For about half of the women
between 30 and 44 years, having a child has significantly altered their lives,
forcing a reduction in working hours, or a temporary or permanent cessation of
work. The existence of children alone does not explain the difficulty of
reconciling work and family. To understand the problem it is necessary to ask
about female employment rate the reduction of fertility, which in Spain has
fallen to a rate of 1.34 children per woman.
Other countries integrated in the European Parliament have a high fertility rate
and a highest female employment than other countries that have not joined the
EU. A difference in Spain, which affects the low birth rate, is that 37% of
female workers have a temporary contract, while the EU average is 15.5%.
Often in a young family both partners have a temporary contract, which
influences their decisions to have children. Most women in the European
Community countries believe that the ideal model is one in which both spouses
have a job of similar dedication and share the childcare. But less than half of
the persons in the EU live in families with these characteristics.
The female working activity is not an obstacle to have children and even to form
large families. This is the opinion about work and children shared by a relevant
author of the last century, the blessed pope John Paul II, who advised parents:
"do not hesitate to have a large family, because the priority is not the pursuit
of professional success, but to transmit to the children those human and
Christian values that give a true meaning to the life”.
In this decadent society the child shall be valued at their full size and
importance as a developing person. Instead, it often seems that some adults made
a special effort to go "against nature", degrading the physical and moral
integrity of the children. Those cruel parents should not forget that the
children are not their, they are children of God.
"The wonderful thing about childhood is that anything in it is wonderful," wrote
Gilbert Keith Chesterton.
Author and journalist Clemente Ferrer has led a distinguished career in Spain in
the fields of advertising and public relations. He is currently President of the
European Institute of Marketing.
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