Dear Future President,

As someone who is concerned about the future of myself and other women in this glorious country, I am speaking out in a desire for change. Since the early years of our country, women have been denied the same rights as men. After women gained the right to vote in 1920, many deemed that women and men had now been granted fully equal rights. However, that is not the case; especially in the United States workforce. Women are still discriminated against in many ways. It is now 2016, and this needs to change.

Today, the female citizen still makes less than the average working male. In 2015, even full-time working females made only eighty cents for every man earned dollar. According to the Institute for women's Policy Research, women earn statistically less in every single job occupation that offered earnings for women and men. In 2013, the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that women have been shown to work less hours per week than men. Although equality has improved from 1979, when women only earned sixty-two percent of a man’s salary, the closing on the gender equality gap has seemed to slow. It is proven that women are more likely to go to college and graduate with a paying degree, so why are they still getting paid less?

I am a very strong believer in equality; that if two people are to receive the same education, work in the same field, and are successful at their job that they should be treated equal regardless of their gender. Although this country is great, there are issues that need to be dealt with. I understand that discrimination has become a growing problem in our country due to racism and other issues, but how must we deal with them if we can’t deal with discrimination among genders in our own society? By not taking action to rid the workplace of inequality, women are being discriminated against in a different way. Regardless of their intelligence, work ethic, or degrees, women are still paid only a fraction of what the average man is. The United States of America’s foundation has been built on the principles of freedom and equality for all; yet all are not treated as equal.

I believe that women and men are equal; that for every penny a man makes, a female should be able to make as well. It has been proven multiple times throughout the past fifty years that the gender pay gap exists, so why hasn’t anything been done about it? If it was required that a woman and a man’s salary be equal, I feel that America would be taking another step to reaching true freedom and equality for all. Mr./Madame president, you hold the power to help change this country, to help America achieve the original ideals that this country was founded on. To ensure that for once and all, men and women are treated equal in the United States workforce.

Thank you for your time,

~ Judith