Equal Pay

The Financial Times; Published August 2008 Page 22

"The number of equal-pay claims lodged with employment tribunals jumped by 155 per cent in 2006-07 and rose sharply again last year, judging by figures published last week by Acas, the conciliation and mediation service."

This statement, in and of itself, I find completely ridiculous. We are living and working in the 21st Century and yet claims of unequal pay for women versus men are sky-rocketing. I find this number appalling and am quite shocked as well. Of course, due to the fact that I am not yet a working woman trying to make my way to the top, I am slightly unaware of the obstacles women are forced to hurdle through. The Equal Pay Rule was enacted in 1963. Let's see, that means our society is 45 years behind what our laws state. Has anyone ever thought of why that law has not been enforced as it should be? Perhaps it is because the women who are powerful enough to help enact this law are already benefitting from it so they don't think twice about the majority of women in the country OR the men who are on top don't care because they are not affected by it. Women before us have worked way too hard to give us freedoms for those freedoms not to be used.