I believe that gender inequality is one of the most serious topics that is taken under consideration in this modern day society. According to Wikipedia the definition of gender inequality is the unequal way society is treating each other based on their gender (1). Men and women face gender inequality every single day, but most are in the shadows of how badly this affects both genders and not just women. Each country faces many different variations of gender inequality from social expectations to domestic abuse. Some cases may be more recognized compared to others but that does not mean it is not just as important, but it is just not as publicized.
One of the most popular topics related to the fight for women’s rights is based on the unfair difference in wages between men and women. Despite having two laws against the gender based wage discrimination in the US which prohibits men and women from getting paid differently and yet there are still some people who are paid based on their gender. According to statistics the difference in pay between both genders for full time jobs are10%, and the pay gap for part jobs are 34%. Based on a website known as UK Feminista, many people work in a national minimum wage job, 70% of those are women (2).
Working disadvantages towards women significantly affects many lives all over the world, especially women and children. An online article published on DailyMail.co.uk states that out of the women whom retired in 2013 one fourth of them do
Sometimes, women are not given the chance to make more money because employers think that men are stronger, smarter, or more experienced or skilled (Gender Differences 84). This obviously means that women do not get a fair chance to get higher paying jobs in some cases. However, women know how to fight and try to make things right. An example of this is in the article “Understanding the ‘‘Family Gap’’ in Pay for Women with Children”. Jane Waldfogel states that if women had “not increased their investments in education and experience, the gender pay gap would have widened in the 1980s simply due to the changes in the overall wage structure” (140).
“Today gender roles in our society have changed considerably in recent decades: there are more women in the workforce, many doing jobs held exclusively or primarily by men, and a growing number of men who choose to stay home with the kids while their partner works outside the home.” (639) Although we’re transitioning away from the stereotypical view of gender roles many issues still exist, such as women to earn less than males from the workforce. But
Although growing awareness to eradicate this division, recent statistics show women in Scottish society are overall in a more disadvantaged position than men, especially in terms with employment. In 2014, the gender pay gap stood at 11.5% (Close the Gap, 2014). Although the governmental measure of ‘The Equal pay Act 1970’ made it illegal for a women to be paid less than a man for the same value of work, and the Scottish pay gap of 5.8% in 2011 was brought down from 7.4% in 2010 (gov. scot, 2013), it still hasn’t been close to being eradicated. Both male and female workers in the same job are getting different pay, for example the weekly gross earning of full time for managers and senior officials in 2012 was £767.10 for men and £592.30 for women (ASHE cited by Mckendrick, 2014 p104). This higher chance of being on a low income for women, means a higher risk of being in poverty: of the 5 million workers of all ages living in poverty, 66% were women (Mooney 2014 p9).
An all too common response to workers and advocates concerned about the 23 cent gender wage gap for full-time year round workers across occupations is that it is just a by product of the choices women make; choices to work fewer hours, lower paying jobs, or opt out the work force for longer periods of time than men (Berman). Among the men and women that are employed as full-time, 60 percent of the wage gap can be attributed to know factors such as work experience, union status, and the foregoing choice of occupation. Another quarter of the wage gap is attributable to the difference in wages paid by industries that employ mostly men than women. These include blue collar industries, which generally employ men and service sector rather clerical jobs, which generally pay less and employ more women. Women make up half of the work force.
Gender pay gap is becoming more important subject of various discussions. One of the major fighters in this gender based problem are feminists. They claim that an unequal payment is a consequence
The unequal pay of women is a pure form of discrimination. A presentation titled ‘In Tech Field, Women Struggle for Equal Pay’ by CBS Chicago supports the claims that women are underpaid in technical professions such as accounting. The fact that women are not treated as equals despite the fact that they work as hard as women is a form of discrimination in
She also warned that women who combine top executive roles with a family rarely have more than one child - and struggle to spend much time with them. In a 12,000-word report to be published next month, Dr Hakim described new government policies to promote equality as “pointless” and based on “feminist myths”. She said the pay gap has fallen to just 10 per cent on the Government’s preferred measure and that it is a “waste of time” fretting about such a small difference. (Butterworth, 2010) Effect of Austerity to women Below is some of the qualitative research done on related to the topic.
Gender equality: the pinnacle concept that American society is not-so desperately trying to achieve. Many Americans have convinced themselves that gender equality was remedied by the Nineteenth Amendment and the Second Feminist Movement, and have not considered the thousands of steps that are left on the journey. In recent years, a matter of public interest has been the gender wage gap, stating that women are earning significantly less money than men for doing an equivalent amount of work. Critics of the effort to “break the glass ceiling” claim that a pay gap does not exist, and that if it does, it is because women either do not work as hard, have to tend to their families, or hold lower paying jobs. However, the gender pay gap has been proven to exist in a variety of different forms,
Gender roles affect how men and women are seen and contributes to the inequality of women. If men were not constantly seen as the “breadwinners” or “protectors,” women would not have to do things like fight for equal pay. If women were not forced into submissive roles, and jobs such as nursing (viewed as a common submissive role by stereotypes (How Nurses are portrayed in film)), it would be possible for men to hold such jobs and roles that are catered to women, without the backlash that accompanies such decisions. The fact that we are currently going through a time, where women finally feel safe speaking against sexual assault and harassment (Time’s Up Movement), shows that there was a dramatic problem in the system before; one that can be
Gender Inequality is prevalent over much of the world. It is not limited to a few cultures and countries, but has global implications that affect everyone, men and women. The tide does seem to be changing, but slowly and there is hope that one day men and women can be seen as equals. I was lucky enough to interview the mother of two coworkers, one from Laos, and one from Nicaragua. I pretty much expected what they both told me and their experiences were similar.
Women. Women’s involvement in the working world have contributed to many items that would be missing from the world today; if they had not been allowed to work.. Women have struggled with sexism in the workplace since before they were even given the chance to try to work. They were taught from a young age that their job was to provide children, cook, and clean for their husbands, while the husband worked and provided the money. What men did not know however was that women were capable of so much more(Jewell, Hannah).
The fact also arises that women not only suffer from lack of recognition for the work they do in households but also for their work in their jobs. Women work as much as men, if not more. When both paid and unpaid work such as household chores and caring for children are taken into consideration, women work longer hours than men—an average of 30 minutes a day longer in developed countries and 50 minutes in developing countries. This is known as second shift, where women not only work at their jobs but also come back home and complete their household chores. However their contribution remains minimum due to unequal wage pay and lack of consideration given to household chores.
Gender inequality is the idea and situation that women and men are not equal. In the United States as in many other societies, gender relationships are changing and inequalities between men and women are questioned everywhere. It is both a moral and economic imperative that is shifting in reverse. The
So as people thought that women in countries had fully achieved their goals, they are all considerately wrong. Some of the major gender inequality issues facing women of today are: First
Gender Inequality Arguably one of the most commonly discussed diversity topics in the workplace is the issue of gender inequality, specifically whether female workers receive the same level of salary and opportunity as their male counterparts. The right for women to vote, which for most western countries has existed since the end of World War 1, along with the presence of women in positions of power within modern day politics would seem to provide enough evidence to convince some observers that equality has been achieved. From women’s suffrage during the first part of the 1900s through to the Women’s Liberation movement in the 60’s and 70’s, there is little doubt that feminism has come a long way in the last century and many would argue now