Women's Pay In Colonial America

Ninety-five years ago the nineteenth amendment was passed giving women in America the right to vote (America’s Historical Documents), this was a pivotal step for women rights. Since then women’s rights have increasingly advanced throughout America: in politics and in the workforce. In fact “women today make up almost half of all worker in the United States” (The State of Women in America). Sadly though, women are paid less than males in the workforce. "Women in the United States are paid only 77 cents for every dollar a man makes" (The State of Women in America). One question that derives from this topic is: why are women still not getting paid as much as men? Women should get paid as equally as men do. A fair argument to make against the topic is the difference in the types of work a woman and a man does (Debate). For example in construction men are tasked with most of the heavy lifting as opposed to a women that do not have as much

In the second half of the colonial time period in North America, ever-nearing the American Revolution in 1775, there were much fewer roles for women. While they still dealt with and controlled everything having to do with childbirth and the family, their professional lives were downgraded. Their three main jobs were to watch the children, encourage faith in the house, and be subordinate to men (Dunklee 2). As education was becoming slightly more widespread, only men were taking advantage of higher education, meaning they were the ones who would receive the jobs. Even if a lady did happen to be wealthy enough and come from a powerful enough family to get higher education, they were not socially accepted into having jobs. Women were reduced to only having what was seen as small tasks, caretaking, sewing and writing (WIC 2). All of the jobs available were chores to benefit the individual family, not be put out into society. Even the more creative exercises such as writing poetry, were done for the woman’s own benefit as a creative outlet, not as something to be put out into the world as it was for many men (Bloch). The roles available to women had evolved to include very few options, many of which weren’t even to be recognized by

Women were bought to America deeply rooted convictions about the inferiority of women. Minister would stress that women are weak creatures, not endowed with like strength and constancy of mines. It’s said that the role of a woman is to obey and serve their husband, nurture their children and endure the tax labor required to maintain their household. Women in the colonies didn’t have many rights they couldn’t vote, preach, hold office, attend public schools or colleges, bring lawsuits, make contracts, or own property. The Biblical passages were the reason why people believed that the women in colonial society should obey and serve their husband, nurture their children and endure the tax labor required to maintain their household, Puritans cited

In large companies many women are getting legally paid less because of their job title. Although, they are performing the same work as a male, their job title does not declare that. Therefore, they are legally able to get paid less. This is, however, a violation of laws that has been passed and must be amended. Mohamad G. Alkadry, an associate professor and director of the master of public administration program at West Virginia University, claims that the wage gap has persisted throughout the years and has never really been cut down because women are also choosing lower paying jobs, which contributes to the gap between genders. According to a 2003 study by the General Accounting Office (now the Government Accountability Office), it was found that women earned 79.7 percent of what men earned, even after controlling for occupation, industry, years of work experience, job tenure, number of work hours, time off for childbearing, race, marital status, and education (Alkadry, 2006). Thus, showing that the gap between gender is inevitable because women have to take time off due to their nature of being able to get pregnant and need to deiber and cooperate. Joan Williams, a professor at the University of California Hastings College of Law, claims that motherhood is what is having women get paid less (Noguchi, 2013). Alkurdy expressed similar beliefs, because women often take time off in order to care for their child and employers tend to discriminate towards them since they will be costing them money. Therefore, women's choice to have children creates the leading factor

Budge, a sociology professor has found that on average for every birth a woman suffers a 4% salary decrease while men receive a 6% pay raise, increasing the pay gap between genders (see Figure 2). It is believed that this change in pay is due the fact that women are more likely to make their family their first priority. Many women, after having a child, attempt to find a job with more flexible hours, which may force them to change to a lower paying job. Mothers may also be exhausted and distracted at their job, compromising their ability to work. There is a stigma against mothers by employers. They assume that a mother’s focus will be on her family instead of her job, which if true, would result in lower quality work and deserving of a lower salary. At the same time, men are more likely to work more after their child is born to fill the financial burden that results from children. Men are viewed positively by employers, unlike women, when they become parents. These stigmas would decrease if paid leave was offered because mothers would be able to focus on their children directly after birth. After their leave is over, women are then better able to balance work and family without financial

Women have always been seen inferior to men, and in a result has impacted us in a negative way that affects us by being paid lower. In Obama’s State Address, he mentioned that “for every dollar a man earns a woman earns seventy-seven cents” (Obama). Women nowadays take place and are in an environment where their jobs are equal or even higher than men, yet they still get paid less. Personally I believe that it is unfair for this situation to take place because women have transformed from the past. In the past, women have been perceived as only the mother and that they should stay home and take care of the children, and to have the food ready for their husband, to be the typical wife. Back then women were not forced nor allowed to take place in the working environment; this was the husband’s job. Times have changed and so have women, now that there are more advancements in our modern time, such as technology, we have taken charge and made an impact in learning, working, and wanting to pursue

We’ve been told this lie before, even from the President of the United States. Women earn 77 cents on the dollar compared to men. (Kessler, Glenn) There have been articles, reports, and social media activism promoting equal pay. I’m here to take an unpopular, but necessary, opinion. The wage gap as you know it is a myth. It’s a product of bad statistics and bad economics. The largest factor behind wage inequality, of the sexes, is getting men and women into different occupations without societal judgment. Men are focusing on jobs with higher economic outlook, and women are focusing on jobs that are most beneficial to the community. (Solis, Hilda S, Keith Hall) While there is nothing wrong with that, it does lead to a perceived pay disparity. This issue is fundamentally misleading and economically illogical. It is being posed as unequal work for equal pay, when the reality is that it’s an unequal workforce. It’s been argued by some that the addition of women to certain fields has been known to lower average wages. This may be explained by considering that when you add more supply to an occupation, the demand needs to increase as well or the prices will stagnate or fall. A study would have to control for overall number of occupants in a field relative to its demand to prove this. The purpose of this essay is to explain how you actually determine pay inequality, what it actually is, and what is actually causing the statistics we’re seeing.

Women receive lower pay rates than men. Not only do women get paid less because of their gender, they also get paid less because of their race and age. Women typically earn less money than men because of the pay gap that is created between genders. The pay gap in gender is becoming a main subject that people talk about because it is affecting many of women’s lives. When women make less

Over the past four decades women have been increasingly involved in the workforce, but now in the US today they make up half of the people that work. “Although an increasing number of women are either the sole breadwinner for their family or share the role with their partners, women in the United States are paid 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. The pay gap is even larger for women of color. On average, African American women make 64 cents for every dollar that white men make” (Chu & Posner,2013). Now that many women are part of the working force, they receive lower pay than men, and especially color women receive even lower pay. So as time has passed women have become more involved in the workforce and as they take part in being more dependent by earning their own money, they receive lower pay than man.

Since the dawn of time, discrimination and oppression in all forms has been a constant battle; whether its race, gender, religion, beliefs, or anything else that makes people different from another, it is happening every day. The significant discrimination problem we are and have been battling happens in our very own workplace. Women with the same education, training, and experience are not receiving equal pay. “On average, women make 77 cents to every dollar a man makes. For women of color, that difference widens” says NBC News journalist Mary Emily O’Hara in her article “Equal Pay Day: Women Rally Against Wage Gap, Workplace Discrimination.” This inequality happens to come from the common belief that men work and provide while women stay at home to take care of the house and kids. The fact that someone can make 23 percent less than someone who does the exact same thing goes to show how unjust the workforce is. Women deserve equal pay due to the benefits everyone receives because of it.

Many say that motherhood is the biggest reason why the gender pay gap is a thing. When women get into the real world and start a new job, it is believed to be around the time that they will soon start to become mothers this reasoning is to explain why between the ages 25-45, the gap starts at almost a zero difference, but it jumps to 55 percent difference in pay. Even those with college degrees, the difference goes up by 28 percent (Miller, 2017). Even married women without children are paid less because it is believed that the women would follow their husband if he had to move or just give up job opportunities the women are given. Which gives us the stereotypical patriarchy relationship, where it is based on the man and what he does. “…women are viewed as the breeders of the race, whose reproductive

One of the most well known arguments of women’s rights advocates is the gender pay gap. Although the difference between a male and female pay varies throughout the United States, with Louisiana being the highest difference and New York the lowest, the average American woman who works full time earns only eighty percent of her male counterpart who also works full time.(Miller) A common misconception is that the pay gap is isolated to jobs that don't require more than a high school diploma such as waitressing however, the truth is that the pay gap exists on all levels regardless of how much schooling a woman puts herself through.(Miller) As if that isn’t bad enough, older woman can expect to earn even less than eighty percent of male and as they age the difference will only widen.(Miller)

Gender roles in Colonial America show the crossing of women’s significance and monetary impact. Women partaken in the role of survival. Their place in the community affected understandings and the everyday lives. Carol Berkin, Helen Rountree, and Laurel Thatcher Ulrich explored women’s responsibilities, valued in the community, labor, property and the segregated work by sex. Women were the reliable source of the household but also participated in labor during the Colonial American era. Many can argue that women performed challenging responsibilities. Women’s responsibility in the community was not always easy when it came to the everyday norm by the physical work done with very little input from men.

A perceived considerable issue in modern society is inequality outcome among different groups of people. If a society seeks to have equal outcome for all individuals then all inequalities must be corrected. Many strides have been made in the equal rights for women over the years but one factor that remains unequal and a topic of huge concern to modern feminists and or egalitarians is the gender pay gap. The gender pay gap is simply the comparison of average median income of men compared to women. According to the US Department of Commerce in 2012, women on average make 77% of money compared to what men earn (DeNavas-Walt, Proctor, & Smith, 2013). A more recent study done by the AAUW (American Association of University Women) state the percentage is closer to 80 (Miller, 2017). While many different sources vary the exact percentage of the disparity, there is an undeniable disparity between the average income for men and women. There are different beliefs as to the reasons for this disparity.

Introduction to Controversy: As the “wage gap” is being discussed more, the question is why do men and women have different wages when they are working the same job. While it seems that men don't have to take as much time off from work or may work more, we have to look at it from Women’s viewpoints also.