How far have we come?
Imagine a world where there are three rates for the same job - the skilled rate, the trainee rate and the women's rate. Imagine a world where you get sacked as soon as you announce you are pregnant - and have no legal protection. Imagine a world where you try to hire a television, and they tell you to come back with your husband - company policy does not allow married women to sign contracts. Imagine the world when your mother was young.
In 1971 my mother was married and living in South Wales. She decided she wanted to return to work and contacted her local authority to inquire about vacancies. Sorry, she was told, we don't employ married women; they don't need the work the way men do.
It's not surprising that women of her generation fought so hard for the Sex Discrimination and Equal Pay Acts, for the right not to be dismissed because they were pregnant, and for statutory maternity pay.
Better days? Women in their twenties and thirties, today, have lives that are profoundly different from those of their mothers. And at first glance, it might seem that we've come a long way. In 1970 women's pay was 65% of men's, today its 81%. Women are entering the workforce in larger numbers than ever before, and it seems that not a day goes by without a story about a woman high-flyer becoming the first in her field to reach the top. Surely we should expect this? Today's women are better qualified than ever before. In 1963 only a quarter of undergraduates were female. This had increased to a third by the mid 1970s, and is now slightly over half.
Next page: have things really improved?
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