I spoke with my sister on her views on the benefits of educating girls and women today and how they pay and wage equality. Below is what my sister told me about this topic. She said that there are various benefits of educating girls and women today. Such as a woman can be educated and can make her family and her children educated by encouraging them to do better for themselves. She also stated, an educated woman can have self-empowerment by getting employment and being independent. An educated woman can fight for her rights and can also fight against those who do wrong against her.
Educating girls can bring awareness in them is their basic human rights, awareness of health and hygiene and empowers them to lead a life on their own terms rather than being dictated by others. Education for girls has become an even bigger fight then it was back then. The benefits of educating girls are that it makes them independent, reduces child marriage, makes the economy more stable and can end poverty as well as improves the well-being of women. An article stated, “Numerous studies have demonstrated that educating women and girls is the single most effective strategy to ensure the well-being and health of children, and the long-term success of developing economies.” My sister stated when girls become educated, they can gain the confidence to fight for equal rights, motivate other girls to come out and study. They can come out on these important issues such as female infanticide, child marriage, and help other girls to gain the confidence to raise their voice against such atrocities. Educating women would help girls come forward and become a contributing citizen towards the economy and society.
Economic independence would help girls to uplift themselves and make their careers become reality, but due to toxic patriarchy never have been given an opportunity. The fight for inequality in pay still very much exists, even after so much progress has been made in education and hiring of female employees. Female employees are still paid less for the same amount of work, and sometimes they work more than men. They are still given fewer opportunities to climb up the professional ladder. Wages or pay equality is very much important to them and it is seen as their basic human right. We as women do not get the pay equality as men because women are generally employed at a lower position than men. Women have fewer job responsibilities than men, women are seen as inferior to men with respect to an official position held by them.
Equal pay for equal work for both men and women can help to reduce poverty around the world. The pays are less for women because women still face restrictions regarding working long hours, marriage, and maternity leave. If a woman is married or becoming a mother, a career automatically takes a standstill, unlike a man. My sister also said that there are still more men in senior positions than women which is another reason for pay gaps still existing today. Since the notion is that senior jobs require a number of working hours and constant availability so it cannot be done according to flexible working hours. Since women tend to go on maternity leave, the number of hours is sometimes not met.
During this discussion, we came to the conclusion that women choosing low paid jobs are more common than high paying jobs. Some women still seek jobs that are part-time and have flexible hours, since they have to prioritize their family life as well, which again leads to the never-ending struggle with the unequal pay gap. Women get fewer jobs in male sectors. Opening dominant male sectors and occupations to flexible working hours would encourage more women to work in them and also increase women’s employability as well as pay.
