JEDDAH: In the past, a woman’s life was secured from the moment she got married. That is, she would enjoy security and financial support from her husband and start a new life. However, this situation has changed now. For many women, marriage is not enough to secure their future anymore. This trend is not surprising keeping in view the sharp rise in divorce cases.

These days women secure their future with an educational degree and a job. They no longer want to rely on a man. Family life has also changed, as many families do no longer force their daughters into marriage. Women have abandoned the idea of waiting for Mr. Right to start a future. They now make themselves capable of supporting themselves and their families without a partner. To many women, securing a degree and a perfect job are more important than getting married.

Hatoon Ahmad, a 28-year-old Saudi woman, does not need a man to live a happy, normal life. She graduated from King Abdulaziz University and started working even before graduation. At first, she was “dreaming of the perfect husband coming on a white horse like any other girl of my age at that time.” However, her ideas changed when she saw the rise in the number of  divorced women. “They opened my eyes to the reality that happiness and security are not necessarily linked to a husband.”

Hatoon says she is living a happy life and achieving all her goals. She has secured her future as a workingwoman, so she will not totally rely on a man that might leave her after 10 years of marriage. “I do not want to end up destroyed by a husband like the women I saw in the university,” she says.

Samar Al-Harbi, a 23-year-old engaged woman, said that she imposed strict conditions on her fiancé. “I am not going to rely on him totally, and I realize that my future as a professional woman is much more important than my future as a wife.” As such, she imposed on him the condition that she would be able to continue her education. She also made it clear that her fiancé should not object if she decided to work. “I think these are my basic rights and, honestly, I am securing my future in case my marriage does not work out.” Samar finds her work and education degree — rather than her marriage — the best security she has for her future.

Um Muhammad, a Saudi woman in her 50s with two daughters aged 20 and 27, says that she hates the idea of her daughters getting married without completing their education. “I am looking at the growing cases of divorce and fearing the worst for my daughters’ future. The best things to secure a good future are a university degree and a respectable job. If the husband turned out to be bad in nature, my daughters would have something to fall back on,” she adds.

Um Muhammad personally did not continue her education when she got married and relied on her husband. According to her, she was treated badly but was unable to leave her husband or ask for divorce, because she had no job and no security. She explains that she does not want her daughters to be in the same situation she was in.