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Women’s in Equal Pay
Women in contemporary time are raising their children and taking care of their home along with participating with men in the workforce. Women in America had to do so many struggles to reach the stage where they are today. They fought for their rights, freedom of choice, and opportunities for a better life. Society acquires various norms, rituals, and stereotypes that decide the roles of gender. These elements still have a great impact on American society. However, women today are free to work to fulfill their dreams. The industrial revolution became the reason for the major changes in the society where the involvement of women in the workforce was one of the major changes. The main purpose of the research is to study the history, struggle, issues, and effort of the women to get their right to work. It is crucial to understand the level where women got the chance to acquire equal wages as men. It is also important because gender inequality, as well as unequal distribution of income, remain important issues of society.
Background
During and before the 1800s, the role of women was totally different than contemporary time. Women had almost no rights and limited opportunities. Stereotypes of society made difficult for women to survive. Women were playing the role of mother, sister, and daughter. Besides they were not allowed to leave home for work. In the 1800s, men were dominant over women. They were handling the workforce and financial issues of the society. Men were getting higher education and better jobs while women were restricted to their homes. Women had the role of supervision of men’s children and parents. Women were considered as the pride of the family that cannot go out. They were forced to kill their wishes and desires for their families. Opportunities like education and jobs were prohibited for them. Due to all these restrictions, women faced various psychological disorders ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"VvAbLeLD","properties":{"formattedCitation":"({\\i{}Read \"From Scarcity to Visibility})","plainCitation":"(Read \"From Scarcity to Visibility)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":912,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/rVaVAHaF/items/AETU3P9Z"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/rVaVAHaF/items/AETU3P9Z"],"itemData":{"id":912,"type":"book","title":"Read \"From Scarcity to Visibility: Gender Differences in the Careers of Doctoral Scientists and Engineers\" at NAP.edu","source":"www.nap.edu","abstract":"Read chapter 7: Gender Differences in Salary: Although women have made important inroads in science and engineering since the early 1970s, their progress...","URL":"https://www.nap.edu/read/5363/chapter/9","note":"DOI: 10.17226/5363","shortTitle":"Read \"From Scarcity to Visibility","language":"en","accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",11,6]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Read "From Scarcity to Visibility).
Numbers of writers wrote the condition of women in their essays and stories. For instance, the story "The yellow wallpaper" was written by the American writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman. She highlights the better reality of early America where women were considered as sexual objects and slaves to look after men's homes and children. The woman in the story was left in the home with a newborn baby while her husband and brother were physicians. She got psychological disorder due to homesickness but her husband was able to identify as he believed in the stereotypes like women should stay at home and spent domestic life. Such stories indicate that the condition of the women at that time was not the choice of them but they were forced to live such a miserable life. Women faced health issues and most of them died in pregnancy or during delivery due to a low literacy rate. They had no basic knowledge to manage unexpected conditions which were also dangerous for their families. Men used women as a sexual object to fulfill their sexual desire and believed that it was the duty of women to please them.
Feminism movement
With time, a group of women emerged who were educated and understood the importance of women in society. Before that, society showed lenient thinking for the women and they got the chance to get an education. However, restrictions were still present while choosing the profession. For instance, a profession like physicians and engineering were considered as men's professional. On the other hand, women had limited choice they were able to join fields like arts, writing, and teachings. It indicates the dominancy of men before the feminism movement. During the late 1800s role of women began to change with different movements. Women raise their voices to get the right to vote. They made various organizations that not only started the movement for voting rights but also spread awareness in women to get an education and other rights ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"qVgj2IYr","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Wellenreuther and Otto)","plainCitation":"(Wellenreuther and Otto)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":909,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/rVaVAHaF/items/2F2Q9V8W"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/rVaVAHaF/items/2F2Q9V8W"],"itemData":{"id":909,"type":"article-journal","title":"Women in evolution – highlighting the changing face of evolutionary biology","container-title":"Evolutionary Applications","page":"3-16","volume":"9","issue":"1","source":"PubMed Central","abstract":"The face of science has changed. Women now feature alongside men at the forefront of many fields, and this is particularly true in evolutionary biology. This special issue celebrates the outstanding achievements and contributions of women in evolutionary biology, by highlighting a sample of their research and accomplishments. In addition to original research contributions, this collection of articles contains personal reflections to provide perspective and advice on succeeding as a woman in science. By showcasing the diversity and research excellence of women and drawing on their experiences, we wish to enhance the visibility of female scientists and provide inspiration as well as role models. These are exciting times for evolutionary biology, and the field is richer and stronger for the diversity of voices contributing to the field.","DOI":"10.1111/eva.12343","ISSN":"1752-4571","note":"PMID: 27087836\nPMCID: PMC4780375","journalAbbreviation":"Evol Appl","author":[{"family":"Wellenreuther","given":"Maren"},{"family":"Otto","given":"Sarah"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2015",12,19]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Wellenreuther and Otto).
These women not only fight for vote right but also for political and economic equality along with social reforms. This was a difficult time because not all women were agreed to the equality of sexes. The large population of women believed that it is against the traditional gender role and the political interference of women is improper. Therefore, these movements and struggles for equal rights were not only threatening for men but also for women. The thinking of such women was influenced by the traditional stereotypes by which they believe that economic and political activities are meant for men only. However, feminists and various other activists got success to get acceptance of many women who join the movement. Later on, people faced the strange face of feminism. Clubs, jazz concerts were introduced where women used men like appearance to enjoy the concerts. Women travel to different places alone for enjoyment at clubs where dancing and drinking was common. Time and thinking of women began to change they sensed their important role in society. She started to question and argue for their basic rights like better education, clothing, healthcare, and choice to work.
Women start enjoying work
After the feminism movement starting at the end of the 1800s women started to join the workforce. Men somehow agreed to give a chance to women and allowed them to get an education and join the workforce. Before the 1880s women's workforce was only 2.9 million which gradually increased from 1880 to 1910 and reached 7.8 million. Women start enjoying work in industry and business. Churches support women and they fought for religious activism. Thus, women became able to enjoy working outside their homes. They start serving the nation as a teacher, nurse, cook, writer, and secretaries. The education system improved by the 1870s for women and they got admission for advanced courses. Women made about one-third of the total student population by the end of 1880. The industrial revolution brought tremendous changes for women and they got more opportunities in education and the workforce. This revolution increased the demand for workforce and men start accepting the need and importance of women in professional life ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"Eh8I36bB","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(NW et al.)","plainCitation":"(NW et al.)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":914,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/rVaVAHaF/items/PU2DUJR5"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/rVaVAHaF/items/PU2DUJR5"],"itemData":{"id":914,"type":"post-weblog","title":"The narrowing, but persistent, gender gap in pay","container-title":"Pew Research Center","abstract":"In 2018, women earned 85% of what men earned. The wage gap was somewhat smaller for adults ages 25 to 34 than for all workers 16 and older.","URL":"https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/03/22/gender-pay-gap-facts/","language":"en-US","author":[{"family":"NW","given":"1615 L. St"},{"family":"Suite 800Washington","given":""},{"family":"Inquiries","given":"DC 20036USA202-419-4300 | Main202-857-8562 | Fax202-419-4372 | Media"}],"accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",11,6]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (NW et al.).
By the end of 1910 sixty percent of all women were working as domestic servants. Women got the right to vote in 1919 after the passage of the nineteenth amendment. It was a big achievement got by the women with the struggle of the American Woman Suffrage Association. The association was made by Julia Ward Howe and Lucy Stone. In addition, in the political area, women got the right to control their property, business, income, custody of children, and choice of divorce. Another employment that ladies in the common laborers could have was in was the coal mineshafts. Ladies who worked in the coal mineshafts were regularly put in positions called catching, hustling, filling, riddling, tipping, and getting coal; these positions were a portion of a similar that men would hold. Huge numbers of the ladies would seem to be like men in the garments that they wore. Now and again ladies would work in the pits with men who were regularly stripped or near being bare, which frequently gave the path for sex inside the work environment. Initially, only four states allowed women to vote later other states also agreed to the rule and women get full power in political power. By the end of 1920s large population of girls were acquiring educations in new build schools and colleges for women while adult women were participating in social, economic, and political aspects of the society.
Initial Issues at the Workplace
Women got so many opportunities in the form of education and job but it was not easy for them because of social pressure. Gender bias, discrimination, inequality, harassment, and family restrictions were some of the major issues during this period. Women were restricted to specific fields like teaching, nursing, and writing while major fields like doctors and engineers were made for men. All through the Industrial Revolution, sex was a significant effect on laborer pay. Ladies would, in general, get between 33% to half of a man's normal compensation. As the assembling ventures developed, they would exploit these low normal compensations among ladies and youngsters. The capacity to utilize these ladies and youngsters for little pay demonstrated to be recipient to these organizations. Numerous businesses abused these individuals' requirements for cash, as they would turn a significant benefit in return for very modest work. Undertakings, for example, printing, turning, and different obligations ordinarily learned at home were simple occupations to learn and were the absolute generally beneficial. The development of bigger scale generation frameworks was flourished withvarious conditions and was reformed all through this timeframe.
Women were also not allowed to do the job out of specific frames and stereotypes. For instance, women were considered weaker than men so they were not allowed to do the job that requires strength. In addition, women were not allowed to drive or work in the night shift. Even in the morning shift, major positions were given to men only who increased the inequality since women start working. Harassment was the major issue as men were using women as sexual objects so it a too long time for men to accept the presence of women as colleagues or partners at the workplace ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"pUj5hvs7","properties":{"formattedCitation":"({\\i{}Explaining the Gender Wage Gap - Center for American Progress})","plainCitation":"(Explaining the Gender Wage Gap - Center for American Progress)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":920,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/rVaVAHaF/items/JCBQVTJR"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/rVaVAHaF/items/JCBQVTJR"],"itemData":{"id":920,"type":"webpage","title":"Explaining the Gender Wage Gap - Center for American Progress","URL":"https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/reports/2014/05/19/90039/explaining-the-gender-wage-gap/","accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",11,6]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Explaining the Gender Wage Gap - Center for American Progress).
People Perception of Women Joining the Workforce
Even after joining the workforce women's first job that was looking after their children and home remain constant. It means women were doing the job but they were also expected to handle their home duty as efficiently as non-working women did. This increased the work stress and burden over the women as they had two duties to perform. However, women did not lose hope and they proved themselves by handling both tasks. Various researches indicate that even today if one of the partners had to quit the job for home then it would be women because men are considered as financial supporters of the family and women can do the job unless their home environment does not affect it. This means a job or professional life is the second option for women while home responsibility is considered as the priority task for them.
People had a mixed perception of this change. Men were afraid of increasing women's power in the workforce and they wanted to be dominant. This is why they set the limit for the women at the workplace. The Industrial Revolution to some degree was filled by the monetary need of numerous ladies, single and wedded, to discover pursued work outside their home. Ladies, for the most part, secured positions in household administration, material plants, and piece workshops. They likewise worked in the coal mineshafts. For a few, the Industrial Revolution gave autonomous wages, portability and a superior way of life. For the lion's share, in any case, manufacturing plant work in the early long stretches of the nineteenth century brought about the existence of hardship. In addition, society did not easily accept this freedom of women including some population of women. Especially older women considered this change as vulgarity and wrong step for the future of society.
Pay Distribution in Early Time
As a major position at each work organizations were under men so that women had limited salary according to their designation, age, and gender. Gender inequality leads to a large income gap between men and women. Besides gender discrimination, there were some major reasons due to which women were unable to acquire higher wages. First was the limited education. Men were able to get higher education from early times while women were not even allowed to get an early education. Time changed and women get the opportunity to get an education but their level was less than the men which affected their wages. Men were more qualified so they acquired higher wages while women pay was much lesser than men. The second reason for the pay difference was the amount of investment. Shareholders preferred to invest in training programs for men while women got fewer investments which restricted their skills. This difference in training and skills leads to a pay gap between the genders.
In addition, there was an economic reason for low payment. Women had few professional to choose which increased the supply of female labor in the market. The increase in the supply of female labor decreases the demand for them which resulted in a low wage rate for the women. Women had no choice so they had to accept low pay for the work. However, discrimination remained the major factor for the pay difference between the genders. This means even women were doing the same job but they were getting less pay than the men. Men got control over the women by controlling their salary distribution.
1963 Equal Pay Act
Researches indicate that men enjoyed twenty percent advantage in pay from 1973 to 1995. Women at that time were struggling to join the workforce therefore; they were unable to fight for equal pay. However, with time women not only raise their voice for equal rights but also for equal pay. The equal pay act of 1963 was passed after a constant increase in pay difference between men and women. The law was signed on the 10th of July 1963. H.R. 5056 was introduced by Republican congresswoman against discrimination and inequality in pay based on sex. The first adjustment after passing the act was to adjust the salary for women. Distribution of salary on the basis of gender was considered as discrimination and violation of the law. The next step taken was coverage to professionals and various white-collar employees. The act not only ensured the equal distribution of salary but also worked on the consequences of equal distribution of job opportunities. As before, women had limited opportunities and men were holding the major position which considered discrimination within the act ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"li3DBA2e","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(\\uc0\\u8220{}Working Women\\uc0\\u8221{})","plainCitation":"(“Working Women”)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":913,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/rVaVAHaF/items/367CI6HW"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/rVaVAHaF/items/367CI6HW"],"itemData":{"id":913,"type":"webpage","title":"Working women: Key facts and trends in female labor force participation","container-title":"Our World in Data","abstract":"In almost every country in the world, men are more likely to participate in labor markets than women. However, these gender differences in participation rates have been narrowing substantially in recent decades. In this post we discuss how and why these changes are taking place.","URL":"https://ourworldindata.org/female-labor-force-participation-key-facts","shortTitle":"Working women","accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",11,6]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (“Working Women”).
The impact of the act was positive for the society as well as economy. The large women workforce got more favorable opportunities and they became able to acquire equal jobs as well as salary. In addition, discrimination based on gender and age became unlawful and women became able to case files against the employers of the organization if they experience such discrimination. After the implementation of the 1963 equal pay act, the major difference was observed. The pay gap decreases but it did not end. The reasons for the pay gap were due to various social and some unknown economic factors.
Role of Women in the Workforce
One of the most significant financial advancements of the twentieth century was the improvement in instructive and work showcase open doors for ladies. Because of this advancement, countless American ladies achieved postsecondary degrees, entered the work power, and earned wages that have become over time.According to one ongoing investigation, subsequent to modifying for elements like work power understanding, association status, race and ethnicity, and occupation, a great part of the sexual orientation compensation hole stays unexplained, proposing that work showcase separation assumes a significant job. Truth be told, the creators' state, right around 60 percent of ladies would win more on the off chance that they were paid equivalent to men with equal degrees of instruction and work hours. Since 1948, the United States has utilized an approach of joint tax assessment, which charges a wedded couple as a unit based on the consolidated pay of husband and spouse. By making a spouse's expense rate reliant on her significant other's income, joint tax collection raises wives' assessment rates, by and large, and diminishes their work supply.
For the greater part of recorded history, agribusiness was the main human occupation, and substantial physical work was not bound to men. Ladies performed physically requesting errands, for example, pounding grain by turn in a stone quern, drawing and conveying water, gathering wood, and beating milk to make margarine. For the most part, any rest from these undertakings would happen just when a lady conceived an offspring. New innovation has implied that numerous assignments that once required overwhelming physical effort, and consequently were confined to men, would now be able to be performed just by pushing catches. Working a bulldozer, for example, needn't bother with muscle control to such an extent as sharpness, judgment, and coordination—characteristics as copious in ladies as in men. By the by, the passage of ladies into occupations earlier the area of men demonstrated to be slower than anticipated. This constant word related isolation by sex is generally liable for sizable contrasts in paces of pay that still exist.
Conclusion
Women in America had to do so many struggles to reach the stage where they are today. They fought for their rights, freedom of choice, and opportunities for a better life. Society acquires various norms, rituals, and stereotypes that decide the roles of gender. During the late 1800s role of women began to change with different movements. Women raise their voices to get the right to vote. They made various organizations that not only started the movement for voting rights but also spread awareness in women to get an education and other rights. Before the 1880s women workforce was only 2.9 million which gradually increased from 1880 to 1910 and reached 7.8 million. Women start enjoying work in industry and business. Churches support women and they fought for religious activism. However, Gender bias, discrimination, inequality, harassment, and family restrictions were some of the major issues during this period.
Women were restricted to specific fields like teaching, nursing, and writing while major fields like doctors and engineers were made for men. Harassment was the major issue as men were using women as a sexual object so it a too long time for men to accept the presence of women as colleagues or partners at the workplace. The equal pay act of 1963 was passed after a constant increase in pay difference between men and women. The law was signed on the 10th of July 1963. H.R. 5056 was introduced by Republican congresswoman against discrimination and inequality in pay based on sex. The large women workforce got more favorable opportunities and they became able to acquire equal jobs as well as salary.
Work Cited
ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Explaining the Gender Wage Gap - Center for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/reports/2014/05/19/90039/explaining-the-gender-wage-gap/. Accessed 6 Nov. 2019.
NW, 1615 L. St, et al. “The Narrowing, but Persistent, Gender Gap in Pay.” Pew Research Center, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/03/22/gender-pay-gap-facts/. Accessed 6 Nov. 2019.
Read “From Scarcity to Visibility: Gender Differences in the Careers of Doctoral Scientists and Engineers” at NAP.Edu. www.nap.edu, doi:10.17226/5363. Accessed 6 Nov. 2019.
Wellenreuther, Maren, and Sarah Otto. “Women in Evolution – Highlighting the Changing Face of Evolutionary Biology.” Evolutionary Applications, vol. 9, no. 1, Dec. 2015, pp. 3–16. PubMed Central, doi:10.1111/eva.12343.
“Working Women: Key Facts and Trends in Female Labor Force Participation.” Our World in Data, https://ourworldindata.org/female-labor-force-participation-key-facts. Accessed 6 Nov. 2019.
