Abideen, Deputy Chairwoman of the Studies and Consultations Committee at the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR), has said that one of the biggest issues for women is their “very restricted” career options. “The limited areas in which they can work can lead to a frustration of their potential and increase female unemployment,” she said. Al-Abideen put women's wealth in the Kingdom at an estimated SR375 billion and lamented that no more than SR75 billion of it was put to use. “The reason that 80 percent of Saudi women's wealth is lying unused in bank accounts is because of the imposition of a representative or manager on women, and this makes her vulnerable to blackmail and exploitation,” she said. “Many Saudi women prefer instead to leave their money sitting idle.” She said that the NSHR's first report on human rights in the Kingdom recommended that the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency orders banks to abolish the requirement for approval from women's guardians before opening accounts for females. She also noted that the Real Estate Development Fund stipulates that women loan-seekers be unmarried, widows or divorced for a minimum of three years and at least 40 years of age. “Male Saudis are allowed loans as soon as they are 21,” she said. The NSHR report added that Cabinet rulings governing women have been met with opposition from some parts of society, but described Saudi society as a while as “supporting certain rights for women”. The report said that the most significant obstacle was the “customs and traditions that do not accept the idea of women working in some fields”. Ministry of Labor statistics show that women constitute 16.5 percent of the Kingdom's total workforce, and that only 12 percent of women able to work are in employment. 88 percent of all working Saudi women are in the government sector, while in the private sector females of any nationality make up only two percent of the workforce and only 35 percent of them are Saudis. The figures further reveal that 78 percent of all unemployed Saudi women hold post-secondary school qualifications. Overall female unemployment in Saudi Arabia is at 28.4 percent. The male rate of unemployment is 6.9. According to the Ministry of Labor, female unemployment in the Kingdom is due to social, economic, cultural and legal factors, with limited jobs available to women in a limited range of professions and regions. One study has said that labor regulations do not protect women's right to work, although Articles 149 to 160 of the Labor Law put retirement age at 55 for women 60 for men. The law also states that women have the right to an end-of-service stipend “provided the employee completes the contract within six months from the date of her marriage or three months from the date of delivery.”
