One reason for this gender inequality is that men and women are not evenly distributed among the various occupations. For instance, men tend to incline towards higher paying jobs, and women have been crowded into a few lower-paid occupations. An example would be how more men than women enter construction and engineering professions, while women tend to prefer household service and office worker occupations. Another reason for income inequality is that childbearing, which affects their seniority, interrupts many women's careers. Yet all these reasons for income disparity do not justify the difference between pay for the same occupation.
Discrimination is often a major cause of income differences.
Women feel that their difficulties in getting raises and promotions are described in the term glass ceiling, an invisible barrier that hinders their advancement up the white male-dominated corporate ladder. Age Discrimination A condition under which an individual, who is covered under this provision, is treated unfavorably by his or her employer due to their age. The prohibited practices are almost identical to those stipulated in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, meaning that it applies to most employers engaged in interstate commerce with more than 15 employers, and prohibits discrimination in hiring or referring applicants. Under the ADEA, individuals between the ages of 40 and 70 are protected except in the case of Federal employees who have no upper age boundary. Basically, under age discrimination legislation, an individual is covered when an employer discriminates in hiring, firing, wage benefits, hours worked, and availability of overtime based on age.