Gender Pay Gap History

Women working full-time, year-round earn a median salary of $41,554 compared to men 's median salary of $51,640 (Semega). The disparity is $10,086 per year and when calculating over the course of their career the difference is almost half a million dollars. This reduces women’s lifetime earnings and affects their pension, retirement, and social security. Although the wage gap has existed since the 1800’s, the increased participation of women in the labor force correlates with the decrease of the wage gap. The wage gap has dwindled over the years; however, the progress has slowed down in the past two decades.

In the years following the entrance of the U.S into World War II, over 19 million women entered the workplace. The entrance of women in the workplace caused large amounts of social conflict. Women were told their place was in home, and were criticized for their choice to start working. Women entered the workforce despite the heavy amounts of discrimination and changed the way women were seen. American women were willing to compromise their accepted housewife status and to face social conflict head on to serve their country during World War II.

On December 7, 1941, Japanese attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor. This lead to the United States to enter the war. The everyday life of thousands of people has been dramatically changed. To support their families women found employment. Food, gas, and clothing were rationed.

Women who have earned a high school diploma have been said to lose about $700,000 throughout their life of work, and women that have earned a degree in college may result in a loss up to as much as $1.2 million dollars (now.org). This is definitely a big loss for women and their families living with them throughout their life, but this unequal pay still carries on once they have decided to retire (now.org). Once a woman retires, they still receive unequal social security welfare compared to what a man gets, and lots of other financial assets. The unequal pay is even worse for a woman with children, especially if a woman were a stay-at-home mom and then decide to work again (now.org). Studies show that businesses are less likely to hire women with children, and if women with children do get hired, they suffer an even lower pay than women in general, whereas fathers with children do not receive this punishment (now.org).

Women have always had to fight for equal rights from the beginning of the Revolutionary War to present day. Although, women have the right to vote, it doesn’t guarantee women are treated equally. Women are still being paid less than men; “full-time working women earn just 78 cents for every dollar a man earns” ("Did You Know That Women Are Still Paid Less Than Men?"). In the 1960s, women were expected to get married and stay at home taking care of the children. At the time period, jobs for women were limited, “38 percent of American women who worked in 1960 were largely limited to jobs as teacher, nurse, or secretary” ("The 1960s-70s American Feminist Movement”).

To be the “ideal woman” in England in the Regency era, you had

Some believe that they do not deserve equal pay because eventually, most women have children and will have to take time off. The employers sometimes think that women do not work hard enough. In fact, 58% of women with children under the age of one work either full or part-time jobs. Some employers also believe that women are not as smart or that they are the second source of income for a household. There are many misconceptions about women and their ability in the workplace.

Women’s unpaid work is not properly valued by society – there was a view that the superannuation system needs to recognise unpaid work as well as paid work. Women often leave the paid workforce to care for children, parents or grandchildren. Women often struggle to become financially independent,

At the same time, child brides face another major issue, which is pregnancy. The bodies of those children brides are too fragile to handle pregnancy, but it is still very frequent. Child brides are more likely to have children and less likely to be medically taken care of. In Niger for instance, 11% of brides that are married before the age of 15 deliver their babies in a health facility. Surely, as more people are aware of child marriage from all around the world, child marriage would decline.

gender discrimination in education is the most prevalent issue in many developing countries such as Nigeria, Iran , Bangladesh, India. In education, most women experience differential treatment from their families and the society. This attitude came from the thoughts that women will eventually end in kitchen even if they achieve high education. A women is not encouraged to pursue education at higher levels, a lot of them stop enrolling in formal education after secondary level or only venture halfway in tertiary level. Female make more than fifty percent of the population of the world.

These are the questions that are imposed on our American workforce. With families needing both parents working, they are spending less time at home thus fulfilling the 40 hour work week obligation and they reduce their relaxing at home time. When productivity is down business lose money and employees can sometimes lose their position with the company. This sometimes happens when the employees are overworked. When most Americans become workaholics it is because of the following reasons.

Men did not pursue the profession viewing as a lack of power as it was still heavily tied to view of women and as submissive, and for young single women. The medical system was beginning to grow stronger in its foundation and accelerated in its technological advancements, this influence occupational therapy as it soon entered the biomechanical paradigm. This was reflected by the many positions of power within many occupational based associations and departments held by male physicians (Cockburn, 2001; Rider & Brashear, 1988), thus providing males interested in occupational therapy a more powerful and lucrative career alternative. The biomedical shift within the profession also influenced a shift to become more professional. There was