Transitions and boundaries: Research into the impact of paid work on young women's lives in Jordan

Abstract

This paper explores the economic and social impact of the growing participation of young urban women in the workforce in Amman, Jordan. The writer argues that there is a new 'stage' in women's life-course in Jordan: single, employed adulthood. This is expanding young women's horizons, and challenging relationships between women and men, and between different generations, at all levels of society, including within the household. However, traditional values concerning family honour are challenged by this, and are sometimes being reinforced through new forms of control over young women.