International Women’s Day (IWD) was founded in 1910 in order to confront the great inequalities women faced in the labor force and society as a whole. Unfortunately, one hundred years later, women still make up a majority of the world’s poor.
Women’s wages in the U.S. are only 76% of men’s, but the disparity of long-term earnings between men and women is far worse. A study comparing total earnings between 1983 and 1998 showed women averaging just 38% of men’s wages (Institute for Women’s Policy Research, 2004).
In large part, this is because 80% of American women under 40 are mothers, according to the U.S. census. Without adequate paid maternity leave, mothers are frequently forced to quit stable jobs and disrupt career plans. Add to that $611 in average monthly childcare costs (U.S. Department of Labor), which is more than two weeks pay at the federal minimum wage.
Eighty-seven percent of single parent households are headed by women and of those 37% are in poverty (Association for Women’s Rights and Development). Once a family falls into poverty it is astoundingly hard for them to escape. Sixty percent of families that are in the bottom fifth of income remain there a decade later (Association for Women’s Rights and Development).
The impact of the financial crisis, however, is worldwide. Of the 1.5 million people living on a dollar or less per day, 70% are women (UN.org). Forced into the factories with the worst working conditions, women make up 90% of the world’s sweatshop labor (Women Thrive Worldwide). Often being laid off, these women are accustomed to making 13 cents to one dollar per hour (Powell and Skarbek 2004). Forced to work, women are less likely to attend school or leave the home before marriage. Seventy-seven million girls of primary school age worldwide are out of school, compared to only 55 million boys (The World Bank).
Women around the world are bound together by discrimination and economic servitude created by capitalism. Their work is devalued down to pennies, and often the largest use of their time - household labor - goes unpaid. IWD is a chance to remember and celebrate the struggles of women, which have won huge improvements in our lives. If women united internationally and with the wider struggles of working people to fight for equal rights, better working conditions, wages and stronger social services such as health care, child care and food support, we could collectively improve conditions for all.