Breadwinner mothers in Egypt face a continuous challenge in the private sector’s refusal to employ them, which is an explicit violation of the Egyptian Labour Law, which prohibits discrimination between individuals on the basis of sex, religion or colour. This refusal pushes many of these mothers to accept jobs that do not match their academic or professional qualifications, worsening their economic and social suffering amid the difficult economic conditions the country is going through.
Among these mothers, Mai Magdy (35) tells her story of unemployment after graduating from the Faculty of Law at Ain Shams University in 2010. Mai says she faced continuous rejection from companies and law firms because of her status as a breadwinner mother of four children, three of whom suffer from chronic illnesses, which makes it very hard for her to meet their needs. “Even when I found a job offer at a company, the salary did not exceed EGP 1,000 a month, despite long working hours from eight in the morning until 11 at night,” Mai says.
Because of these circumstances, Mai was forced to work delivering orders to homes, work completely at odds with her academic qualifications and experience, but she had to accept it to secure a decent family life. Mai stresses that these difficult economic conditions make breadwinner mothers vulnerable to exploitation by employers who take advantage of their need for work amid high inflation.
The problem of breadwinner mothers in the private sector requires quick and fair solutions, especially since the Egyptian Labour Law guarantees their rights. Action by government institutions and civil society to protect this group from exploitation, together with mechanisms to ensure the laws are effectively applied, is the only way to improve the current situation.
Refusal to Hire
Mai believes there is explicit wage discrimination between men and women in the labour market, with employers resorting to illogical justifications for refusing to employ breadwinner mothers, such as the man’s guardianship over the family and his ability to move around more freely. After her divorce, she found it very difficult to find a job suited to her specialisation, as she was surprised by the refusal of many companies, which linked it to her having children. She says: “I had to work delivering orders, having started this work two years ago, but my net monthly income now does not exceed EGP 2,000, because I cannot own a private means of transport, which pushed me to use the metro, which consumes more than half my salary.” Mai dreams of owning a scooter or a bicycle so she can deliver orders more flexibly, away from the hardships of daily commuting.
On 15 April 2024, the Ministry of Labour issued a circular to the directorates on the mechanisms for implementing the decision to raise the minimum wage for private sector workers to EGP 6,000 from last May; however, many private sector institutions refuse to apply it in practice. Article 80 of Egypt’s Labour Law stipulates that working hours are eight hours, interspersed with an hour of rest, and if working hours exceed what is stipulated by law, the worker is supposed to be paid for those hours; otherwise it is a legal violation. According to Article 35 of Labour Law No. 12 of 2003, wage discrimination on the basis of sex, origin, language, religion or belief is prohibited.
Mariam El-Masry fared no better than Mai in facing the challenges of the labour market. After separating from her husband four years ago, Mariam, the mother of a child no older than ten, bore the responsibility of raising her son alone. Her difficult economic situation pushed her to look for job opportunities that would secure a decent life for her and her child, despite holding a bachelor’s degree in commerce from Cairo University.
Mariam started work at a garment factory in 2022 with a salary of EGP 2,700, then moved to work at a care home for the elderly in 2023, before finally settling in a job as a saleswoman at a sweet shop. Mariam says: “My difficult economic circumstances forced me to accept jobs unrelated to my field of study, after employers refused to hire me with my degree because I am a breadwinner mother. I never imagined working in these fields, but the need for work pushed me to accept jobs completely unsuited to my specialisation. Even so, my salary did not exceed EGP 3,000 a month.”
According to data from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, the inflation rate reached its highest level in September 2023, at 40.30%, falling to 26% in September 2024. According to the agency’s data for September 2024 compared with the same month of 2023, inflation was highest in the recreation category at 49%, followed by alcoholic beverages and tobacco at 35.9%, restaurants and hotels at 31.1% and then transport at 30.2%.
Mariam says: “Despite continuous inflation and rising prices of food, transport and services, the salaries on offer are not enough even to meet basic living needs. While working at the care home, I used to take my child with me to improve my financial situation and save some food and transport expenses, but the meal provided was very poor, and even so, my salary is still not enough to cover basic requirements.”
Mariam, in her forties, dreams of finding a suitable job opportunity, especially after months of unemployment.
Ibtisam Abdel Aal (40, from Beheira governorate) complains of clear wage discrimination between women and men, which pushed her to look for a job that would enable her to meet her own needs and those of her three children, after her husband left her and travelled to Morocco in 2018, cutting off all contact with them two years after his departure.
In 2020, Ibtisam decided to look for a new job opportunity, and moved with her children to Damietta governorate to work there after her husband married another woman in Morocco and had been cut off from his family for the past six years. Ibtisam says: “I had to work as a delivery worker to be able to care for my children, especially since one of them has an intellectual delay. Even so, my monthly income did not exceed EGP 3,500, while men’s income in the same job exceeds EGP 4,500.”
Ibtisam adds that she faced rejection from employers at restaurants and pharmacies, who attributed it to not employing women in those jobs, especially if they are breadwinner mothers.
Ibtisam dreams of owning a delivery vehicle and an apartment of her own, as the bicycle she currently uses for work causes her many difficulties, especially in winter, making her work more challenging amid the difficult economic conditions.
Low Salaries
According to the World Bank’s annual report “Women, Business and the Law”, Egypt ranked 175th out of 190 economies. The general index measures women’s situation in eight areas: “equality in mobility, the workplace, pay, marriage, parenthood, entrepreneurship, assets and pensions”.
According to the report, Egypt recorded its worst results on the indicator of equality in pay and marriage, at (0%); on the indicator of equality and protection from pay discrimination between women and men, Egypt recorded (0%); and on the indicator of legal protection against violence and childcare, Egypt recorded 37.5%, while the global average is 64%.
Despite holding a bachelor’s degree in agriculture with distinction, Rahaf Dawoud (37, born in Kafr El-Sheikh governorate) has not been able to find a job matching her degree throughout her working years. Rahaf began working in marketing nine years ago, but faced clear wage discrimination, as women are hired on low salaries compared with men in the same jobs.
Rahaf says: “Employers justify this with unconvincing excuses, and I worked for many years without a contract or insurance.” Amid the difficult economic conditions, Rahaf found no better opportunity than working as a “moderator and sales” at a clothes shop, with a salary of EGP 2,000, which includes topping up an internet package worth EGP 500 a month, for ten hours of work a day. This reduced her net income to EGP 1,500, while men in the same job are paid no less than EGP 4,000.
For her part, Amira Ismail (34, from Dakahlia governorate) also suffers from marginalised pay despite her high qualifications: she holds a law degree and a master’s in law, in addition to being registered for a doctorate and having studied marketing and translation at the American University. Amira says: “The employer is the first to control the setting of the salary, and staying in the job for a long time depends on his satisfaction with you. And in a moment, you may be surprised by a decision to dismiss you.” She also feels exploited after working for two years with a translation company, where the Eid holiday was counted as only one day, and any absence was deducted from the salary or the leave balance.
Amira adds that although her salary did not exceed EGP 3,000 or 4,000, she is a breadwinner mother of one child, and receives alimony not exceeding EGP 800, while her ex-husband, who works as a bank manager, earns more than EGP 20,000. Amira complains of private companies advertising jobs with salaries ranging between EGP 2,000 and 3,000, despite long working hours exceeding 12 hours a day, and without contracts or insurance, which pushed her to work as a freelance translator. She calls for activating a system of employment through regulated work contracts, stressing that what employers follow in these jobs is a violation of employees’ rights, as they are easily dispensed with according to the employers’ mood.
Hala Doma, a lawyer at the High Court of Appeal and legal consultant, tells Zawia3: “If a worker is dismissed, whether insured or not, with an employment contract or not, they must go to the labour office within ten days of the incident to report the dismissal; they can also go to the police station to file a report establishing the situation and documenting the details of the arbitrary dismissal and the salaries owed to them by the employer.”
Doma adds: “If women are refused employment in certain jobs because they are breadwinner mothers, this is clear gender discrimination, and those affected can file a complaint at the labour office and bring a misdemeanour discrimination case against the entity involved, as it is a violation provided for in the Penal Code, which punishes discrimination in employment.”
Doma receives many complaints related to gender discrimination in wages, stressing the importance of dealing with these cases legally to guarantee the rights of working women.
The Private Sector
Mona Ezzat, chair of the board of trustees of the Al-Nun Foundation for Family Care, calls on working women who are subjected to legal violations related to working hours or wages to go to the labour office to file official complaints. Ezzat explains that many private employers refuse to hire women, and ask them illegal questions during interviews such as: “When are you getting married?”, “Are you pregnant?”, “Do you have children?” and “How old are you?”.
Ezzat adds that these questions are used as a pretext by employers to evade their obligations towards female workers, such as providing nurseries or granting maternity and childcare leave. She stresses that these practices are a violation of the law, noting that the competent bodies should focus only on the requirements of the profession and experience, not on personal matters.
Ezzat attributes gender discrimination in wages to cultural and social factors and the stereotypical view of women, stressing the need to change these concepts. She also proposes that there be a competent body to receive women’s complaints of gender discrimination, suggesting that the Ministry of Manpower take on this role, along with inspection campaigns at factories to check the number of female workers and whether it matches the legal limit.
Despite these demands, the suffering of Mai, Mariam, Rahaf, Amira and Ibtisam continues, as many women cannot find decent employment opportunities matching their qualifications and experience, while employers justify this by their being breadwinner mothers, which increases wage discrimination compared with their male colleagues.
