Running head: FEMALE ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT 1

Female Economic Empowerment

Alexandra Lombard

e3 Civic High
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Abstract

Across the globe there is a lack of rights for females economically. In which females not only

make less money per dollar then a male does but is given less opportunities to work. This is not

as often seen as much of an issue as other female empowerment moves, while other issues are

getting solved this one is left on the back burner. Women across the globe are fighting for

different problems around the world such as equal pay and being able to own a house without a

man. This is a huge issue as it causes many problems along the way from increase in

homelessness and poverty to even an increase in abuse as females may need to a man because

they can not financially support themselves. Overall we need to work on the economic

empowerment of females to fix not only these issues but improve so many more.

Keywords: female, economic empowerment, issues, problems

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Female Economic Empowerment

Females work just as hard as men do although they arent always treated the same way

economically. Even though their are finally job opportunities for both men and women alike

there are other issues with less pay, discrimination and some not even being able to work at all.

We cant fix this issue simply as it requires for gender equality and for laws to be put in place.

Although many people believe that women should stay at home and take care of the children and

household, they really should be out working just like any other male, because without women

being able to work in the same jobs as men for the same pay they wont be able to take care of

themselves and will have to rely on others. We all should have the right to work and make our

own money, in some countries around the world that isnt a right it is a privilege and in others it

isnt even aloud.

Women around the globe have less rights as men as a whole. Economically we are paid

less than the average male and work more hours being unpaid then the average male. On average

women work about three hours and ten minutes more then males being unpaid in developing

regions and and two hours more in developed countries (The World's Women 2015. (n.d.).). Also,

women are paid seventy to ninety cents per every dollar that a man makes. This can cause so

many other issues as this can increase poverty (The World's Women 2015. (n.d.).). If women not

only have to work twice as hard as men and receive no extra money but also make less than the

average male how are they expected to take care of themselves. There are so many single moms

out in the world who are on their own with one, two and maybe even more children with no

financial help from anyone. One way we can fix this issue is we start treating women equally
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with pay, we can set new laws in the United States to start off that require workplace equality

with equal pay for men and women and equal overtime pay.

There are less opportunities for women worldwide then there are for males. Not including

the amount of work discrimination women receive in the workplace. In the book Half the Sky

they talk about how China increased the amount of jobs for women the economy increased

dramatically (Kristof, N. D., & WuDunn, S. (2009). Half the sky: Turning oppression into

opportunity for women worldwide.). Not only did they have a dramatic difference in the

economy, but they also created some brilliant female workers. Six out of the top ten richest self

made females are Chinese, which is a drastic statistic (Kristof, N. D., & WuDunn, S. (2009).

Half the sky: Turning oppression into opportunity for women worldwide.). It was female who

created one of the best selling book series, Harry potter. It was a woman who was the first to win

two Nobel Peace Prizes, Marie Curie for physics and Chemistry. Not giving women job

opportunities is selling the world out of brilliant ideas. You are taking out a fifty percent chance

of curing cancer, solving global warming or creating the next technological breakthrough. Every

person has the same opportunity to do something great and not allowing them to is a

disadvantage to everyone. Some people have already been helping to improve this problem by

creating programs to help young females find jobs.

In underdeveloped countries around the world there are laws put in place not allowing

women to work or allowing their husbands to refuse their wife to go and work (Kristof, N. D., &

WuDunn, S. (2009). Half the sky: Turning oppression into opportunity for women worldwide.).

In an American's perspective we would see this as unconstitutional and unjust, although to them

it is deemed as fair and tradition. This is their culture as most of them dont know any of the

wiser. The women in places such as Saudi Arabia may not know that they are being treated
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unfairly or unjust. This increases so many horrible things including, homelessness, prostitution

and death. Women who dont have a husband are sent away to prostitution or become homeless

because they have no way to support themselves. This issue is a branch issue it can cause so

many other ripples down the line which is not what we want to happen. We can solve this

problem by helping underdeveloped countries realize the issue that is happening and educating

them on why all women should be able to work.

Counter Argument

Even though it may seem obvious as to why women should have the same economic

rights as males there are people who disagree with this simple equality. Some people believe that

women shouldnt work for many different reasons although one being very prominent, that

women should not work as they should be at home taking care of the children and the house.

This is a very traditional way of thinking and can be brought back hundreds of years. Although

as I have previously stated there is a very big advantage to women being in the workplace. The

economy grows, there is more brain power so more issues are solved, there can even be a

decrease of homelessness and poverty. Where as if women only stay home and take care of the

house, children and husband the women has an increased rate of depression, anger and sadness

as there is a lack of appreciation, alone time and speaking with other adults. Not only do working

moms tend to be more happy and less angry they also improve so many other problems.

Conclusion

Women today are slowly getting more and more rights that they should be

receiving although economically it is still fairly unjust. Working women is a necessity to the

world as they improve so many different aspects of life, and females deserve to be just as happy

as any male. Depriving a woman this simple right is unfair to them and unfair to the world, there
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is no reason why women should not be given the choice to contribute to the household income

just the same as a aman. We as a community need to start raising awareness on this issue that is

spread worldwide. Another way to help solve this issue is if we have people talking to people in

political power asking them for their help and seeing if we can get laws changed, or talking to

your boss and find a way for both women and man to be equal in the workplace. Finally, stand

up for yourself or others if you are seeing discrimination in the workplace or if your significant

other is trying to stop you from following your dream. All females should be given the right to

work, who knows maybe she will become the next Albert Einstein.

Annotated Bibliography

China Staff (2004, June). Female workers rights need better protection. General OneFile, 39

The journal Female workers rights need better protection accentuates how Women in

China have unfair work conditions. This ranges from multiple issued such as getting laid

off, less pay and job pressures. Using statistics they talk about these injustice conditions

in Gansu, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Chongqing, Shanghai and Zhejiang. Not only

are there unjust situations going on with pay and other aspects but also while at work.

They talk about the amount of gender discrimination within the office causing many

female workers to cut their time at work or even work from home. They suggest a

solution to these issues by implementing new laws and regulations to insure that women

are treated fairly like everyone else.

Kessler-Harris, A. (2001). In Pursuit Of Equity. New York, NY: Oxford University Press
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In Pursuit Of Equity, it takes about the womens rights that emerged after World War II.

In this time it was believed that women should not be making any money for the

household and should become stay at home moms. It talks about how this impacts the

New Deal programs of unemployment insurance, fair labor standards and Social Security.

It is important to know the history of women rights issues to understand how far we have

come. The author is one of the few historians who put on blast the economic issues of

women in this time frame. Not only does the author talk about the issues back then but

also gives a broader look into the issues of today.

Kristof, N. D., & WuDunn, S. (2009). Half the sky: Turning oppression into opportunity for

women worldwide. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Half The Sky talks about multiple issues women are faced with around the world. The

major topics talked about in this book are economic empowerment, education for women,

maternal mortality, gender based violence, sex trafficking and intergenerational

prostitution. In Chapter 12 and 13 it focuses on economic empowerment around the

world, talking about the issues, how they can be fixed and why it is happening. Half The

Sky brings all of these topics together in chapter 14 and gives references at the end of the

book with organizations that help improve these issues and brings us closer to making

these problems apart of the past like foot binding in China.

The World's Women 2015. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://unstats.un.org/unsd/gender/chapter4/chapter4.html

The Worlds Women 2015 work chapter 4 gives statistics on inequality with women

involving economical issues faced throughout the world. In this short article it gives you

facts about how women work more unpaid hours than men, how less women work in
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labor forces, increase in provision for paternity leave and how women make a smaller

amount than men do per dollar. It goes more into detail about why this is happening and

how long this has been going on. They even include an infographic which makes it very

useful since you can see the article broken down in one easy visual.

Torregrosa L. L. (2011, November 1). Progress for Women, but a Long Way to Go. The New

York Times, Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/02/us/02iht-letter02.html

The article Progress for Women, but a Long Way to go talks about how there has been a

huge improvement in education and health in the past few years, although a very slim

change in economic and political improvement. It uses different references including the

Worlds Economic Forum and the World Bank mentioning the statistics that they found

within studies these references have already gone through. The article points out the huge

issues with the small amount of change in economics and politics involving women and

puts an emphasis on certain countries such as Cuba, France and even the United States of

America.