Women have gone through an amazing journey to get where they are. Although many face obstacles from birth they continue to push past barriers and improve the lives of the women who follow. In my final piece for The Circle, I share with you a journey of The American Woman.
Women’s Issues, The Circle Series It was not long ago when women gained the right to vote in this country. It took 72 years for the suffragettes to convince congress to grant voting rights to women across the nation. Organizations rallied, protested and stood up for the rights of women in order to give voice to the issues they faced.
Women’s Issues, The Circle Maternity leave was implemented when women began entering the workforce, even before a bill passed to mandate it for employees. In 1993, Congress passed the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) which “entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons,” according to the U.S. Department of Labor. In regards to Maternity leave, parents have the right to leave and bond with a newborn child, however, it “must conclude within 12 months after the birth or placement.” This topic is important to address because families are fighting to maintain their homes and feed their children. In America, we should be able to work hard and feel safe, but as a country we are ranking low in comparison to others. NPR released a graph showing the differences in countries and the U.S. ranked the lowest in advanced economies on this issue.
Written by Kimberly Quitzon, The Circle On June 10, 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed The Equal Pay Act (EPA) to grant women the right to earn as much as their male counterparts. According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the act “prohibits sex-based wage discrimination between men and women in the same establishment who perform jobs that require substantially equal skill, effort and responsibility under similar working conditions.”
