Wat betekenen de veranderingen in de mijnstreek voor de vrouwen en voor de gezinnen?

Abstract

A few years ago few housewives could believe that the mines really would be closed down, but now they are already suffering the consequences of the closures. In certain cases their husbands found employment outside the mining industry, others went on early pension. A third group was transferred to the chemical side of their employers' business, for which they were not trained, more often than not resulting in friction with their new colleagues. Many housewives have quite some trouble in containing their husbands' unhappiness with respect to the changed situation, he has to worry about different things than he was used to, the daily routine had to be changed and naturally the changed circumstances affected the peace in the family and the relationships between parents and children. It was realized that children probably need a better education than father ever had and it generally is the mother, being closer to her children, who had to bear the brunt of the problems. Not only had the housewives to adjust themselves and the children to the enormous changes in the social circumstances, she often had to go to work in order to make up part of the loss of income suffered by her husband, as most new job opportunities were less lucrative than those of underground miners. Generally, the greatest part of the burden of the changed climate will have to be carried by the housewives according to the author. It will depend mainly on her whether future living in Southern Limburg will be worthwhile. The paper ends with a discussion along the different activities underway in the different women's organizations to alleviate the problem which can be catalogued as follows: a. Activities focussed on the housewives directly; b. Co-operation with other agencies in determining restructuring policy; c. Publications and other means to recognize problem areas.