Aileen Rizo was a math consultant at a California county office. She worked for three years on the job, she learned that a man just hired had started at a much higher salary. Rizo filed a lawsuit because of her two daughters. Rizo said, “I don’t want another girl to feel after she’s worked so hard that she’s not worth the same as the man sitting next to her." Women are still being discriminated against in the workplace, because of this they aren’t equal to men. The glass ceiling, double standards, and single moms are the reason we need to change our ways in the workplace.
According to Webster’s Dictionary, the term glass ceiling means “An intangible barrier within a hierarchy that prevents women or minorities from obtaining upper-level positions.” This proves that when women are treated like their work doesn’t matter it can discourage them to not want to try for a higher position. Women aren’t being paid the same amount of men for the same amount of work. They are putting in the same amount of hours, however according to an article called, Worth More Than We Earn, women are making $10,000 less than men each year. Hillary Clinton once said, "Last time I checked there's no discount for being a woman. Groceries don't cost us less, rent doesn't cost us less, so why should we be paid less?" Not only do women get paid less and need to buy the same products as men, women products are often more expensive for the same item. This is the case when it comes razors, shampoo, conditioner, and many other products. In the STEM field, women need a Master’s degree to make the same amount as a male with a Bachelor’s degree. Why should women have to go through more schooling, and pay more money just so she can get paid the same as a male? According to a study by American Association of University Women shows that women have to pay more compared to men in schooling. This is important, because because 53% of women are paying more toward their student loans than they can afford, compared to only 39% of men.
Single moms are another reason that women need more rights in the workplace. If women aren’t getting paid the same as a man, and only have one income, then they will have barely any money to get by and will struggle. Single moms also face an issue when it comes to who can take care of their children when they do have to work. Mothers often can’t take the day off parenting, so when challenges like money and babysitters come into play, they often find themselves overwhelmed and looking for a cheap babysitter. Maternity leave is also a huge issue to not only single mothers, but any mother as well. Because of the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act mothers get 12 weeks of maternity leave, but it is unpaid and only for women who work in companies of 50 or more people. Single mothers can’t afford to take 12 weeks off of work when they are already not making as much as men.
Many people agree that the Wage Gap is real and is an issue that needs fixed. However, they say that it is because of performance, and not sex discrimination. This is not true, because men are still being paid at higher starting positions without them even receiving promotions. Aileen Rizo experienced this firsthand when a newly hired worker started off higher than when she first started the same job. The company didn’t have any performance to base their pay off of, therefore there is no way that it wasn’t based off of sex discrimination.
Women are not being treated the same in the workplace, and we need to fix that. The glass ceiling and single moms are the reason we need to fix America’s workplaces. The reasons I stated makes it very clear that we need to fix the inequalities women face in the workforce. Barack Obama once said “When women succeed, America succeeds.” If we fix the wage gap than women and America can finally succeed.
BROWN, MARY JOHANNA. “Breaking Down the Wage Gap: Myths, Realities and a Way Forward.” Business NH Magazine, vol. 32 no. 6, June 2015, p. 39. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,cookie,cpid&custid=nebstilb&db=f6h&AN=103031958
Castro, Ida L. “Worth More than We Earn.” National Forum, vol. 77, no. 2, Spring 1997, p. 17. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,cookie,cpid&custid=nebstlib&db=f6h&AN=9706231168.
HYMOWITZ, KAY. “Think Again: Working Women.” Foreign Policy, no. 201, July 2013, p. 59. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,cookie,cpid&custid=nebstlib&db=f6h&AN=88429406.
Stalker, Leah. “Waging War on the Wage Gap.” Teen Ink, vol. 28, no. 7, Mar. 2017, p. 25. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,cookie,cpid&custid=nebstlib&db=pwh&AN=121623118.