Women in the Workplace

1040 Words3 Pages

Women in the Workplace All over the world, patriarchy controls and dictates the way society works. Every day stories are told of women in third-world countries who have fallen victim to said patriarchy. These women seem distant from people who live in the first-world, causing many to think that patriarchy is not present in more advanced cultures. However, they could not be more wrong. It encompasses almost every aspect of western life. Even in a country as developed as the United Kingdom, misogyny and gender inequality still exist in the workplace. Take a moment to think of why people have jobs; the salary. Even in this most basic aspect of work, men and women are far from equal. A study by the Office for National Statistics shows that the gross weekly pay for full-time female workers is 458.8 pounds; and the same statistic for men is 556.0 pounds (“Statistical Bulletin: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings”). With a difference of 100 pounds per week, men and women’s pay is not equal. This difference between salaries can be shocking. One would think that wage equality would be present in in a nation as advanced as the United Kingdom. In reality, the advancity of a country cannot keep out the epidemic of patriarchy. Women are paid drastically less than men, proving that gender inequality still thrives on the workplace. Not only is the gender pay gap large; it is also increasing. Another study by the Office for National Statistics proves that the gender pay gap in 2013 was 15.7%, which is an increase from 14.8% in the preceding year (“Labour Market Profile Great Britain”). This is hardly surprising. Now that women have been taking a stand and feminist ideas have been spreading, there is bound to be a backlash. People are afraid o... ... middle of paper ... ...start paying attention to their equality data, it may help them find ways to make their company more impartial and egalitarian. This would be a simple step for employers to take; yet they do not take it. To further gender equality and fairness, we must have equal representation in work. However, women are still not being represented enough in the workplace. Even thought the United Kingdom is extremely advanced, it’s workplaces and job arenas are still unequal and slanted towards men. Pay, discrimination, and representation are all factors of the inequality that women often experience in the workplace. To have complete equality in the workplace would be a huge leap for gender equality outside of work, too. Once women are fully respected at work, that respect will transfer into all the other aspects of society; eventually allowing women and men to finally be equals.

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