Women have made great strides in the workplace, but

inequality persists. On average in 2010, women only

made 77 cents to every dollar a man earned. There is still
a big gender gap that needs to be rectified.
Gender inequality in the workplace
Rather than telling women to be more confident and
ambitious, I think that it is more important to talk about how
workplaces need to adapt to the whole person, both women
and men. This way everyone can strike a better balance
between working and spending time with family, friends, and
their community.
Women have caught up with men in terms of education. In fact,
in the United States and a number of other countries, women
now actually surpass men in educational achievement.
So there is not a problem with female achievement. The
problem enters in when young adults try to balance work and
family, and women end up carrying nearly all of the caregiving
responsibilities.
Where does the United States stand in terms of gender
equality?
The gender wage gap in the United States is lower than in
many other countries. But what is troubling is that the gap has
barely narrowed since the mid-1990s.

Also, the contribution of men to housework and childcare has
grown significantly over the past 25 years, but is still far below
womens contribution.
A lot of working women continue to have two jobsone in the
workplace and one at home. Childcare is very expensive in the
United States. And we are way behind most European countries
and many Asian countries in terms of offering affordable,
high-quality care.

What do you think is the root of gender inequality?
Gender stereotypes are hard to break, and like it or not, we are
all prone to engaging in stereotyping at one time or another.

As a society, we need to continue to encourage people to go
beyond stereotypes and recognize the contributions that each
individual, male or female, can make to the workplace and to
relationships.
What do you think is the biggest obstacle for women in
the workplace today?
The necessity in many prestigious jobs is to put in very long
work hours and then leave the more mundane aspects of daily
lifelike cooking, grocery shopping, and picking up the kids
to other people.
This generally means that women put many more hours into
these household activities than men. This greatly
disadvantages women in the workplace. It is unrealistic to
expect gender equality if workplaces demand that women be
available all the time.
Gender inequality in education
Despite the dramatic increase in the number of women
enrolled in colleges and universities around the world, there is
still gross gender inequality when it comes to professional
advancement of women in higher education.
There is, however, a notably gender segregation in degree choice,
correlated with lower incomes for graduates with "feminine" degrees,
such as education or nursing, and higher incomes for those with
"masculine" degrees, such as engineering. In addition, men have a
statistically significant advantage over women when applying for
highly selective universities, despite the fact that women generally
outperform men in high school.
Despite progress in recent years, girls continue to suffer severe
disadvantage and exclusion in education systems throughout their
lives. An estimated 31 million girls of primary school age and 34
million girls of lower secondary school age were not enrolled in
school in 2011 Girls education is both an intrinsic right and a critical
lever to reaching other development objectives. Providing girls with
an education helps break the cycle of poverty: educated women are
less likely to marry early and against their will; less likely to die in
childbirth; more likely to have healthy babies; and are more likely to
send their children to school. When all children have access to a
quality education rooted in human r
ights and
gender equality, it creates a ripple effect of opportunity that influences
generations to come.
Girls education is essential to the achievement of quality learning
relevant to the 21st century, including girls transition to and
performance in secondary school and beyond. Adolescent girls that
attend school delay marriage and childbearing, are less vulnerable to
disease including HIV and AIDS, and acquire information and skills
that lead to increased earning power. Evidence shows that the return
to a year of secondary education for girls correlates to a 25 per cent
increase in wages later in life.
There are various barriers to girls education throughout the world,
ranging from supply-side constraints to negative social norms. Some
include school fees; strong cultural norms, priorities for boys
education when a family has limited resources; inadequate sanitation
facilities in schools such as lack of private and separate latrines; and
negative classroom environments, where girls may face violence,
exploitation or corporal punishment. Additionally, schools often lack
sufficient numbers of female teachers.

Inequalities of aging
Culture have big influence how people will treat their elderly.
In Tiwi culture, if a women is frail and old then they cover up
her until she died. On the other hand Abkhasians treat their
elderly with respect without discriminating between men and
women.

The Graying of America
In 2000, 35 million Americans were age 65 and oldera 12 percent
increase from 1990. Almost half of these 35 million were older than
75. With an aging population faces both challenges and benefits:
financially, politically and socially.


Most of these older Americans are women. American women live an
average of six years longer than men. According to the 2002 U.S.
Census, the ratio of men per 100 women steadily declines with age:
from 92 men per 100 women age 55 to 64, to 46 men per 100 women
age 85 and over. Because women have longer life expectancies than
men, older woman are likely to be living alone. Like Irja and Lucille in
SUNSET STORY, nearly 80 percent of women 85 and over are
widowed.
Older womens retirement incomes and Social Security benefits are
often lower than mens due to the gender gap in wages. Many older
women also worked at home in their younger years, caring for
children as well as elderly parents. For these older women, making
ends meet is often a struggle on a limited income.

Many older Americans are living at home, cared for by adult children.
Now in 40s and 50s, after spending decades raising children, millions
of baby boomers find themselves caring for aging parents. For
these family caregivers, emotional, financial and physical stress can
often be an issue.
With the rise of home caregiving and other assisted living options for
seniors, the number of older Americans living in nursing homes has
declined in recent years. In 2000, less than five percent of Americans
65 years and older lived in nursing homes such as Sunset Hall. Most
of the seniors either live in nursing home or in assisted living facility.
One reason for increased political engagement with age is the
lifestyle change that comes with retirement. Issues such as financial
security and improving Medicare and health insurance options
suddenly hit home when seniors find themselves living off of pensions
and limited Social Security benefits.