Since the 1950’s, the labor force participation rates for women have increased a lot. Everyday, more women bring home a paycheck. On the other hand, families with children maintained by women are also increasing. More and more women have become the heads of families, and they are the financial supports of their families. This statistic shows that more women strive to be equal to men, and they do not financially depend on men any more. In some traditional countries, women are still doing their housework.
They even do not have a chance to go to school. But in developed countries, the status of women is different from those who live in Third world societies. Women can study whatever they want. In modern communication, education has become the major key to getting a high-income job. If women want to be equal to men, they must educate themselves. The reason why women are not equal to men in some traditional countries is that they financially depend on their husbands.
They can not live by themselves without mens paychecks. They can not find a good job and be financially independent because they have no knowledge. So the first step to be equal to men is to get an education that is on the same level as men. And that is what women did in the past two decades. More and more women earned a high-school diploma or a college degree.
They achieved their goals to be equal to men by educating themselves. Secondly, more women have the opportunity to get a job. Comparing to the past, when women stayed home and took care of their children. They got no pay for their housework, and they were the burdens of their families. Time passed and many women escaped from their housework and pu themselves in the mainstream of society. More women are in professional jobs such as engineers, lawyers, judges, managers, and doctors.
Since types of jobs that women have had changed, their status also changed. They have become more respectable. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 also requires equal pay for men and women working for the same firm in jobs that require equal skill, effort, and responsibility. From this act, we can see many women are working, and they ask for equal pay to mens. Third, women have become the one who keeps the household on track. As usual, men are the heads of families, and they do not usually do the housework as their wives did.
But in recent years, this situation is changing. More and more households are maintained by women. The bring home daily foods and products their kids need. They bring home checks and hire baby-sisters. They have become the financial supports and the decision makers of families. In some single-parent families, women have the responsibility of both father and mother.
On one hand, they take care of their families. On the other hand, they use what they earn to satisfy their childrens biological needs (foods and clothes).
Women can also challenge the burdens of families, and they can escape dependency on their men. Women can be equal to men.
More women get educated as highly as men, and they get equal pay in the same working positions as men. They also can be financially independent. With the advances, in sector after sector, women are showing that they are just as competent as their male counterparts. It is important that adults encourage and support girls and young womens education, especially in fields where females have traditionally been excluded, for example in politics and in technical areas. The advance of women can not be halted, and their independence should be encouraged to etc.