worse. I was pregnant and living in a strange place without any family and I missed my husband terribly. But I was comforted by the fact that for the first time in my life, I was able to financially support my parents and I wouldn’t entirely depend on my husband alone to provide for our child.
“Before my maternity leave started, I only saw my husband twice. We realised travel costs were too high … he had to spend approximately K400,000 (about US$80) on transport alone.
“It was also difficult to maintain any type of communication because of the long distance to the Boma (town), the only place were I could get internet access. And because I had no electricity, it took me a while before I could charge my phone once it went off. But even then I had to walk a long distance to reach a place where there was network coverage.
“That is why I was glad when my maternity leave started. I gave birth to a bouncy baby girl. I spent approximately 120 days with my husband, including my leave days before I left to return to work.
“It was even harder to leave the second time. I had noticed the strain of being apart had made on our marriage. My husband had become so accustomed to living alone that he barely consulted me before making decisions on things that affected both of us; and we barely talked.
“It was like we had nothing in common. There was a slight change when the baby was born, but unfortunately, every time we spoke it had to do with our daughter.
“Although I tried to concentrate on work, my mind was constantly on marriage. We argued all the time about everything, mainly about our child and the poor conditions I was keeping our baby under. We agreed that once she was two, he would take her.
“Not too long after, my baby developed a high fever which lasted three days. I rushed her to the hospital on the fifth day but she died that same day. I had to phone my husband and tell him our daughter was dead when he didn’t even know she had been sick. He was attending a seminar and had travelled. So it took him another day before he arrived and with the help of friends, we buried our baby a day later. She was six months old.
“Our marriage has never been the same since. My daughter died in January and my husband has only visited me once since then, and it feels awkward. He never talks about our child but I think he blames me for her death.
“I am weighing the options; do I quit my job and save our marriage or do I stick it out and hope that the situation in my life will improve? I have a feeling that if I don’t leave my job, we are heading for a divorce. But then, again, do I want to be one of those women who depend solely on a man for everything?
“Right now my working conditions are such that I can’t transfer outside the province. Even that move requires that I work for two years before I can file a transfer request; this is the government’s position (to help retain rural teachers). I guess … I can’t have it both, a happy marriage and a fulfilling career.
No love for waitresses
By Meluse Kapatamoyo
For women in the hotel industry, finding marriage partners is proving difficult as most men are reluctant to wed ladies who work late night shifts.
“I have been in relationships that start out well but end miserably because of the awkward hours I have to work. In the beginning, men are okay with me working night shifts but as the relationship progresses and things start getting serious, their fears set-in,” explained
Rachael Kaingu, a waitress working at one of the country’s popular restaurants in Lusaka.
“People still see it as taboo for a woman to be outside of the home while the husband sleeps. My ex- fiancé broke off our engagement when I refused to quit my job. I loved him but giving up my job meant I would be completely dependent on him.”
Despite making that bold decision to stay in employment, at age 27, Rachael now wonders if she made the right decision. Two of her work-mates recently got married, but not before they quit their jobs.
“I feel I have lost out on love because of my career. I have had two good relationships that have all ended because of the odd hours I work. I think deep-down some are even embarrassed to date a woman who works as a waitress. They see our interaction with guests as flirting,” she narrated.
“My ex-fiancé once manhandled me in front of guests and accused me of flirting with one of the regular patrons when he saw the two of us chatting while I waited for him to sign his bill.
Rachael now fears she will never find a man who will completely accept her career.
”Pressure doesn’t just come from men alone but their families too. He can accept what I do now, maybe we can even get married but I know for sure that later he will demand I give it up. I am not ready to do that just now.”