Dear Future President,

I want to know what you are going to do to help solve the gender inequality that fills our society and workplaces. As a young woman ready to graduate high school and enter into the world, I want to know what you are going to do to ensure that I will be treated with the same respect and values as men.

For centuries women were denied the right to work and the right to receive a proper education. They had to stay home to cook and clean and , were obligated to follow all the rules that the man of the house made. They were often denied their education, preventing them from pursuing successful careers. Women started to realize that they were worth more than what men made them out to be and after many years of hard work , started to gain the same rights as men.

Today America is one of the very few countries when men and women both have equal rights, but that does not mean that we are treated equal. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 is a United States labor law amending the Fair Labor Standards Act, aimed at abolishing wage disparity based on sex. So why are women still not receiving the same pay? Did you know that in 2015, women working full time in the United States typically were paid just 80 percent of what men were paid, a gap of 20 percent? Women in the U.S. who work full time, year round are paid only 78 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts. But the wage gap is even larger for many women of color working full time, year round, as African American women are paid only 64 cents, and Latinas only 56 cents, for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men.

This issue is very important to me and other young millennial women. This could affect ur futures in a very big way and I hope you can find the time to address and focus on this issue in your term.

Sincerely,

Gianna Paolinelli