[sambe]

I'm not following at all - why the downvotes and political accusations?

The semantics of the quoted sentence clearly indicate that women going back to work is seen as a good thing (by the author; not necessarily my personal view) in the context of a "notoriously patriarchal society". It is clear that the author makes this point separately from the main concern of the article.

I don't even know how to interpret it differently, regardless of whether I agree.