History essay about women.

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1950s and 1960s allowed them to resume their place in the workforce. They however ran into discrimination that prevented progress in the workplace.

In 1964, a law guaranteed equal opportunities for women.This law banned workplace discrimination based on the sex of workers. To ensure that this law would be applied, activists create the National Organization of Women in 1966.

In the early 1970s, American parliamentarians, both in the House of Representatives and the Senate, were employed to attract more attention to the needs of women. From 1973 to 1994, Congress passed several laws favorable to women such as contraception and birth control in 1973,a minimum wage for domestic in 1974 and prohibiting discrimination in employment against pregnant women in 1978.

Having a big determination to be treated like men, women fought to also receive the right to child support and the right for widows and divorcees to obtain part of the pension of their former spouses and protection against violence.

However, the Americans have made significant progress in terms of equal opportunities in economic and political life of their countries, yet they still have to overcome many problems.

For example, women aged over sixteen years constitute 59% of the workforce but earn on average 23% less than men. This pay gap appears to be partly due to the fact that women are very likely to hold low-paying jobs.

Moreover, women, especially those with children, have difficulty reconciling the demands of their homes with those of their workplace. Some women who occupy high positions of responsibility even forgo having children. According to economist Sylvia Ann Hewlett, 42% of women who are executives in large companies are childless at the age of forty years, while only 14% had not planned to have.

Despite the problems they face today, the Americans can be proud of their achievements, and the national history of women Month, established by Congress in 1987, is a good time to consider the progress they have made.