5. Comment on the formation and meaning of the tenses in the following sentences. Make these sentences negative and interrogative.

1. Their proper place was in the home looking after their husband, their children.

2. A great number of women were brought in to do the kinds of jobs they hadn't done before.

3. If one looks at the senior positions of power in the country virtually none are held by women.

4. We can see the opportunities and goals but at the same time something we cannot pin down is holding us back.

6. Give the summary of this text. Unit 18 Gender discrimination

Text 1.

1. Read and translate this text

Gender discrimination

Women are also paid less than men are. On average women earn between two thirds and three quarters of men's pay. Although the Equal Opportunities Act, requiring equal pay and conditions for women, came into effect in 1975, little has changed since then. Among police officers under the rank of sergeant, for example, women earn only 93 per cent of men's hourly rate. In nursing, women earn on average 87 per cent of men's wages.

The main reasons for the difference is the segregation of employment by gender — sometimes called horizontal discrimination — the squashing of women into a very small number of job categories. According to official records women are pushed into a very limited spectrum of jobs. These are mainly jobs that are associated with servicing the needs of others (things like cleaning, cooking, clicking at the typewriters) and this is particularly true of clerical work, shop work, nursing, welfare and primary education, in short, the categories of work in which women predominate and are significantly less paid.

Another reason is that married women are much more likely to be in part-time work. And the reason is quite clear — women's traditional role is still seen as the wife and mother. For many people the main responsibility for housework and looking after the family lies with the woman. Women rather than their husbands suffer the career penalties of producing and raising children. Many women feel that they can not take full-time work because that means having two jobs to do. Those in full-time jobs are drained with domestic responsibilities because a small (but growing) number of employers ensure that mothers can resume their careers without any damage to their career prospects after having a baby. Very few employers provide crutches for young children in order to encourage women to work for them. Even the state provides day care for less than one per cent of under-three-year-olds, thus discouraging women from working. Apart from that in Ireland, this is the lowest level of provision in the European Union.

The problems begin early with the assumptions made both by parents and by schools. In Britain traditionally boys did better than girls in schools — they had better examination results and more boys went on to university. Quite significantly in the last few years the situation has changed; girls tend to perform better at school — girls' examination results are better than the boys' and almost equal numbers go on to university. But girls are often encouraged to specialise in traditionally female subjects still. So, girls tend to do arts subjects, modern languages, social science subjects, in short humanities subjects, and boys still tend to do the sciences, mathematics, and technology.

The strong feminist movement in Britain has helped to change things in school but that has been a long battle. Again in the words of a sociologist: «I worked in a school as equal opportunities officer and it was very hard to persuade teachers to implement changes that would help girls to do better».

Undoubtedly perceptions are changing. Women are doing better in the job market, doing better in work, and there is more legislation now to promote equal opportunities — a legal framework so that employers can not discriminate against women. But the perceptions are changing mainly as a result of economic pressures, which encouraged more women to work in the 1990s, with the possibility that they may win a fairer slice of the power and wealth that should come with work. In the 1980s the Conservative government encouraged young mothers to stay at home with their children, but this was largely ignored. By 1985 more than a quarter of mothers with children aged three and under were at work, and almost half of those with children aged four or five. It is likely that the shortfall in manpower will push the public opinion towards giving women greater freedom to work.

In many among younger generation attitudes have definitely changed. Modern men do not expect to be paid more than women. They are expected to do their own cooking, etc.

So, the situation for women has changed very dramatically but there is quite a long way to go before we can say that the British women have equal opportunities with men.

Vocabulary notes

1. suffer – страдать

2. penalty – наказание

3. part-time work – неполный рабочий день

4. full-time work – полный рабочий день

5. crutch – опора, поддержка

6. perception – восприятие, ощущение

2. Answer the following questions.

1. Are women and men equal paid?

2. Why are women pushed into a very limited spectrum of jobs?

3. What job do usually women prefer to have: full-time or part-time and why?

4. What is the difference between boys and girls in school?

5. What are feminist movement's aims?

6. How has the situation for women changed?

3. Give the next equivalents Russian for and use them in your own sentences:

to promote equal opportunities; segregation of employment by gender; to suffer the career penalties for; to provide crunches for young children; to look at the senior position of rower; to form the highest court of appeal none; to persuade smb. to implement changes; economic pressure

4. Put the following sentences in the Passive Voice.

1. Women now make up nearly 45 per cent of the workforce.

2. By 1999 the situation had slightly changed.

3. They were discussing the company's questions.

4. The government has just discussed this topic.

5. Put all possible questions to the following statements.

1. Married women are much more likely to be in part-time work.

2. Women's traditional role is still seen as the wife and mother.

3. Very few employers provide crutches for young children in order to encourage women to work for them.

4. Modern men do not expect to be paid more than women.

6. Give the summary of this text.

Контрольные вопросы

What is social work?

The essence of social work.

Social work profession.

Social work methods and approaches.

Tasks of social work.

Social services.

National association of social workers.

Poverty.

Social problems in the USA.

Social problems in Russia.

Elderly and disabled people.

Handicapped people.

Child care.

British family.

Marriage in the USA.

Changing roles within the family.

Women employment.

Gender discrimination.