Destiny Wharton

“Gender equality is a human fight, NOT a female fight.” – Frieda Pinto.

It is bad enough women have to deal with the everyday stereotypes such as, they should be the one in the house cooking and cleaning. However, the fact that gender inequalities still exist today in 2019 is unbelievable. There are unequal gaps in income, the work place and, of course, racially.

For about 30 years, the rate of income inequality has been growing ferociously in the United States. 63 percent of Federal minimum wage workers are women, earning a measly $7.25 an hour. Also, majority-female jobs, like childcare and restaurant service are at the lowest on the U.S. wage pyramid.

According to Inequality.org In addition, only 5 percent of women make up CEOs at Fortune 500 companies. When doing similar work, women earn one-third less than what men earn. And out of 145 countries, the U.S. is number 74 in wage equality.

Women take on the responsibility of carrying a child in their womb for forty weeks and giving birth to a new life, yet they do not get fair treatment with childcare in the U.S. Only 14 percent of workers are covered by employers that offer paid family leave. In contrast, the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) offers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave; but less than 40 percent make up this group according to the Society for Human Resource Management.

When President Trump and his daughter proposed a plan of six weeks maternity leave for some mothers during his campaign, Democrats opposed that fathers should be granted leave too. The responsibilities of raising a child should not be solely up to the mother. Republicans responded with the concern of expenses and burdens of businesses.

“Our survey data shows very clearly that women are much more likely than men to experience major career interruptions related to family caregiving,” said Kim Parker, director of social trends research at the non-partisan Pew Research Center in Washington D.C. “And working mothers are much more likely than working fathers to say that being a working parent has made it harder for them to get ahead in their job or career,” Kim continued.

See more at:

USA Today Women Inequality Article

The fact that racism still exist today is astonishing, especially that we are all immigrants. And according to the chart above, racial inequality is very present. Poverty is at an extreme high for women of color. Around 21 percent of Black women, almost 19 percent of Latina Women and about 23 percent of Native American women, while the percentage of white men is only 7 percent.

The inequalities among cities the United States are still putting a strain on this country. Americans should be exposed to equality in the workplace, with income, racially, in gender and ultimately in the world.

“Inequality hardens society into a class system. Inequality divides us from one another. Inequality undermines Democracy.” – George Packer.