Running Head: UNEQUAL PAY IS UNFAIR

Unequal Pay for Women is Unfair to Children

Tamesha Green
SW 3710: Social Welfare and the Social Work Profession
Wayne State University

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Unequal pay for women has been an ongoing issue dating back to the 1938 Fair Labors Act.
Women have always struggled for the same pay as men; this continues to be an issue until this
very day. Women should have equal pay, not only because it is fair, it will also help to support
the children of these women, many of whom live in poverty. More than ever statistics show that
the growing numbers of households are ran by single mothers and/or the woman is the primary
bread winner. The imbalance in pay wages not only affects women but their children as well.
This social economic injustice issue is more of concerns now because the amount of households
ran by women with children continue to grow, as compared to the 1950s, where two parent
families meant dual incomes. This issue reemerged again around the early 1960s as the 1963
Equal Pay Act was enacted. This social economic issue was again revisited in 2009 when
President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Just five years later women are still not
paid the wages that they depend on to support their families. This Social Economic inequality
has a devastating impact on the advancement of our youth.
The Policiesies that Helped Women
Unequal pay for women is a long standing issue. The first attempt to gain common wages was in
1938 as a part of the Fair Labors Standards Act. The FLA was enacted due to the desperation of
one particular young girl, she found the opportunity to notify President Roosevelt of her working
conditions and she literally leapt at the opportunity,
A young workers plea: While President Franklin Roosevelt was in Bradford, Massachusetts,
campaigning for reelection, a young girl tried to pass him an envelope but a police man threw her
back into the crowd. Roosevelt told an aide Get the note from the girl. Her note read, I wish
you could do something to help us girls. We have been working in a sewing factory, and up to a

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few months ago we were getting our minimum pay of $11 a week, today the 200 of us girls have
been cut down to $4, $5 and $6 a week. To a reporters question regarding unequal pay, the
President Roosevelt said something would be done to eliminate meager wages, long hours and a
control on child labor (Grossman, nd).
This would spark a change in the way employers paid their female employee and the regulation
of child labor. Two years after receiving the letter from the young girl, congress voted for the
Fair Labors Act initiated in 1938.
However, as times changed and women became more socially empowered, they began to intrepid
the broad context for which their equal pay rights were secured with the 1938 FLA. The Equal
Pay act of 1963 is an amendment to the FLA which is administered and enforced by the Equal
Employment opportunity Commission (EEOC). This amendment prohibits sex based wage
discrimination between men and women in the same establishment, who perform jobs that
require substantially equal skill effort and responsibility under similar working conditions
(Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, nd). After many demonstrations and protest,
womens pay was noticeably increased but still unequal to male counterparts. 50 Years ago
President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal pay act in an effort to abolish wage discrimination
based on gender (Noguchi, 2013). Half a century later the Obama administration pushed
congress to pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Seventy year old Lilly Ledbetter was hired in
at Goodyear in 1979 and worked as an overnight supervisor for nearly two decades. She says she
was sexually harassed, discriminated against and isolated. Ledbetter was making $3,727 per
month while men doing the same job were paid $4,286 to $ 5,236 per month (Pickert, 2009).
Ledbetter is just one of the examples that made it to the front page news. There are many more

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cases of this discrimination still persisting; the results are in the statistics, which shows the wage
difference is a hindrance to the single parent household structure.
The number of households in the United States that has just one parent as the primary source of
income has more than tripled between 1940 and 2010. Accompanying this major growth, there is
a dynamic change in the structure of the home. While in 1940 an overwhelming 90 percent of
households contained families of two or more persons, by 2010 this number had dropped to 66
percent (Jacobson, Mather and Dupis, 2012). Household structures play an important role in the
economic and social well being of families and individuals. Over the years an increase in single
parent households replaced the dual family income, the growth in single parent families has
increased so has the demand on the welfare system (Jacobson, Mather and Dupis, 2012). This is
one of the implications that the wage imbalance is not only affecting women but their children
and the economy as well. Without the support for a second partner or support system, women
who are impacted by the wage imbalance will seek out government assistance to help support
their children. This is not always a negative thing; however the strain that this puts on the
economy could be reversed by putting money into the womens pay, that will most likely recycle
back into the economy.
Children are most Effected
Living in the land of opportunity one would think that the women of the United states have better
opportunities than most women in other countries. However Single parents account for 40
percent of low wage workers in the U.S, far more than any other developed country (Covert,
2013,). Single mothers that struggle financially could be caused by the fact that the majority of
them work in minimum wage retail service. Women, who are the primary breadwinners and work

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in the same fields as men, are only paid a little over of what her counterpart is paid. The U.S
Census Bureau reports that women still earn only 77 cents for every dollar that men make
(Bassett, 2013). In 2012 the median earnings of American women working full time was
$ 37,791 and men earned a median income of $49,398. The gender wage gap has hovered at
about 77 cents on the dollar since 2007 (Bassett 2013). It seems as though for 75 years women
have been fighting the wage battle with little to stagnant progress. In this battle, minority women
are on the losing end, since their wage gap is even worse. African American women earn 69
cents for every dollar paid to an African American male, while Latinas earn just 58 cents on the
dollar compared to Latino men (Bassett, 2013). The American Association of University
Women (AAUW), which advances equality for women and girls through advocacy, notes that
the pay gap hasnt budged in a decade, the gap is worse for women, women face a pay gap in
nearly every occupation, the pay gap also exists among women even without children (Hill
2013).
Statistics have shown that all women from state to state, from single
parents to especially women of color, at some point experience a wage gap
that has significant effects on children. Children who live in poverty are at a
greater risk for behavioral and emotional problems. The academic
achievement gap for poorer youth is particularly pronounced for low income
African American and Hispanic children, compared to their white peers (Hill
2013). With the chronic stress that children living in poverty endure, studies
have shown that this added stress impacts a child inability to learn. If
unequal pay remains the way it is, the system will not only fail the women
but also the children that depend on these women. Unequal pay is ultimately

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aiding in the educational impairment of the youth and especially the youth of
color.
Generational Welfare
The wage battle for women has been a foregoing issue, causing the initiation of the FLA of 1935.
Over the years the amount of women who run households increased, but their pay still lacks
behind as compared to men, women only make 77 cents on the dollar. A steady incline of women
without financial gain often leads to their households living in poverty. The lack of financial
resources puts a strain not just on the mother, but on the economy as well. To help offset the cost
of living, mothers often depend on the welfare system. The welfare system was operated by the
U. S. Government and federally funded, it started as relief during the great Depression in the
1930s ( (Welfare information, 2014)). A record number of women looking for work had done so
because their husbands were laid off or were drafted into War War II. Entering into the work
force was a new daunting task for women, because many of them had never worked before. A
third of women from the Depression era work force comprised of 50 percent increase of married
women (A History of Women in Industry, 2014). The low pay a woman brought home was not
enough to ensure the survival of her family. Unemployment was still very high for many women
that were the sole supporters of many families. The effects the Great Depression had on children
was particularly severe, and thousands of children were starving. The Federal Childrens Bureau
reported that the spring of 1933 was particularly harsh, 20 percent of the nations children
showed signs of malnourishment, poor housing conditions and lack of medical care. ( BRIA
14:3 A How Welfare Began in the United States, 2014) The Government responded by initiating
a welfare program that would assist individuals who had little to no income, this would assist

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thousands who were in need of basic necessities. As the nation began to recover from the
economic crisis the welfare system was an added relief and a reliability source to some.
Same System Different Date
The welfare system came as a much needed relief to so many that were in need at that time, this
helped to nourish future generations. This system would stay in place for the next sixty years as
a federally run program, until 1993 when President Bill Clinton gave control of the welfare
system back to the states (Welfare information, 2014). Welfare and the people that benefit from
it, has been debated and subjugated over the decades. The results still show that the majority of
the funding for these programs that compromise the welfare system is allocated to help children
of these families. Reports from policy almanac show that three quarters of children made up the
2010 Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and also the Aid to Families with
Dependent children. (AFDC) programs. These programs offer support to families by offering
cash assistance, medical coverage and food benefits. Primarily the same services of the 1930s, as
time progressed and control over these programs changed, so did the requirements for the
programs. By the 1950s only a small amount of children were from female ran households, there
was an amendment created by congress to the AFDC program. This would require by law that
state officials should notify local law enforcement agencies when benefits were being given on
the behalf of the child (Child Support Enforcement Program, 2014). The state would then charge
the absent parent with the services provided to the child this was done to take the financial
obligation off the system and put it on the responsible parent. The problem then becomes more of
the same , the amount of money that is allocated for needy families is not enough to support a
family, the amount a woman is paid is not enough to support a family either. This is the
conundrum that unequal pay presents for thousands of women, securing employment does not

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mean securing financial stability, women and children are still in a battle for economic
empowerment.

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Reference Page
1. Grossman, J. United States Department of Labor. Retrieved January 15, 2014, from
www.dol.gov/dol/aboutdol/history/flsa1938.htm
2. U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Retrieved January 15, 2014, from
www.eeoc.gov/laws/statues/epa.cfm
3. Noguchi, Y. (2013, 10). National Public radio. 50 years after the equal pay act gender wage
gap endures. Retrieved January 15, 2014, from www.npr.org/2013/06/10/189280329/50years-after-the-equal-pay-act-gender-wage-gap-endures
4. Pickert, K. (2009, 29). Time.com. Lilly Ledbetter. Retrieved January 15, 2014, from
http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1874954,00.html
5. Jacobson, L., Mather, M., & Dupuis, G. (2012,). Publication report bureau. House hold
change
in the United States. Retrieved January 15, 2014, from
www.prb.org/Publications/reports/2012/us-household-change.aspx and
http://kalw.org/post/50-years-after-equal-pay-act-gender-wage-gap-endures.
6. Bassett, L. (2013, 17). Huffington Post. Women Still Earned 77 Cents on Men's Dollar in
2012:Report. Retrieved January 15, 2014, from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/17/gender-wage-gap_n_3947780.html
7. Hill PhD, C. (2013, 19). American Association of University women. The simple truth about
gender pay gap. Retrieved January 15, 2014, from www.aauw.org/research/the-truthabout-the-gender-pay-gap/

8. Covert, B. (2013, 29). Thinkprogress.org. Record Number Of Families Rely On Womens

Income, Many Of Them Headed by Single Mothers. Retrieved January 25, 2013 from
http:// www.thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/05/29/2071131/record-number-of-familiesrely-on-womens-income-many-of-them-headed-by-single-mothers/
9.BRIA 14:3 A How Welfare Began in the United States. (2014, February 21). Retrieved from
Constitutional rights foundation: http://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-14-3a-how-welfare-began-in-the-united-states.html
10. Child Support Enforcement Program. (2014, February 21). Retrieved from Almanac of
Policy Issues: http:// www.policyalmanac.org?
social_welfare/archieve/child_support_01.shtml
11. N/A. (2014, February 21). A History of Women in Industry. Retrieved from National
Women's History Museum: http://www.nwhm.org/online-exhibits/industry/12htm

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12. N/A. (2014, February 21). Welfare information. Retrieved from Welfare information. Org:
http://www.welfareinfo.org