ASA sister, I respect your post, but my view of point is a little different, why do both men and women need to work because of our needs and our lifestyles, only men should work and whatever he makes one has to adjust their lifestyles accordingly " yeh zindagi to guzar hi jai gi " kya hi acha ho rokhi suhki kha karr guzar lain laikin Allah SBWT ka hukum na tote, tell me this in Muhammad SAWS time and the Sahaba's RATA time were the women working? no they were not, they were doing the work of deen also and raising their children in such manner that once they grow up they became great Muslim leaders, they could if they wanted to but they adjusted their lifestyles accordingly to what their husband had provided them with, I know I know you will say ohh we cannot get to that level I understand that but we can try to come close and learn from their teachings, so sister u should take a deep breath and ask your self why is their a need for you to work?? Too many bills that’s why right! we can change our lifestyles, I have heard from scholars that Muhammad SAWS and his family and his companions Sahaba Ikram RATA starved for days without eating anything if Muhmmad SAWS wanted he could have everything to anything after all this universe was created because of Muhammad SAWS he was Allah’s SWAT Habib he was asked many times we all know that he was offered to make the mountains of Makkah gold and silver, but not brothers and sisters Aap SAWS, and the Sahaba’s RATA wanted to set an example for all of mankind, so on the day of judgment we could not criticize them oh they had it all and how come we couldn't, starvation came in Prophets SAWS, and Sahaba's house first for what, what reason ? There was only one reason how can the complete deen come in their life and their household, and how can deen come in every single human beings life, how could the message of Allah SBWT get spread across humanity, brothers and sisters they would not do anything to disobey Allah SBWT, so this he concern of today that how could deen first come in my life and my household and how can I take this message across the globe, hamari zindagi ka maqsad to yeh hi hona chahiye tha but ahhh unfortunately today muslims have forgotten their responsibility, and we are running after dunya, brother and sisters this deen has come to us after a lot of sacrifices some of them we cannot even imagine, those people had no love for this world they only had love for the akhirat and it is a duty of every single muslim male/female to learn complete deen and first practice in his or her life and take the message wherever we go how can our 24 hr life become according to sunnah, and for this we need and environment around us like I said before " ye zindagi to guzar hi jai gi, eek din to kabar mai jana hai aur phir jo questions hoon gai 1? Who is your lord? A person who obey Allah SBWT commandments exactly the way Allah SBWT wanted us to we will be able to answer that, 2) who is your prophet? And only if we had lived our life according to sunnah we will be able to answer that. 3) What is your religion? and if we had spend our life according to the teachings of Islam, the way we, govern, make money, spend money, eat, sleep, deal with people, do business, work, give zakat , and etc, etc we would be able to answer that, In Quran Hakeem there are stories of people who came before us, people of luut, people of sabba, people of bani israel and when they did not obey the commandments of Allah SBWT and the teachings of their prophets, Allah SBWT destroyed all of them, look around us people what is happening with muslim across the globe, we were once in power when we had obeyed the commandments of Allah SBWT and today we have forgotten Allah SBWT, so Allah SBWT help is no longer with us so we are being disgraced everywhere we go, I would like for all of us first myself to make Istaghfarr and cry front of Allah SBWT that oh my lord please forgive us for our sins that we have done and start our lives over and try not to make those same mistakes, sorry for the long post but I felt its my duty to get the message across to all of you may Allah SBWT give us all taufeeq and hidayat Ameen JazakAllah Khair.
I think though that you do have to consider everyones situation differently. Especially those of us who like you, live in a non-muslim country (although ma'shallah Islam is the fastest spreading religion in the western world especially here int he UK)
It isn't always possible to do full purdah. For example working full time in many fields you cannot adapt full purdah. The alternative is like me, to change the way that one dresses - abandon short tops (although they were never inappropriate), wear looser clothing and wear hijab. This is called dressing modestly and this too is in accordance with islamic teachings.
I think you will find very few women in today's society who can adopt fullpurdah as this would probably mean staying home. It is just not possible in so many families these days for both husband an dwife not to work.
I hope this helps get my point across?
Allah SWT knows best and may HE guide us always towards the correct path and protect us from the evils of this world.