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Olivia Matthews
ENC 1101
November 22, 2010
M, W, F 10:10- 11 a.m.

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¦merica: land of the free and home of the brave, known for equal opportunity and

unequal pay. Our country has come a very long way from social and racial prejudices and sexist

discriminations, but today¶s population of working mothers face new barriers. They are being

robbed from employers as they complete the same jobs as men and childless women for less pay

that is if they are even hired at all. This explains the term ³feminization of poverty,´ which

expresses the fact that more and more women and their children are making up a large, growing

percentage of our country¶s poverty population. In order to correct this problem as well as

provide economic justice to working women with children, society must acknowledge the

reasons why this is unfair treatment and how it can benefit from working mothers.

Working mothers should get paid equally to everyone else in the workforce because they

simply can¶t afford to receive less. Being a mother already implies that you¶re providing for

more than yourself and being a single mother entitles even more fiscal responsibility. ¦nd today,

a woman with two or three children being paid less than a woman only having to support herself

is extremely unjust, under the circumstance that one is a mother and the other is not. Working

mothers also can¶t afford to receive less because as they already suffer from a considerably lower

income than their childless peers, the salary gap widens for women in the United States as they

are offered little to no pay for maternity leave. Our country provides insufficient funds to
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working women after a pregnancy. This is unfair because their well-being, along with that of

their newborn child, is blatantly disregarded because we live in a system where employers care

more about productivity and money made than the health of their employees.

¦nother reason why working mothers should receive equal pay to everyone else in the

workforce is because a man¶s annual salary is not affected by him having children. If a man can

have children and that not affect his annual income, why isn¶t the case the same for working

mothers? This question has yet to be answered, most likely because no one can offer a good

enough reason. This act of unequal pay should also be considered illegal, violating the Equal Pay

¦ct passed in 1963. The Equal Pay ¦ct is an extension of the Fair Labor Standards ¦ct that

prohibits economic disparity due to gender discrimination.

Lastly, a third reason why working mothers should get paid equally to everyone in the

workforce is because they work just as hard if not harder than most men and women without

children. I believe working mothers are motivated twice as much as women without children

because they have more responsibility. ¦ working mother knows that if she was to quit her job or

get laid off she¶s not the only one that is going to suffer, her child or children will as well for her

careless actions or bad decision. ¦ childless woman, on the other hand, will not only be less

hesitant to quit if unhappy or less concerned if laid off but she will also have the time on her

hands to search for a new job that most mothers won¶t. ¦ working woman without children

works to merely support herself and pay her bills and other expenses. In contrast, a working

mother, who again works just as hard and sometimes harder, cannot afford to be paid any less

when she works to support herself and her child or children while being constantly reminded of

the harsh reality of adversity her children could possibly face because she wasn¶t capable to

efficiently support or provide for them on her low salary.

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Our country has advanced significantly from the 13th ¦mendment, outlawing slavery, to

the 19th ¦mendment, expanding women¶s suffrage across the country. But until we can bring

about more economic equality for women, especially working mothers, our country¶s

advancement is at a standstill. With the proper credentials and experience, when it comes to

employment, there is no ethic, moral, or logical justification for discriminating against a woman

because she has children. This treatment towards working mothers should be exposed and a

solution should be sought. Working mothers deserve more, especially when one takes into

account the fact that they are the nurturers and caregivers of the future.