I was brought up by my mother as my father was a GI and went home.The stigma of being a single mother was bad enough, but my mum, who was a tailor was paid half of what the men, doing exactly the same job , were paid. She was extremely talented and could make anything from suits to ballgowns and theatrical costumes, wedding dresses ... She made clothes for royalty and theatrical costumes for many West End productions and musical films. Always being paid half of what the men were paid. One of the worst things she had to endure was when she wanted to buy a bed settee on H.P. - we lived in two rooms. A bedsit and kitchen. She could not have the HP agreement unless she had a man sign as guarantor. I feel so angry just writing this. Fortunately my uncle - her brother-in-law - signed for her. How did other women manage? As a young woman in the 60s, I challenged my boss at a large insurance company when I realised the boys doing the same work as I and the other girls were doing, (actuarial clerks) were paid a lot more than us. He agreed with me, but said he couldn't do anything as he did not have the power. I resigned. Here we are in 2015 and still fighting for equality for at least 51% of the population. If you take other 'minority' groups into consideration, the percentage is much higher!  Yours 'optimistically', Ann Curran Burt (member 0004145)