White House Report Celebrates Women’s Achievements and Exposes Continued Sexism

Recruiters of all sexes may be able to help women live the changes that they wish to see.  For instance, women depend on recruiters to communicate clearly with employers as their salaries are negotiated in the early stages of employment.  Women must also depend on recruiters to advocate that they will be compensated for their advanced degrees.

The White House has released a new report called, “Women in America: Indicators of Social and Economic Well-Being.”  The discussion focused on women’s present role in families, education, employment, health, and crime in American Society.  Although recruiters may find all of the findings interesting, they may be particularly curious about some of the economic findings.

The report found that women are also working more and the number of women and men in the labor force has nearly equalized in recent years.  As women’s work has increased, their earnings constitute a growing share of family income.

Women, according to the report, have not only caught up with men in college attendance but younger women are now more likely than younger men to have a college or a master’s degree.

These milestones in women’s education and work are impressive; however, familiar patriarchal systems have done little to adapt to these changes in women’s roles in society.  Wage and income equity are still distant goals.

At all levels of education, women earned about 75 percent of what their male counterparts earned in 2009.

Women are much more likely to endure poverty than men.  The report discovered that a large reason for this is the fact that unmarried and divorced women usually bear the brunt of raising and financially supporting their children.  In this case, women are facing a system that consistently pays men more money and are also raising children where men are not contributing an equitable share.  These economic inequities are even more acute for women of color.