In addition, the use of part-time and temporary workers is becoming increasingly common, and up to 90 per cent of these workers are women. This has short-term benefits in that it increases the number of jobs that can be handled along with household responsibilities. It has long-term disadvantages, however, including reduced job security, retraining opportunities, and workplace benefits, such as pensions and health insurance. Women work because they need to do so to support their families, whether or not they have a partner and whether or not he is making a contribution to the household. Male unemployment and underemployment have put even more pressure on women to take on the role of bread-winner.
Men are increasingly unable to support their families alone.
In Canada, France, Sweden, the United States, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain, the percentage of prime working-age men without jobs has increased. Working mothers, who must reconcile work out-side the home while retaining primary responsibilities for child care and other duties, shoulder a heavy burden, particularly as their families grow. Evidence from the Philippines shows that with each additional young child, a mother's workload increases by an average of 8.4 hours per week. And it is clear that economic empowerment is linked to family planning use. In many instances, a woman's burden as both income provider and caregiver is increased because the father is absent either all or part of the time.