Women 's Civil Rights During World War II

This investigation will attempt to answer the question: “To what extent did the two major woman’s contributions in World War II, the WAACS and nurses, undergird the women fighting for equal rights achieve their goals of economic and social independence in the job force, during the years following WWII?” This research question will allow for exploration on women involvement in the war and how involvement affected woman’s independence in the United States. This investigation will analyze women rights and war involvement from 1939 to 1964 when title VII was passed.

“More than fifty years ago, in 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed landmark legislation that would guarantee equal pay to both men and women working under the same employer. The Equal Pay Act was the first in a series of major federal and state laws that had a profound effect on job opportunities and earnings for women over the next half century, and laid the foundation for the movement of women into the paid labor force at unprecedented levels (whitehouse.gov).”

During the year 1942, most of the world was occupied with World War II; for the US, it was a period of hardship, unity, sacrifice, and pain. Men were selected to go fight while women were encouraged with the “Rosie the Riveter” poster to work in areas they were not familiar with. About six million women were motivated from it and worked the jobs men usually took and jobs that contributed to helping the men who were fighting; however, women were still responsible for their daily house work.

The gender pay gap in the United States has been a tensely debated topic since the Equal Pay Act of 1963. Although the Equal Pay Act requires equal pay for men and women, the issue of the gender pay gap has been a heightened issue as time has progressed. Phyllis Schlafly, Mark J. Perry, Anita Little and Sheryl Sandberg each address the gender pay gap in dynamically different ways. Phyllis Schlafly and Mark J. Perry firmly believe that the gender pay gap is entirely created by life choices that women make. While Anita Little and Sheryl Sandberg argue that the pay gap is caused by external forces. Each author addresses: creation of the wage gap, the severity of the wage gap and the viability of a solution.

The gender wage gap in the U.S. has been a topic of debate in politics through most of the 21st century. In 2015, women were paid 80 percent of what men were paid (SIMPLE TRUTH). This number is considerably smaller than that of the 1960’s because of women’s progress in education and participation in the workforce (SIMPLE TRUTH). The wage gap can have adverse lifelong effects on a woman’s life. Because women are paid less than men, a woman will receive less social security, pensions, and other resources when they retire than a man would (Fischer & Hayes, 2013). There is a common stigma that women do not get paid as much as men because they do not ask for higher wages but not everything can be “explained

The American economy runs as a cycle of employment and consumer spending for centuries, with profit, cost and salaries as the inputs and outputs. If the market is supplied by workers who are paid and encouraged to spend their wages in order to keep the market running, then the phenomenon of all employees paid equally for the same job should be universally understood in modern society. The working gender gap in the United States has revolutionized since the end of World War II in which the women who were originally temporarily employed in the workforce in place of drafted males were now seeking to be the rising breadwinners of the family. Through the Equal Pay Act, signed into law by President John F. Kennedy on June 10, 1963, the “prohibition of sex discrimination” in all forms of pay intends to eliminate unequal pay for the same jobs occupied by different genders (“The Equal”, n.d.).

economy has changed enormously. They are increasingly holding positions in management, and we are lead to believe the pay gap between men and women are now balanced. In 1963, President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act creating it a law that makes different pay wages illegal due to gender based work quality. In the 1960’s women in the United States earned an average of 59 cents for the dollar men made in equal positions. (Gender, Web). Today almost half of the workforce consist of women and are the main source of income in four out of ten households. A review of the year 2013 shows that female full-time workers only received 78 cents to the dollar earned by men (Pay,

Unfortunately, it has been proven through a multitude of research that the average female makes about 79% of the amount that their male counterpart would make. Even after achieving the victory of making jobs for women a norm, women still struggle with the male advantage. As Susan B. Anthony continued in Suffrage and the Working Woman, “When she has attained ability to compete with them and to do just as well in every respect she is placed at work, if at all, on half pay” (Anthony). Although some argue that the gender pay gap is nothing but a myth, the statistical facts show otherwise. While those in positions of power and privilege attempt to thrust this issue out of the picture, it remains a large problem that no woman should be unaware of. Unequal pay is a common issue for plenty of women for far too long, and must be

Pay equity, another form of discrimination, is a concern throughout America. On average, women continue to earn much less than men earn (while performing the same work). There are two primary reasons for this travesty: Women anticipate shorter and more sporadic work lives, and women, on average, have less work experience than men (Kim). Women should receive equal pay for equal work despite any circumstances. In 2015, women earned a mind-boggling seventy-nine cents for every dollar that a man earned. This statistic demonstrated that there is a gender wage gap of almost twenty percent. Moreover, women must work until April 12th of a given year to earn what men earned in the previous year. To make matters worse, equal pay day for minority women

The contributing factors represent the gray area of the argument on equal pay. The first large factor that contributes to the wage gap is the time period being evaluated. The U.S. has made substantial progress within the past century and a half since the beginning of the women’s rights movement in 1848 for women’s equality and rights (“History”). Women have come a long way since being looked at as maids, property, free work/underpaid, and had little to no rights. Today, women have rightfully gained the same equal rights as everyone else. Not until the past decade or two has equal pay been a priority. With significant push in recent years including the Equal Pay Act being passed by Barack Obama, a movement towards equality in pay began. The time period being analyzed changes the view of whether or not women are being paid

World War Two witnessed the beginning of a new era for Women’s Rights in Australia. It was a time where women started to achieve more independence in their everyday lives both within the workforce and in mainstream society. This essay will be exploring the impact of World War Two on Women’s Rights in Australia and examining how it altered the popular cultural belief that saw women regarded as only fit to be the cleaners and the nurturers of their households. To demonstrate how World War Two sparked a new era for women’s rights, four key topics will be examined. These topics are: What life was like for women prior to World War Two, What life was like for women during World War two, What opportunities did women gain during this time period and How where women empowered by their experiences. In exploring these questions, this essay will demonstrate how World War Two did indeed spark a new era for women’s rights in Australia.

The wage gap for women constructs a critical function in our society, and is worth studying to recognize where our economy provides unequal opportunities for women in the labor force while including their education, training, race, and

America prides itself on equality but no one is truly equal until men and women are not treated the same way and given equal pay for the same work. Unequal pay is a major social injustice that has recently been spreading across the nation. Women have come a long way in American society, they now have the right to vote and are bread winners for many households, but they still have a long way to go. The wage gap in USA as of 2016 is that a woman makes 80 cents to a man’s dollar. This kind of discrimination is extremely prevalent in today’s society and there is no conscious effort being put forward to close the wage gap. It is predicted that the wage gap will be closing in the year 2152, but to get results now and have this discrimination end

World War II was revolutionary for progressing the women's rights movement due to the War impacting nation's civilians alongside the troops who were deployed. WWII caused arguably the most detrimental damage in human history by its introduction of new artillery and how wide-spread it was due to the new innovations. Therefore, women who preceding the War were complacent to their oppressive roles in society, were made to work in factories to help aid the War effort. Factories were converted to produce equipment necessary for aiding the War and as a result of the majority of young men being deployed, women were needed to work in these factories. America's government implemented forms of propaganda to subliminally influence the women to temporarily

The oppression of women through occupationally established sex segregation and the gender wage difference remains an important economic discussion. The overall gender wage gap has fallen significantly since 1890 to its current rate of 21.4%. Women are making great strides increasing their labor market experience and skills. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Report 58.6% of women make up the labor force, 50.2% have multiple jobs, and 75.4% of single mothers are in the labor force. Today more women are head of households. Despite all the progress a large gender pay gap still exist. This is not simply a result of women’s choices, but structural, economic and social barriers that limit women’s ability to compete resulting in lower pay.