IRAQ: Unemployment forces female professionals into domestic work

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/5e03d3551cca13c49871405bb70ea3bd.htm

BAGHDAD, 25 July (IRIN) - Najla Muhammad, 34, is a biologist who graduated from one of the best universities in the capital. Unfortunately, however, rising unemployment has forced her to seek work as a housekeeper in order to support her family.

"I didn't have a choice. My family was going to starve if I didn't find a better job," says Najla. "For years I worked in a scientific laboratory in Baghdad, but they couldn't pay all their employees. I was left with three children and a mother to look after."

Najla now works as a housekeeper to make ends meet, receiving between US $100 and US $120 dollars a month. Her husband, meanwhile, holds a degree in economics but has been unemployed for nearly a year and has few prospects for work.

National unemployment figures have risen ever since the occupation of the country by US-led forces three years ago. Local NGOs say this has led to increasing numbers of female professionals being driven to search for work as domestic servants.

[rzemanfl]

1. Just wait. Soon this will say "U.S." the super rich will love having

Ph.D.s change their linens.