Functionalists like Fletcher believed that divorce was rising because people were raising their expectations in marriage, this suggests that higher divorce rates means higher value of marriage. Women petition for 70% of divorces this shows that the women may be increasingly likely to feel dissatisfied with marriage. The unequal distribution of tasks may be a key factor for example Delphy and Leonard suggest that the woman already performed 57 unpaid roles for their partner. This places a great deal of pressure on the wife leading them to believe that divorce is the key to lift this burden off their shoulders. Couples also had fewer children which again may mean that there is less to keep them together leading to an increase in
If it is a result of implicit discrimination due to lifestyle choices, then women's lower earnings result from the fact that women typically take more time off when having children or choose to work fewer hours. If it is explicit discrimination, then the pay gap is a result of stereotypical beliefs, conscious or unconscious, from those who hire and set salaries.This graph depicts the female to male earnings ratio, median yearly earnings among full time. Some other examples of the gender gap are: Women who work part time actually earn more than men who work part
Overall it could therefore be argued that rather than partners becoming more equal, women now have to carry a ‘dual burden’, whereby she is responsible for two jobs of unpaid or paid labour. Factors such as patriarchy and conforming to a gender script will lead to these divisions. Secondly, it could be argued that the money management within a family has an effect on the power relations between couples. Edgell argues that the reason why men are likely to take the decisions is because they earn more; women usually earn less than their husbands, and as a result of being dependant on them, have less say in the decision making. Similarly, Michelle Barrett and Mary McIntosh additionally argue that men usually make the decisions about spending on important items.
Marxist theories state that inequality is not a female issue, but a class one, for they note that middle class women are often better off than working class men. This point seems futile; can inequality not be a problem of the female and the working class male? Class aside, it is an indisputable fact that by and large, women are affected more harshly by poverty than men, in Pearce’s research into poverty in the United States, she found that two thirds of the poor who were over 16 were women. Poverty is rapidly becoming a female problem. Marxists however claim that we should focus on the eradication of capitalism, because then gender disparities will swiftly follow.
A UC Berkley study of California’s childcare support system found that early care and education systems have much to do with the ongoing wage gap. Found through research done by the Roosevelt institute, the study states, “Better pay and benefits are correlated with a continuous work history. When workers’ careers are disrupted because of child care failure — care that is unreliable, unaffordable, or just unavailable — and these workers are usually women. Periods of non-employment lead to lower wages because of loss of seniority, and sometimes being less likely to receive further training or mentoring due to questions of commitment.” (Kimmel 2006, p.79)When not working for long periods of time some significant “skill deprecation” may occur and thus lowering the wage. Investment in early child education that is affordable to all classes would, in the end work to everyone’s advantage.
Unfortunately the recent report tells us that only by 2095 we can achieve the full gender equality on the workplace. However, of course, we could try and shorten that time. It is obviously important to have not only males in the business world, because this way we miss out on many opportunities that women could bring to the world, due to the different perception of values. When for example men are driven by mostly material success, women tend to build up relationships and friendly environment on the workplace. However, sometimes emotions and nurturing can affect the business in a negative manner.
However, some women joined the work force and would do jobs that men previously had held. Some were not forced to, but they had to work as hard as they could to support their families during this difficult time. In contrast, the writer Norman Cousins commented that there was a negative opinion on the women’s presence in the workforce despite women willing to acquire a living wage. He also stated in his book that the federal government proscribed holding government jobs by both members of a married couple, and many localities stopped hiring women whose husbands with a minimum wage (Cousins 1939). Another aspect of the Depression affecting life of women was the moral argument against working-women.
This imbalance in the research is due to the stereotyping of women in years past. Now as more women become better educated and hold prestigious positions among the workforce. This will only make the birth
Men are paid higher salaries than women. Women cannot walk freely in the streets. These are some of the examples which show that men are still reining the world. The case of male dominance is worst in the third world countries where people are poor and illiterate. I also have experienced many incidents in which I have been neglected just because I am a girl.
599). The union organizers wanted to improve working conditions for women during this era. Informing as many women as possible to protest for better working conditions as well as better pay. Since the nineteenth century women in the workforce have been under hostile conditions. Women continue to suffer penalties in the workforce for having children while working a job.