Women and Comuting

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Sex Discrimination, Commuting, and the Role of Women in Rumanian DevelopmentAuthor(s): William MoskoffSource: Slavic Review, Vol. 37, No. 3 (Sep., 1978), pp. 440-456Published by: Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies

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Role of Women in Rumanian Development 441Table 1 Labor Force ParticipationRates of European Women, Ages 20-59, circa1970 (in percent)

FemaleLaborForceCountry ParticipationateUSSR 81.5Bulgaria 76.6Poland 76.3German emocratic epublic 76.1Rumania 74.9Czechoslovakia 73.4Hungary 61.6Denmark 55.8UnitedKingdom 54.2France 51.2Sweden 49.8Source: InternationalaborOffice,earbook fLabor StatisticsGeneva, 975).

output.National ncomegrewat an annual averagerate of 9.7 percentduringtheperiod1951-74. The value of industrialutput n 1974was seventeen imesthat of 1950 and the value of construction, fourteen times the 1950 figure.2These achievementswere largely accomplished y high levels of investment,typicallyn the neighborhoodf 30 percent f national ncome, nd a substantialshift f labor from griculture o the newlydeveloping ndustrial nd construc-tion sectors ocatedprimarilyn the urbanareas. By 1974only40 percent f thelaborforce emainednagriculture;n industryhefigure ad risen o30 percent.Correspondingly,etween 950and 1974, he hareof ndustrynnational ncomerose from44 percent o 57 percent, nd the share of agriculturen nationalincomedeclined rom 8 percent o 16 percent.3The strategy f extensive evelopment y massive ransfersfworkers romagriculture to industry and construction was reinforcedby the decision to drawwomen ntothe full-timeabor force n large numbers, speciallyn agriculturewhere formerly heyhad been auxiliary familyworkers. Table 1 shows that thelabor forceparticipation ate of working-age omen ages 20-59) is quite high(74.9 percent). t comparesfavorablywiththehigh ratesfound n otherbloccountries nd is higher han ratesfound nwestern nd northernurope.A definitesymmetricattern merges n respect o thestructure f femaleemploymentn Rumania. Women are dominantn agriculture,onstituting0percent of the agricultural labor force, as opposed to only about 35 percent ofthe industrial abor force,4 he lowest percentage in Eastern Europe. Agricultureabsorbsnearly wo-thirdsf the totalfemale aborforce,5 nd therole of women

2. Anuaral, 1975,pp. 51 and 56.3. Anuaral, 1975,pp. 54 and 67.4. Tamar Dobriin, Integrarea femeii n viata social-economica contemporana,"Viitorulsocial, 4, no. 4 (1975): 634-41; Aneta Spornic, Utilizarea eficientd resurselorde mTuncd1feminine n Rom2dnia Bucharest, 1975), p. 105. Intensiveuse of women in agriculture s notunique n Rumania. In Czechoslovakia, n 1975,womencomprised55 percentof theagriculturallaborforce, lthough n 1974 thisfigurewas as low as 47 percent Statisticka rocenka CSSR[Prague, various years]). In Rumnania, he feminization f this sector has been carried togreater engths han n anyotherEast European country.5. Constantin onescu, OQnul,socetatea, ocialistnul (Bucharest, 1973), p. 101.


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442 Slavic Reviewin agriculture as increased elative o thatof men. n 1956, for example, herewere115womelnor very100men ntheagricultural orkforce; n 1966therewere 134-womenforevery 100nmales.6 oreover,while theshare of women nthe total abor forcedeclinedby one-tenth f a percentage oint (45.3 percentto45.2percent)during hesame period, he female hare ofagricultural mploy-ment ose by nearly ivepercentage oints 54.1 percent o 58.8 percent).The intensive se ofwomen n the labor force ppearsto createa certainamount fconflict ith neofthe secondary oals of the state,namely, ncreasingthe birthrate. he Rumanian rude birthrateell from 5 per 1000 in themid-1950sto a low of about 14per 1000 in 1966.In 1963, the net reproduction atefell below the level of populationreplacement. lready faced with a growinglaborshortage, nd alarmed by long-run abor force mplications,he govern-mentbanned ll buttherapeutic bortions lndeliminated he availability f allcontraceptives.lthough hesepolicieswere somewhat uccessful,he Rumanianbirthraten the first alfof the 1970s (18-20 per 1000) had onlyrisento alevel n the neighborhoodf the birthratesn the Soviet Union, Poland, Czecho-slovakia, ndJapan, ll ofwhichhaveabortion n demand s well as easyaccessto contraceptives.In Rumania, amilies se a combinationf rhythm, ithdrawal,egal (thera-peutic) abortions, emilegalabortions bribing hospital doctors), and illegalabortionsnan efforto keepthe birthrateown.That thestatehas been unableto raise thebirthrate o higher evels reflectsn part the desire of Rumanianfamilies o maximize ncome. t is not onlythat children re a financial urden,a more mportantactor s that t is verydifficultor womanto hold a full-timejob alndraise children.Because two incomes re necessary o achieve even amodest standardof livingin the ut-ban reas, and because Rumanians haveaspirations f consumingwhatever imited rappings f urbanization nd indus-trializationre madeavailable otheem, anywomen hoose not to have childrenat all or to have oinlyone child. This is especially rue of well-educated omen;84 percent f thosewith universityducation ave onlyone child.The dilemmafor the state is unambiguous: ntensify fforts o raise the birthrate t thepotentialostofdrawingwomen utoftheproductiveabor force, r be resignedto a less than desired ncrease n the labor forceof futuregenerations nd ahigh abor forceparticipation ate of women n the shortrun.7Anothermajor goal ofthe state s to minimize ocial overheadcapital ex-penditures.n particular, lannerswish to economize n resources oing to theurban sectorfor construction f housing, chools, nd medical facilities.8 hispolicyhas beensupported y restrictingntryntothe arge cities through igidstate allocation f jobs and apartments. ut thegoal of containing he size oflarge cities conflictswith the needs of managers who demand labor, which

6. Vladimir Trebici, Populatia Romiinieisi cresterea economica (Bucharest, 1971), pp.180,22,223.7. This discussion is drawn from William Moskoff,"Pronatalist Policies in Romania,"Economic Development nd Cultural Change,fortlhcominig.8. This thesishas been rigorouslydeveloped by Gur Ofer,"Industrial Structure,Urbani-zation, and theGrowthStrategyof Socialist Countries," QuarterlyJournalof Economtics, o.2 (May 1976): 219-44. Using cross-sectionaldata,he contends hatgiventhe level of develop-ment n the bloc countries ne would expecta higher evel ofurbanization hanactuallyexists,whenmarket economies are used as a benchmark.From this he concludes that socialist plan-nershave minimized heurbancapital/laborratio.


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Role of Womenin Rumanian Development 443leads to de factorelaxation f migration olicy.Migrationpolicyalso conflictswith he household's oal of incomemaximization. igh urban ncomesrelativeto agriculturereate strong ressure o leave agriculturen favorofthecities.From the household'spointof view, the citiesalso offer pportunitiesn edu-cation, ulture, nd the labormarketfor theirchildren hatare not availablein therural reas.The competing oals of the state and the householdhave been resolvedoverwhelminglyn favorof the state through system f navetismul, or com-muting.Because governmentolicies forcefamilies o continue o live in thecountryside, ives work n theonlyplace they onvenientlyan,theagriculturallabor force.Consequently, omenhave cometo dominate heagriculturalworkforcewhilemen havebeendrawn nto thegrowing ranches f the economy-industrynd construction. ommuting hus ensures that the state's growingurban abor forcewill be fed,but it minimizes he social capital/labor atio inurban areas. Rumanian plannersstate that this dual labor market reflectsconcernforrationalresource llocation n a capital-poor conomywhichhaslargely liminated edundant abor in agriculture.Work in industrynd con-structions regarded s physically ifficult,equiringhestrengthfmen.Workin agricultures regarded s fitforwomen,even though t too is extremelyonerousand largelyunmechanized. s a result,womenare found principallyin traditionallyemale ndustries. he notion hatconcerns orrational esourceallocationguide Rumanian abor planners s unconvincing. ather,the placeofwomen s clearly eingdictated y patterns fsex discriminationn the abormarket nd by their choice"of certain obs because of theirobligation o carefor theirhomes and fortheirchildren. t is importanto recognize hatcom-muting as developed n relation o the roleof women n agriculture.While itis themenwhodo thecommuting,t is the rolethatwomenplaywhich mplicitlyallows this to happen.This is theframework ithinwhichthe role of womenin the Rumanian abor marketwill be analyzed.

The commutingystemhas maximized ncome for the rural Rumanianhousehold, iven heconstraintf abor mmobilitymposed ymigration olicies.Without n organized ystem f labor movement,he Rumanianswould havebeen faced with an urbanhousing crisis similar o that created n the SovietUnion duringthe mass migration o the cities which took place in 1928-41and fromwhich hey till suffer oday. n 1970 about 1.2 millionpersonswerecommutersnavetisti) or somewhere etweenone-fourthnd one-fifthf thenonagriculturalabor force.9 he projection or 1980 is thatabout 1.8 millionindividuals ho ive nrural reas will work n urban reas.This would be aboutone-fifthf he aborforce uring hatyear.10The evidence uggests hat he commutinghenomenonas been usedmoreintensivelynRtumaniahan n other ast Europeancountries.n East Germany,for xample,essthan5 percent f the urban abor force ommuteso citiesfromthevillages. n Poland about10 percent f the urban aborforce s made up of

9. Ion Blaga, Repartizarea teritorialaa fortelorde produtctien Roindnia (Bucharest,1974),p.59.10. Ion Blaga, "Probleme ctualeale urbanizariin Romania," ra socialistd, no. 14(1974),p.34.


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444 Slavic Reviewcommuters.he situations somewhat ifferentnHungarywhere pproximately25 percent f the urban labor forcecommutes.However, onlyabout one-fifthof these or 5 percent ftheurban aborforce) comnmuten a dailybasis. Theremainder ive in the city all week in rent-free,nterprise-ownedousingandreturn ome n weekends.1'Of those Rumanianswho commute,bout95 percent f the menand 100percent f thewomendo so daily.Daily commutersend o travel hortdistances,generally eingbussed ntoworkfrom n agricultural ooperative CAP) byanenterprisen the morning nd returned ome in the late afternoon. he otherconmuters ravel ongerdistances nd spendmore ime wayfrom heir illages,perhaps wo days at a time, nd thengo homefortwodays.12In addition o thespecial busesfurnishedy enterprises,ommuting orkers se the nationalrail-way system, ormal ntercityus routes, nd CAP trucks ortransportation.The commutingystem, hich nvolves hetemporary ovement f ndividu-als, shouldbe clistinguishedrom he processof permanentmigrationml1igratia).The right o move o a city s carefully ispensed o two categories f people.Thefirst roup ncompasses hosewho maymove o the city or s long as theywish.This group ncludes: (1) graduates f universities ho have been assignedto amajor population enter;and (2) professionals ho have been transferredo acity, or xample, killed echnicians. he right o take up residence ermanentlyina city s conferredspecially ponthose ngaged n branches f the economy rin projectswhichhave highpriorityn the five-year lan. In thesecases, the en-terprise s responsible orfacilitatinglhemovement f the family o the city.Thesecondbroadcategory omprises ersonswho have permissiono stay emporarilyinthecity.Typically, hese re younger, nskilledworkers rom illages,whoaremostoften ound n construction ork.Wheenhe particularob ends,theymustleavethe ity.13Beforediscussing he sex structure f both migrantsnd commuters,t isimportanto talk boutmotivationsor eaving he village.The primary ttractionofthecity s, ofcourse, hehiglherncome ssociatedwithwork n industryndconstruction.n 1974, the average monthlyncomeofan industrialworkerwas8 percenthigher nd thatof a construction orker25 percenthigher han anagricultutralorker'smonthlyncome.14Althoughn 8 percent ifferenceetweenagriculturalnd industrialwages is nothiglh,t mustbe rememberedhatmanycooperativearmworkers eceive onsiderablyess than heaverage.The individ-uals who work on the lowestpaying, east stable cooperatives re thereforemost ikely o migrate. everalRumanian tudies endto confirm hesignificant

11. Based on conversationsduring February 1976 with Dr. Josef Nemeth, agriculturalattache at the Hungarian embassy, Dr. Jerzy Rasinki, agricultural attache at the Polishembassy, nd a commercialofficert the embassyof the GermanDemocratic Republic, all inWashington,D.C. Regrettably,Czechoslovakianidata are unclear. Ota Sik says that in themid-1960s2,300,000Czechs commutedto work. This would be about 33 percentof the 1966labor force.However, I cannot tell whetherthis is confined o thosewho commutefrom vil-lages to cities (see Ota Rik, C-echoslovakia: The Bureaucratic Economy [White Plains,N.Y., 1972],p. 93).12. Interviewwith Maria Fulea and Marcia Cobianu, Center for Sociological Research,Bucharest,April 29, 1976.13. Interview with Honorina Cozacu, Center for Sociological Research, Bucharest,April30,1976.14. Anuarul,1975, p. 76.


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Role of Womenin RumanianDevelopment 445roleof ncome n nternalmigration. ne study, or xample, emonstratedclearinverse orrelationietween he evelofremtunerationn the CAP's and themigra-tioni ate.Moreover, heguaranteed ature f ncomesnnonagriculturalrancheswas also found obea strong nducemento leave agriculture.1-5Noneconomaiceasons lso affect igration,lthough o a lesserdegree.Work-ingconditionsn thenonagriculttiralector ftheeconomy,uch s thefnxed ight-hourworkday, re regarded s more appealing hanthe more erratic nd oftenlongerworlcdayn thefields.There is a prestige ssociatedwithurban incomethat s not attached o agricultural arnings, egardless f the level. It is also acomnmonuralview that choolings superiorn thecities ndthe educationalndcareeropportunitiesor children re enhancedby living n an urban environ-ment.'6

There are two categories f women nvolvedn the migration rocess. rhefirst ncluides oungwomenwho leave thevillagewithsome kind of vocationaleducationfter inishlingenyears f chool nd womenwhoareuniversity-trainedand have beengiven heright often arnedby passing special examination) opractice heir rofessionna major city.Women nthis ategory ave the greatestpossibilityf enteringhecityas permanent esidents. he second category fwomenwhocometo the cities re thosewhoare married o menwho have beenrecruitedorurban ndustrial r construction ork.Generally hey re unskilled,especiallyfthey re 35-40 yearsofage and older. f thesewomen work, t isusually nskilledwork uch s housecleaning.'7Men and womencommuters like, while not necessarily nskilled, end tohave lower kill evel han hosewho are permanent igrants. hey have earnedtheirobs through n-the-job rainingather han nthe more heoreticallyrien-tedvocationalnd technicalchools.These individuals rerecruitedn thevillagesbytheLabor Force Distribution fficesOffici e Repartizare Forteide Mun-cd).18 The importancef hecommutingystemn a given ity s inpart functionofthecity's conomy. he more ndu.strieshecityhas inwhichwonomenlredomi-nate, he ess importantommiutings as a sourceof abor. On the otherhand, hegreater he mportance fsectors uchas construction, here menpredominate,themore ikely ommuitings tobe important.19t is also thecase that hegreater

thedistance ftherural reafrom hecity, he ess likelytis thatwomnen illbecommutiers.20he lowerdegr-eeowhichlwonyienomitmuteayplacesomestt-ainson recruiting,n adeqtuate umber fwomene orkersnfemale-domiinatedndus-tries, lthoughhere eems o be nodirect vidence n thispoinit.As inany situationnwhich ravel inmes involved, here re implicit ostsimpingingn the ndividualsntd heir amilies.Workers ouldspend as little s15. Maria Fulea, "Motivatii sociale si econcomice le migratiuniiforteide munch dinC.A.P.," Viitorul social, 1, no. 1 (1972) :160. She also indicated. o me that the desire tomigratefronmtatefarmsto the city s less intensebecause of the stable and higher lncome f

statefarmers.16. Maria Fulea, "Aspecte ale mobilitatiipopulatiei rurale," Viitorul social, 2, no. 3(1973): 635; Fulea,"Motivatii sociale," p. 160; atndnterviewwitll Fulea and Cobianu, May11,1976.17. InterviewwithCozacu, April 31, 1976.18. InterviewwithFulea and Cobianu, April 29, 1976.19. InterviewwithProfessorDr. Petre Burloiu,May 6, 1976.20. Costin Stefanescu, "Probleme sociale Ui profesionale ale femeilor salariate dinlocalitatileperiurbane," n Statutul social al femteiloralariate (Bucharest, 1971), p. 134.


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446 Slavic Reviewanlhour daycomnmutingo work f,for xample, hey re traveling rom col-lective armno work na constructionroject n theedge of a city ikeBucharest.However, t would inot e uniusual or a worker o spendthree or fourhoursdaily raveling o andfromwork. n moreextreme ases,round-tripravel ouldeasily akeup close toeight rtenhoursfor worker ravelingrom hesoutherntothenorthern artoftl-ieountry n a weekly asis orperhaps hree imes verytwoweeks, ndependent f any ntracityravelwheni he worker s on the ob.Both economic nd social factors ccountforthe fact hat menconstituteclearmajority fcommuters. he econiomicmpacthas to do with he mportanceofheavy ndustryndconstructionn thedevelopmenttrategy. conscious eci-sionhasbeenmnadeorecruit rincipally aleworkers,he ustificationeing hatthestrength fmnens required orthesebranches.21s willbe argued n detailbelow, exdiscriminations operative ere.Thereare severalunderlyingocialforceswhich reate hegap between henumberfmale ndfemale ommuters. majorreason sthedual role hatwomenplayas wives and mothers, lso treated n detailbelow. Rumanianwomenbearthedoutbleuirdenfbeingfull-timeorkersndhaving lmost oleresponsibilityfor hecare ofchildrennd home.As a consequience,he largeamountof timethatmanycommuterspend traveling o workbecomesprohibitiveorwomenrelative o the ubstantialmount ftimewhichhastobe spent lhopping,ooking,cleaning, nd so forth.22here are thosewho regard hisas thesinglemost m-portant actorwhichhas keptthepercentage f ruralworkingwomenemployedin ndustryt 7.8percentwhile heproportionf urbanworkingwomen mployedas industrial orkers s 28.9 percent.23 omnen ust tayclose to home nd can-notcolmmuteo industrial obs. In addition,village womenapparently ave agreater eluctancehantheirurbancounterpartso use childcare facilitiesuchas thenursery cres) for hildren gedthree nd under ndkindergartengrddi-nit/d)or hildren hree o sevenyearsold. Another oncerns thatfactories avemultiple lhifts.f a woman s on thesecond shift, hen lhewill not be home ntinmeotake areofherchildren,ncludingclhool-agehildren. he CAP providesa conlvenieniceormother-secause the workhours re flexible.WVomenan leavethefields t a certain ime ftheywish tobe with heir hildren, hereas hefac-tory egimen bliges hem oadhere o a fixed chedule.24The maiinteniancefa situationwherewomendominate griculturend maenthenonagriculturalectorshelpsplanners o carry ut an urbanpopulation olicyas well as to conserve carce capitalresources.Unlike the Soviet Union duringitsearly erio(dfrapidgrowtlhfter he onset fcelntrallanning, heRumanianshave not allowed uncheckedmigratioinnto their arge cities. There are limitsplaced on the influxof population nto all large citieswhichi re considered"closed"foi oneof severalreasons.First, hecitymaybe already uitecrowded,as in theextremnease of Bucharest.A second reason s thattheRumnaniansre

21. InterviewwithFulea and Cobianu,April 29, 1976.22. Two studies which enmpiricallyocumnenthis problemare Francisc Albert, Dialogcu timnpuliber (Bucharest, 1970), and Constantin Ionescu, "Bugetul de timp al munci-torilor," itptade clasd,1967,no. 8, pp. 64-71.23. Gli. Sebestyenind L. Veiser, "Evolutia procesuluide incadrare in munca a femeilordin Ronania," in Sociologic in actfiune (Jassy, 1972), p. 234. The data are from the latesixties.24. InterviewwithFulea and Cobianu, April 29, 1976.


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Role of Women in RumanianDevelopment 447Table 2. Population ncreasesforRumaniaas a Whole and forSeveralMajor Cities,SelectedPeriods (inpercent)Period Rumania Bucharest Cluj Constanta Timnisoara1956-66 9.2 16.1 21.9 50.8 22.51966-69 4.7 6.7 4.9 13.1 8.61969-74 5.1 7.4 10.5 13.9 11.2Sources: Anuarul tatistic l Republicii SocialisteRomndniaBucharest,variousyears)Recensamintulopulatieii locuinfelorin 15 martie 966,vol. 1 (Bucharest, 969); Recen-samintulopulatieiin21 februarie956, ol. 1 (Bucharest, .d.).

planning o develop hree o fourhundred ewtown enters y 1990. These newurban ettlements ill form ravitationalenters or urroundingural reas,theultimate oal being a leveling f the differencesetweenvillageand town.25But perhaps he most mportant eason forthe presenceof controls s thatindividuals re prevented rom eaving the countrysiden numbers hat mightendanger he evel of agriculturalutput, nd hence he food supply f theurbanlaborforce.We have already eenthatwages arehighernthe urbansector.Thisplus other oncomitantsf urban ife ttractmanyRumanians o the cities.Fur-thermore,venwitha policyof checkingmigrationnto the cities, he existingurbancenters re stillthe heartof the industrializationffort nd theneed forlabor has partiallymodified umanianmigration olicies. This is evidentfromtable2, which hows that herelative opulationncrease f the argeRumaniancitieshas beengreater han thatof the countrys a whole. This suggests hat,even with ontrols,he pressures o enter he argecities re very trong. hesepressures omenot only fromvillagerswho want to move intothe cities butprobably lso from nterprisemanagerswho need labor to fulfillheir outputplans. But therelaxation f the"closed cities"policymusthaveofficialpproval;althought s possible o enter hese itieson one's own nitiativend securebothemploymentnd an apartment,t is highly nlikelyo occur. Formalcontrols remaintained verboth abor recruitmentnd the assignment f housingto newworkers.Were it not forthe controls hat do exist, however, he pressureon thehousing tock nd on alreadydense major citieswould be evengreater.This isan importantonsideration, ecause Rumanianplanners appear to give highpriorityo minimizingocialoverhead apitalexpenditures,speciallyn the areaofresidential ousing.Hencethe virtues f thecommutingystem.ndustry ndconstructionanhave their eeded aborwithout aving obuildhousing or heseworkersmmediately. herever hepace of ndustrial rowth as outstrippedhegrowth f housing onstruction ithin he country,he commutingystemhastaken n clear-cutmportance.26

The other ide ofmigrationontrols nd commutings that heyforce aborto remain n thecountrysidend, as we have seen,women o playa dominant oleinagriculture. common amilymodel n the agriculturalooperativess to have25. Directives ftheEleventh ongress ftheRomanianCommunistartyConcerningthe1976-1980 ive-YearPlan and theGuidelines orRomania'sEconomic nd Social De-velopmentverthe 981-1990eriod Bucharest,975),pp.72-73.26. Interview ithBurloiu,May 6,1976.


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448 Slavic Reviewat least one famlily emberworking utside he CAP during he year. t is esti-mated hat here s at least onenoniagriculturalage earner n two-thirds f allrural amilies.27The statebelieves hat he flow f foodto the city s better ssuredbyartifi-ciallycontrollinghe movement f peasants o the cities.This is necessitated ytheplanners' ecision o invest n industrymuchmoreheavily han nagriculture.Duringtheperiods1956-60 and 1966-70,for xample, ndustry eceived 1 per-cent nd 53 percent f totalcapital nvestment, hile griculture eceived 7 per-cent nd 16 percent f total nvestment,espectively.n 1974,55 percent f thetotal nvestment ent o industrynd 14 percent o agriculture. he capital stockper worker n inidustrys about fivetimesgreater han that of an agriculturalworker.28

To summarize he first artof thispaper: Rumania embarked pon a majordrive o industrialize ith he handicap f imited apitalresources. he plannersaltered he production unctionsn the economy atherrapidlyby favoring heindustrial ector.Female labor was substituted or male labor in agriculture oensure he flow f food to the urban abor force.To ensurethe supplyof laborto industry nd construction,he Rumanians dopted a commuting ystem lusa migration olicywhich ttempted o admit onlythat amount f labor intothecities whichcould be accommodated ith housing.The others, he commuters,withfew exceptions, eturn ome each evening o theirwives who are farmingthe and. Commutings efficientn maximizing he ratioof abor to infrastructureinvestmentnd thereby llows forthe release of capitalto industry.As a result fthecommutingystem,menhave gone to work n the relativelycapital-richndustrial ector nd continue o learn skills that ncrease heirpro-ductivity s well as their ncomes. n contrast,women are found n dispropor-tionate numibersn the relatively apital-poor gricultural ector where theycontinue o practice nly unskilled ieldwork. t should be acknowledgedhatforat least some women,part-timework may be preferred. he moreflexiblenature fthe agriculture orkday hus s particularlyppealing o thosemotherswhowant obewith heir hildren fter chool.Thecontradictionsreequally bviouswithin griculturetself.Whilewomencomprise lmost65 percent f the highly nmechanized ooperative griculturesector, hey re only15 percent f the abor force n the highlymechanizedtateagriculturalaborforce.29n part this may reflect discriminatoryttitude e-garding he capacity fwomen o handleheavy, omplex griculturalmachinery.Women's secondary tatusis reflecteds well in the lower social statusassociatedwithfarm abor nthe country.While there s no doubtthatthestatehas formally ulfilledts ideological bligation o allow womento participate sproductive orkers n the economy,n relative ermswomen eem to be leftbe-

27. Manea Manescu, RaisintgtheLivintgStantdard f the Population-Central Goal ofRomnania's ocio-Econoniic Developme-nttrategy (Bucharest, 1973), p. 17.28. Antarul, 1970 (Bucharest, 1970) and Anruarul, 975; Investifii-constructiin RSR(Bucharest,1966).29. InterviewwithAneta Spornic, June 7, 1976. In 1972,80 percentof the agriculturalpopulationwas in cooperativesand 6 percent.in state agriculturalunits. The remaining14percentwas in individualhouseholds (see Vida Bidilean, "Forta de musca din agriculturasi utilizarea ei rationala," in Politica econoomica Partidul Comunist,Romninagricultura[Bucharest,1972], p. 125).


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Role of Womenin RumanianDevelopment 449Table 3. Women in the RumanianLabor Force by Branch of the Econony, 1974(in percent ftotalemployment)

1974Total 45.2Total Industry 35.2Ready-made lothes nidustry 77.3Textile ndustry 75.7Soap andCosmeticndustry 57.7Hide,Fur, and Shoe Industry 55.2Food Industry 41.8Machine-BuildingndMetal-Eabricatingndustry 20.8BuildingMaterials ndustry 18.1Nonferrous etallurgyndustry 13.1Electric ndThermal nergyndustry 11.8FerrousMetallurgyndustry 11.5PublicHealth,Social Assistance,nd PhysicalCulture 72.0Education, ulture, ndArt 63.3Agriculture 60.0Trade 50.8Telecommunications 49.0Science nd ScienceServices 37.2Administration 33.5PublicUtilities 31.5Transportation 8.8Construction 8.7Forestry 8.6Sources: Aneta Spornic,Utilizarea ficientd resurselor e mnuncdeminiinen Rominia(Bucharest, 975), pp.82 and96; Internationalabor Office, earbook fLabor Statistics,1975.

hindbythedevelopmentrocess n Rumania.The gainsmadebywomen annotbe dismissed; t is simply hat there s an intentionalsymmetryn the labormarketwhich peratesnthe nterest fmen.In Rumania, ex discriminations a functionfthe ong-runbjectives ftheplanners' evelopmenttrategy.n this ection amconcernedwith ex discrimi-

nation s it is reflectedn a balkanized abormarket nd withtheintimatelye-latedproblem f the "double-burden" fworkand domestic esponsibilityorneby women.There are two basic causes foroccupational egregationn a labormarket:one is discriminationmposedfromwithout ythosewhohold controloverhiring nd promotion ractices nd who control dmission o educationalinstitutions;heother ause is thevoluntaryhoicewomenhavemadeto entercertain rofession,r enrollna particularaculty,rnotwork tall,often ecauseof the differentialocialization nd societal expectations aced by males andfemales.The evaluation f sex discriminationnd occupational egregationhatfol-lows s based on summarytatistics ntheparticipationfwomen nmajoroccu-pationgroupsand within ndustry,videnceon the doubleburdenforwomen,including study onducted t myrequest n June1976,and an assessment fmore ualitativevidence.Table 3 presents ata on theproportionfwomen n theRumanian aborforceduring1974 by branchof the economy nd fora numberof industries.The data show major differencesn the distributionf the labor forceby


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450 Slavic ReviewTable 4. Distribution fHousehold Tasks in Rumania,1976 (in percent)

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)Husband WifeMore Husband/ MoreHusbanid than Wife than Wife OtherOnly Wife Equally Husband Only Children elativesDAILY SHOPPING:EmployedWomen 5.6 7.2 22.6 30.0 33.8 0.5 0.0Housewives 4.3 1.1 9.6 10.6 73.4 1.1 0.0MEAL PREPARATION:EmployedWomen 0.0 0.0 5.6 19.0 73.3 0.5 1.5Housewives 0.0 0.0 3.0 2.0 94.1 1.0 0.0DISH WASHING:EmployedWomen 0.5 0.0 19.5 13.9 64.6 0.5 1.0Housewives 0.0 0.0 5.0 4.0 90.0 1.0 0.0CLOTHES WASHING:EmployedWomen 1.0 0.0 8.7 12.3 76.4 0.0 1.5Housewives 1.0 0.0 5.0 2.0 92.0 0.0 0.0IRONING:EmployedWomen 0.5 0.0 6.2 11.3 80.5 0.0 1.5Housewives 0.0 0.0 6.1 5.1 87.9 1.0 0.0LARGE CLEANING:EmployedWomen 3.6 12.3 37.9 18.5 26.7 0.5 0.5Housewives 10.1 6.1 35.4 10.1 38.4 0.0 0.0DAILY CLEANING:EmployedWomen 2.1 1.0 13.3 12.8 68.2 1.0 1.5Housewives 0.0 1.0 6.1 3.0 90.0 0.0 0.0Source: See note 0below.sex. Using the 45.2 percentof the labor forcewhichis femaleas a bench-mark,t is clearthatwithin he ndustrialectorwomen re heavilyunderrepre-sented n heavy industrynd substantiallyverrepresentedn lightindustry.Similarly,here re relativelyewwomen n construction,orestry,nd transpor-tation.They dominaten education,ulture,rt,publichealth reas,and agricul-ture, nd are somewhat verrepresentednthetrade sectorof theeconomy.Ob-viously, here s substantialnequalityn employmentesultingrom ccupationalsegregation.t is importanto observe hatthehighest ayingbranches f theeconomyre those nwhichwomen re underrepresented,nparticular,onstruc-tion,transportation,nd science.The lowestpayingbranches,n contrast, reoftenpredominantlyemale, or example,agriculture,ublichealth, nd retailtrade. Occupational egregation epresents ne blade of a two-edged word; acomplete icture f women'smajor labormarketdifficultiesan onlybe gainedbyconsideringhe double-burden"fworking omen.Table 4 presents hedistributionfhousehold asksaccording o the locusofpersonalresponsibility.he data are drawnfrom study arriedout duringJune1976 inBucharest,80overing 95 marriedwomenofwhom100 werenon-30. The interviewswere conducted in June 1976 by a third-year ociology class fromthe Universityof Bucharest taught by Dr. Natalie Damian. The questionnaireon whichthe interviewswere based is largely my own instrumentnd has been incorporatedby theRumanian Center for Sociological Research inlto a larger study on demographicbehavior.A fullerexplorationof the issues raised here can be found n William Moskoff, The Prob-lem of the 'Double-Burden' in Romania," InternationalJournal of Comparative Sociology,forthcoming.


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Role of Women in RumanianDevelopment 451Table 5. Household Tasks UsuallyTaken Care of by Employed Wives in Rumania(1976) and the Soviet Union 1966) (in percent)

Rumania SovietUnionShopping 64.1 70Meal Preparation 92.3 80aDish Washing 78.5 64Daily Cleaning 81.0 67ClothesWashing 88.7 90a This figurepplies to dinner reparation; 2 percent f Sovietwomenusuallypreparebreakfast.Sources: Rumania:see table4; SovietUnion: data cited n Elina Haavio-Mannila, Con-vergencesetween ast andWest: Tradition ndModernityn Sex Roles in Sweden,Fin-land ndthe ovietUnion,"ActaSociologica, 4,no. 1-2 (1971): 121.

workinghousewives. All live in bloc housing and have lived in Bucharest for atleast fiveyears. The results of the survey are unambiguous; employed womenbear an inordinately arge share of the tasks involved in maintaininga home.Working women receive more help from husbands than do full-timehouse-wives butnothingwhichapproaches equality. In particular,workingwives receivelittle r no help in preparingmeals, washing and ironingclothes,or daily cleaning.Husbands help somewhat more with the daily shopping,washing dishes, and themore general and infrequent leaning (for example, washing floorsand windows).It must be stressed that no household task in Rumania is easily done. Shoppingmust be done daily and involves queuing up in several differenttores. Moreover,with few aids such as washing machines, dryers, or drip-dry clothing, doinglaundry is a lengthyand tiring process. At the end of the 1960s, only 7.3 per-cent of Rumanian homes had electric refrigerators, 2.6 percent had gas stoves,9.5 percenthad washing machines,3.2 percenthad vacuum cleaners, 23.7 percenthad sewing machines, and 38.8 percenthad electric irons.31 Only an insignificantnumber ofwomen could afford o hire outside assistance to provide relief fromallthese responsibilities.The Rumanian experience is not very different rom that of women in othercountries. It is possible to compare the Rumanian situation, for example, withthat in the Soviet Union. A 1966 Soviet study examined the division of house-hold labor in the homes of 430 married female factory workers. If we interpretcolumns (4) and (5) in table 4 to mean that the task is usually taken care of bythe wife, then we can compare the two countries. This is done in table 5. TheRumanian-Soviet comparison shows that Rumanian working wives have some-what less responsibility orshopping than Soviet women, about the same percent-age do the washing, and Rumanian women have greater cooking, dish washing,and dailycleaning responsibilities.The overriding point to be made is that Rumanian women, and certainlyworkingwives, are probably somewhat worse offthan their Soviet counterpartsin respectto the domestic loads theymustcarry. Furthermore, t will probablybesome timebeforeegalitarian values are acceptable. A 1968 study which tried todeterminewhetherprofessional women in Rumania received support fromtheir

31. Albert, ialogcutimpuliber, . 72.


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452 Slavic Reviewhusbands ound hat nly 5 percent fthe husbands alued the professional orkof theirwivesmorehighly han heirwives' housework.32 high-rankinguma-nianofficial as pointed o a number ffactorswhich ause somewomen o refusefurther rofessional esponsibilitiesr the opportunityo specialize. Rumanianwomen re seen as having nadequate pare timeforprofessional reparation,sexperiencing ore atigue ecauseof ll thehousework,nd as bearing hepsycho-logical responsibilitiesor the childrenwhen they re left lone or are sick.38A primafacie case of sex discriminationas now been suggested. urther-more, he solid evidence f a doubleburden mposed n workingwomenprovidesgood reason for womenoptingout of certain areerchoices.The remainder fthispaper s devoted o developing hese two themes, etailingn particularheemploymentffectsfmanagerial ttitudes owardwomen,Rumanian abor aw,and ob training rograms.

The 1948 Rumaniancon-stitutionxplicitly mbodied he principles f wo-men's right o equality n the economy nd equal pay for equal work. The 1965constitution entfurtherlnd tated hat there s no approvalfor imiting heserights n the grounds f discriminationased on sex." The penal code formalizesthe state's opposition o sex discriminationnd makes any such act subjecttopunishmentfthreemonths o one yearor a fine f 100-500 ei.34One knowledge-able Rumanianclaims,however, hat he has never heard of any director eingpunished or ex discriminationnenmployment.35The existence f sex discriminations acknowledgedwithinRumania,evenby Communist arty Secretary-Generaleausescu.36 t has been admitted n theparty ress hat here re lingering rejudices gainstwomenwhichview them sintellectuallyncapable f performingeadership unctions.Moreover, ome menfeel thattheirprestigewill sufferf they re supervised y women.37Managersare reluctantohirewomen orreasons hathave becomefamiliarnthe West. Ithas been found hat womanworkerwill followher husband o the townwherehe is working ftermarriage nd factorymanagerswill lose a worker.There isalso hesitation o hire womenbecause of their bligationss wives and mothers,which s in partrelated o thefactthatthe number f places in nurseries nd

kindergartensre too small n relation o the demandfor uch facilities.n 1955only18.6 percent f all children hree o six yearsold were in kindergarten,figturehichncreased o41.9percentn1974.38 lso,Rumanian abor aw obligesfactorymanagers ofindightworkforwomen t thebeginning f the fifth onthofpregnancy ithout reductionnpay. n addition,here s a four-monthater-nityeaveandallowance ornursingndcaring or childwhich ould ast another32. Natalia Popa, "Idealul profesionalsi problemevietii de familie,"in Statuttal ocialal femeilor alariate,p. 145.33. Spornic,Utilizarea eficientd resurselor, . 41.34. Ana Gluvacov, Afirmnareaemzein viata societatii (Bucharest, 1975), pp. 89-91.Rumania ratified he InternationalLabor Organization equal pay convention n 1955.35. InterviewwithBurloiu,May 6, 1976.36. Nicolae Ceausescu, "Reportul ComitetuliuCentral al Partidului Comunist Romancu privire a activitateaP.C.R. in perioda dintreCongresul al IX-lea si Congresul al X-leasi sarcinilede viitorale partidului,"August 6, 1969,p. 62.37. GheorgheVasilichi, "Conditia sociala a femeii,"Era socialistd,no. 5 (1973), p. 13.38. Calculated fromAnuariul,various years; Antuaruldemographical RSR (Bucharest,1974), p. 23.


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Role of Women in RumanianDevelopment 453yearunder ertain ircumstances. anagersfind hat hese statutoryenefitsorwomenmpede l-hebilty o fulfillnd overfulfillutput lansbecausethere s noallowance or reduction n the size of theenterprise'sabor force.The fact hatmanagers re able to discriminate gainstwomenendicates hat there s littledifficultyn hiringmale workers.As was stressed bove, abor controls re mal-leable.39 he suggestion hat urnovers high mongfemaleworkers mplies hatwomenwho want workhavelittledifficulty,n a tight abormarket, indingm-ploymentnthe town- o which heymoveaftermarriage.40 anagerialbehaviormay n fact ontributeo higher urnovermong womenworkers. or example,if women re not promoted, he ncentive o remain t the enterprises reduced.Thus, managers'beliefs bout sex differenicesn turnover atescouldhelpdeter-mine hosedifferences.

Sex discriminationmplicitlyeceives ssistance romhe state.A 1975publi-cation ointly roduced y the Ministry fLabor, the Ministry f Education, heMinistryfHealth, heGeneralUnion ofTrade Unions, nd the NationalCouncilofWomen ists711 jobs and thepercentage f women ikely o be hired to fillthese obs in the near future. our hundredninety-six,r 70 percent, re jobsinwhichwomen re foreseen s being at leasthalfof theworkers.41Rumanianplanners rguethat his s notsex discriminationut,rather, n attempto pointout to women hose obs where heyhave succeeded n the past and wheretheyare ikely o do well n thefuture.42Rumanian abor laws sustainthe dual labor market.While several of thelawsarecategorizeds protective,heir ffects to restrict ntry nto number foccupations.43or example, here re restrictionsn weight iftingwhichdictatethemaximumllowableweights hat womanmay iftundervarying onditions.These restrictionsre supposedto be enforced ndependentf an individual e-male'sphysical apabilities.Women are notpermittedo work t jobs where heair pressure s highor in underground ork. Nor can theybe employedn jobswhere heair temperatures high,wherethere s intense hermal adiation, rwhere here s contactwith oxicsubstances.A number ftheprohibitionselatetothepotential amage o the female's eproductiveapabilities r to the effect fcertainwork nvironmentsna pregnant oman.Whatever incere oncernmightexistforprotectinghehealth f women, he state'sgoal of a higher irthratesalso at stakehere.The ultimate ffect ftheprohibitionss,ofcourse, o perpetu-ateoccupational egregation.The sex structure f vocational ducationnRumania also contributeso thecontinued hanneling f women ntocertain ccupations. he problemmust beseen nperspective.ndustrialworkers re placed n grade1 or grade 2, roughlyequivalent o a definitionf unskilled 1) and skilled (2). Women dominateamong hose ngrade1.While datacovering he conomys a wholedonot ppear

39. In my June 7, 1976 interviewwith Spornic, she said that sometimesmanagers donot have a choice of which sex they get; the central allocation obliges themto take whatlabor theyhave beenassigned.40. Unfortunately,hereare no aggregate labor force turnoverdata published.41. Nomienclatorul teseriilor, specialitatovilor si fitncpiilorn care pot fi incadratefemneiBucharest,1975).42. rnterviewwithSpornic,June7, 1976.43. The discussionon labor laws is takenfromMihai Moldoveanu, fndrumtare legisla-fie a muuncii Bucharest, 1973), pp. 225-26. Such laws are rapidly being struck down inthe UnitedStates as beinginviolationof thecivil rights fwomen.


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454 Slavic Reviewtobe available, here s somefragmentaryvidence o support hisposition.n thecursde calificare, three-to-six-monthraining rogram un by enterprises, o-men representbout 35 percent f all grade 1 workers,which s just about equaltotheir ercentagen the ndustrialaborforce. ut they omprise nly .3 percentof all thegrade2 workers.44 hus, in 1972, 76 percent f those able to workbutwho were unskilled excludingstudents) were women, nd it is estimated hatabout95 percent f thosewho wereunable to findwork were women.45The functioningf the various ob training rograms eveals a great dealabout sex discriminationn employment.here are fourways that workers anbecome killed: echnical chools, ocational chools, oursesforbecoming killed,andon-the-job raining OJT). The technical chool s unimportantn thetrain-ing of workers,with ess than1 percent aking his route. Sixteen percent retrained n vocational schools,28 percent ake the three-to-six-monthoursesmentionedbove, nd 55 percent o through JT.46The vocational chools re institutions ith he highest egreeof theoreticaltraining fter he technical chools, nd it is the goal of manpower lanners oincrease heproportion f the skilled aborforcewhichgoes to these chools.Theschools re runby the ndustrialministriesnd it is herethat ex discriminationshows up. Over thepast threedecades, the percentage ffemales n vocationalschoolshas fluctuatedubstantially.etween1948-49and 1974-75,thepercent-age has oscillated etween bout13 percent nd 27 percent.47 ost recentlythasbeenonthe high ide. The fact hat here re not moregirls n these schoolsis acknowledgedo be partially result f ministerialnd enterpriseeadership'srefusal o admit more girls into their chools.48 here is a definite nrollmentpattern y ministry. uring the 1968-69 school year (when 14 percent f thestudents erefemale), lmostnogirlswere enrolled n vocational choolsrunbythefollowingministries: lectrical nergy,mining, etroleum,metallurgy,ndmachine-building.ut 59 percent fthoseenrolledn the schoolsofthe MinistryofLight ndustry nd 36.5 percent f those n the Ministry f Food Industryschoolsweregirls, eflectingraditional orkpatterns.49Graduating rom vocational chool s essential o theupward mobilityfan industrial orker. he three riteria or dmission o a schoolforforemen re:(1) a diploma rom vocational chool, 2) fiveyearsas a productionworker,and (3) recommendationf theenterprise.50ince women are not consistentlyadmittedn largenumbers o these chools, hey renot ikely o get supervisorypositions n thefactory loor.Moreover, ven ifa womanhas met the first wocriteria,hedoes notalways gettheenterprise'secommendation.f it comesatall, t smost ikely obe inthose ndustries herewomenpredominate,eflectingthe nitial dmission olicy f the ministries.51f thealmost11,000 peoplewhowent o theforemenchools n 1974,only363,or 3.4 percent,werewomen.This

44. Spornic,Utilizarea eficientd resurselor,p. 50.45. Vasilichi,Conditiaociala femeii,". 13.46. Constantin onescu and Oscar Hoffman, Clasa muncitoaredin Republica SocialistaRomdniaBucharest,974),p. 104.47. Anuarul,1975, pp. 428-29.48. Vasilichi,Conditiaociala femeii,". 13.49. Dimitru acariu, Orientarea i pregatirea rofesionala fortei e muncafeminine,"in Statutul ocial al feineilor alariate, pp.34-35.50. Interview ithBurloiu,May26,1976.51. Ibid.


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Role of Womenin RumanianDevelopment 455disproportionatelyow number houldnot be attributedotally o discrimina-tionby male enterprise irectors.Many womendecide not to go to foremenschoolbecausetheirdomestic esponsibilitiesreclude nyadditional ob obliga-tions.Those whoare eligible or heforemenchool re typicallyt theage whenfamilyesponsibilitiesreheaviest.52OJT also has a major effectn the economic tatusof Rumanianwomen.This typeof training rovides he lowest evel of job preparation; here s notheoreticalrainingnvolved t all.About70 percent fallwomenworkers eceivetheir raining hisway,and thishas two implications.53irst,sincewages arecorrelatedwiththeworker's kill level,thosewho learnedtheir workthroughOJT tend o receive he owestwages.This impacts isproportionatelyn women.Second,women'supwardmobility illbe hampered elative o men,becauseofwomen'sowskill evel.54By quantitativemeasures, heRumaniandevelopmenttrategy as been asuccess.A backward, grarian ociety s beingconverted o a modern ndustri-alizednation t a rapidrate.From1965to 1975both herate ofgrowth f ndus-trialoutput nd totalGNP increasedmorerapidly han n anyother ountrynEasternEurope.55Moreover,per capita income ncreased t an annual rate ofgrowth f5.5 percent uring hesame period.56 ertainly, ll Rumanianshaveenjoyed hefruits fthisgrowth.However, herehas been an unevennessn thedemands nmen ndwomennfuelinghisgrowthnd insharingtsrewards.

Rumanian lanners avepursued trongnterventionistabormarket olicies.The effect f theirpolicieshas been to segregate helabor force harply y sex.Theoretically,woalternativeoutes ould havebeenchosen byplanners.First,they ouldhavepursued hands-offolicy.One of the likely utcomes fthis,however,wouldstill havebeen a segregatedabormarket;certainlyhis is theexperience n the most developedcapitalisteconomies.Planners could haveallowed he"neutral"marketplaceoallocatemen ndwomen mongoccupations.There s, after ll, a strong esidual ntiwomanttitudemongRumanianmalesand managers o cite in support f theproposition hatthemarketmechanismwouldhavecreated ccupationalegregation.The second lternative ouldhavebeenfor heplanners otakea more ctiv-istposition n behalf fwomen. n concrete erms hiswouldhavemeant dif-ferent olicymix, ncluding heelimination fmigrationontrols.At one point,for xample, heMinistryfLabor drafted proposal o forcemanagers o hiremorewomen,57ut twas never mplemented.n addition,moreresourceswouldhavebeenneededforchild are, public aundries,ubsidized ining acilities,ndtheproduction fmore abor-savingonsumer urables.A variant fthis wouldhavebeen massive fforto alter he ocialization rocess n an attemptoreducerigidroles n theperformancef domestic hores. This has certainly ot hap-

52. Spornic, tilizarea ficientdresurselor,.85.53. Ionescu ndHoffman, lasamuncitoare,. 104.54. Interviews ithOscar Hoffman, enter or SociologicalResearch, ucharest,May4, 1976,ndwithBurloiu,May 6,1976.55. Thad P. Altonet al., EconomicGrowthn Eastern Europe 1965-1975,ResearchProject nNationalncomenEast Central urope New York,1976).56. Anuarul,976 Bucharest,976),p.54.57. Vasilichi,Conditiaociala femeii,". 13.


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456 Slavic Reviewpened, nd infactplannershavea vested nterestnmaintaininghe statusquo.If menwere o share qually nhousework nd child are,thetime nvolvedmightmakecommutingrohibitiveor hesemen,whichwould mply new setof abormarket utcomes. rom the state'sperspective,he results ould onlybe damag-ing to the cause of industrialization.onceivably, ome men might e unwillingto commiuteo the cities, t least without higherwage.58Also, the state mighthave to permitmore migrationwith an accompanyingxpenditure f resourcesonurbanization.The choice made by plannerswas in behalf f economicgrowth hroughcontrolledabor market nvironment.lanners imply ould notriskhaving oomanypeople leave the countrysidend simultaneouslyreate overcrowdedndunderfedrban reas and a slowdownnthe growth ate. From theirperspectiveit was important o keep womien n thecountrysidend to use commuting ndmigration olicies o achieve heir nds.In sum,we may sk: Is the roleplayedby women n the Rumanian conomya result f conscious oliciesdesigned o have an impact n them nd placethemin a subordinate ituation, r is theoutcome set of unintended onsequencesresulting rom oliciesdesigned o addressotherproblems?My own view is thatthe situation eflects combination f the two, although t would certainly edifficulto prove that plannersdeliberately et out to perpetuate xisting exdifferentials.he absenceof women n certainministerial ocational chools andtheunderrepresentationfwomen n administrativeostsis suggestive fovertsex discrimination. hat is easier todemonstrate,f course, s thatwomenwereunintentionallyictimizeds a byproductf policieswhichhad morebasic inten-tions, or xample, hegoalofminimizingnvestmentsn social overhead apital.Intentionalityside, t is fair o say that heseconsequenceswere not always un-welcome.Managershave oftenharbored trong ntifemale iews and there reveryfewvisiblemale tearsshed to lament heproblems f women.For plannersand administrators,heroleof women n the Rumanian conomywould seem tohave been importantarmore because theirparticipation as required o fulfillplanners' conomic oals thanbecause ofan ideological bligation o give womena new ife.

58. It is possible, of course, that a more equitable division of household labor wouldpersuademore women to commute nd hence lessen the problems caused by a greater reluc-tanceof men to do so.

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Women and Comuting