Ian Fumens
FYS Global
Chapter 11
October 12, 2011
Women in the Work Force
When we talk of women’s work we initially think of the work that women do at home, their unpaid domestic labour. The old catch cry refers to the hundreds of household chores for which women are assumed to take total responsibility. However there is also another sort of women’s work, the work done by women in the paid workforce, which is characterized by the fact that it tends to be done only by women. Although the work women perform at home is itself invisible because it is always done away from the public eye, women are seen by society as housewives and mothers and not as paid workers. Women’s unpaid domestic work is seen as primary and paramount, and their workforce participation is therefore reduced to apparent insignificance and social invisibility. There are many different reasons why in today’s society, women are paid less than men.
The national committee on pay equality, announced that among full time women workers, women only make around 77 cents for every dollar paid to men. There are multiple reasons such as the different levels of skills, discrimination, and differences in productivity, that make a difference in a women's paycheck. Skills and qualifications are an important factor in determining wages. If men had better qualifications, this could explain their higher wages. With regard to A-levels and university degrees, female qualifications are generally as good as men. However, for certain high paying professions, such as, accountancy and law, there are more qualified men than women, although even this gap is now closing. Women take career breaks to have children, which they are paid lass for. UK Maternity law means a women can be secured of her job, while having a child. However, taking a break from work means women are less likely to get promoted. Also, women of childbearing age, may be viewed as a liability. This is because if they become pregnant the...