the world values survey for example found that a majority of respondents from arab countries believed that men should be given priority in hiring in times of economic hardship presumably due to their traditional role as breadwinners legal frameworks in most arab countries that require employers to bear the costs of maternity leave discussed in more detail below may also act as strong disincentives to the hiring of young women only a handful of arab countries currently meet the international standard of ensuring a minimum of weeks of maternity leave and the duration of maternity leave established by the law falls below this mark in most arab states see table the challenges faced by women who are contending with short maternity leave are further compounded by the limited availability and costly nature of early child care and education services in the region which leave many women with limited options to care for their children until they reach primary school age