Position of women in the country

In the 1990s over 60% of women were in the work force in comparison to the beginning of the 20^th century, when the wife did not work outside the home. Many women began to work in the years of the Great Depression and in and after the World War II. Women became electricians, machinists, carpenters, as well as lawyers, engineers and physicians.

Despite the widening opportunity for women, the great majority of working women have remained at the bottom of the economic pyramid. In the 1990s the average pay for a woman worker was about 59% of the average male. The principal course for the difference was usually a failure to pay equal wages for equal work and also the fact that the jobs which most women held were low-paying. The working woman is generally a typist, maid, teacher, nurse, cashier or saleswoman.

Today as a result of the widening of employment opportunities for women and also the consciousness – rising fostered by the women’s movement, the pressure for women’s equality within families has reached a new height. There is so-called Supermom; the woman who tries to juggle a career with a family. Others give up their career to stay home with children. Even at home they pursue various interests. They participate in all kinds of organizations, for-example English-teaching committee for the foreign-born, in fund-raising activities for the colleges they graduated from, etc. Everything that gives them a feeling of achievement. There are many women who work outside the home even if they have children at home. Many married women work because their husbands are unemployed or disable. The wives of low-wage earners take jobs to supplement their husband’s income.

Changes in the family pattern with women working have not been easily accepted by men, who sometimes show anger and resentment. A majority of men now believe that both sexes should enjoy equal employment opportunities, but most also believe that children may be harmed psychologically if their mothers work outside the home. This contradiction increasingly rules the life of Americans.

Over the past two decades there are a number of significant social and political movements. Among these are the Civil Rights Movement, the Environment Protection Movement, the Consumer Protection Movement and the drive for full political and social equality for women. Supporters of what is called women’s liberation claim that men control American society.

Despite the Equal Right Amendment approval in 1972, women still face a lot of problems, mostly of the social order. Women want getting the same rate of pay for the same kind of work, the establishment of government-financed centres that would provide day-time care for the children of working parents. Another concern of the women’s liberation movement is the changing of the traditional roles of women and men at homes.