these circumstances push women to abandon employment after they marry and have children one survey carried out in three capital cities amman cairo and sana a estimated that married women in these urban areas were to per cent less likely to participate in the labour market than single women furthermore marriage was found to be a more decisive criterion for women s lack of participation in the labour force than was having children the same study also interviewed men to ascertain their perspectives on female participation in the workforce and found that over one third of the male respondents expressed their explicit objections to women seeking formal work it should be noted though that such findings vary greatly depending on the country and the methodology used