In the 1800’s women were held to a higher moral standard then man which enabled women to enter the workforce. American culture expected women to preserve the family values not become “money makers” or head of the household. Women were unable to enter the workforce, vote, or get an education until the 19th century and even after they had received rights their rights were not equal to a mans. Institutions refused to allow women in educational programs and since they were economically dependent upon men, women had a poor socioeconomic status. Until the World Wars, that demanded women’s help in all areas of the labor market did society start to accept women as more than Susie-Home-Makers. The role of women drastically changed after the World Wars yet pay for women remained unequal to that of men, this led to the equal rights movement were women demanded “equal pay for equal work” (4). Working women ranked equal pay as a top priority for Congress in 2001 and the issue reemerged under President Barack Obama when he signed an amendment to the Fair Pay Act last year. The consequences of not acting on this important issue is plummeting tax revenues and further widened income inequality during an already starving US economy. Personal income taxes, child care taxes, earned income tax credits, payroll taxes, and state and local taxes all have aspects that affect the majority of women. Most of the tax system was drafted during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s when most women were not in the workforce.

Women’s Contribution to Labor
In the 19th century primarily women’s work was “duties around the house”. Examples would be domestic services, clothing shops, and commerce services that handled the trade of common goods. A number of occupations became "professionalized" through the 19th and 20th centuries requiring higher educational status. As a woman’s access to higher education was often limited, this effectively restricted women's participation in these professionalized occupations.
During World War I thousands of women were called on to perform field nursing services within the military. The overwhelming demand for nurses was due to the massive number of wounded soldiers. This was an opportunity for unskilled women to enter the workforce and receive much needed training that otherwise would have gone to men. Women became truck and ambulance drivers as more and more of the men were called to the front line. Other areas that needed to be filled on the base by women during the war were tasks such as cooking and catering, storekeeping, clerical work, administration, printing, and motor vehicle maintenance.
Another organization that was created during World War I out of pure necessity was “Women’s Land Army” which was set up in 1917 to provide a workforce that would run the farms and agricultural business. Many farms had been left unattended with 6 million men away fighting in the First World War which left a massive food shortage. Since the soldiers needed to eat to fight the government decided women should get more involved in the production of food to do their part and support the war efforts. During World War I 80,000 women worked as farm laborers (2). Eventually, women were called to assist in the war effects of World War II.
During War II there was a movement towards modern industrialized factories which women had another chance to penetrate the workforce. The previous wars were fought on the battlefield with single barrel guns and knives. World War II hinged on industrial production with the war being fought with modern guns, aircrafts, and ships. Although, society never would have allowed women to work in areas that were preserved for men, the government had no choice but to allow women into these forbidden fields. It was out of necessity to use collective skills due to the nature of the war itself.
Many men left their jobs to join the war in Europe and elsewhere, opening opportunities and places for women to take over in the job force. With a massive shortage in labor and a huge demand for military services women were called on to work in the war factories and take on positions within the military that were outside their traditional gender expectations. Women joined the federal government in massive numbers during World War II. Nearly a million "government girls" were recruited for war work. They performed volunteer aid work for the war efforts by planting victory gardens, canning produce, selling war bonds, donating blood, salvaging needed commodities and sending care packages. The entire population made an expansion of the role of women during World War II.
In 1944, more than 1.8 million women were working towards the war efforts building ships, aircraft, vehicles, and weaponry all while not receiving equal pay to men (1). The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 established a national minimum wage, guaranteed time-and-a-half for overtime in certain jobs, and prohibited most employment of minors. However, the FLSA act did not prohibit discrimination on account of gender in the form of payment of wages to employees. Because of the large number of American women taking jobs during World War II, the National War Labor Board urged employers to voluntarily make "adjustments which would equalize wage or salary rates paid to females with the rates paid to males for comparable quality and quantity of work on the same or similar operations” (2). The outlook of what women could do had been established and they gained their place in the workforce as women were now getting paid to do traditional “men’s work” just at a lower pay scale. Nevertheless, employers failed to heed this "voluntary" request and at the war's end most women were pushed out of their new jobs to make room for returning veterans. The number of women in the labor force went from 1.1 million in 1945 to 6.4 thousand in 1946 and continued to decrease each year (1).
The pay gap for women has narrowed slightly over the past decade but women remain underrepresented in management positions, according to a 2007 report from the Government Accountability Office (7). Despite women being 47 percent of the U.S. workforce, women only filled 40 percent of managerial positions. Female managers earned 81 cents for every dollar compared to their male counterparts during that year. That's an average salary of $52,000 for women and $75,000 for men.

Women’s Significance to Income Taxes
By the 1960s the women’s right movement that some called "feminism" or "women's liberation” was well under way pushing for women’s equality. Reformers wanted the same pay as men, equal rights in law, and the freedom to plan their families or not have children at all. President John Kennedy responded in 1961 by establishing the President’s Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW). The legislation discouraged discrimination against women in the workplace and encouraged employers to make specific recommendations for improvement, including fair hiring practices, paid maternity leave, and affordable child care. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 was passed which amended the FLSA to make it illegal to pay workers lower wages strictly on the basis on their sex. This was a major step towards closing the wage gap in women’s pay.
Due to the expense of the Civil War Congress abolished internal taxes, which supported US government through taxes on refined sugar, snuff, corporate bonds, property sold at auctions, and slaves, The federal income tax became a permanent fixture in the tax system with the United States Revenue Act of 1913. Today, gender differences in tax treatment may affect women’s decision to work. Women may have more incentives to participate in the labor market where equal income distribution is favored by tax rules.. married couple faces a "marriage penalty" if their two incomes are similar and they file a joint return, since the second income (usually the wife's) is taxed at a significantly higher marginal rate than if she filed as an individualBut if a couple forgoes the wife's second income (or if one person's income is appreciably lower), they may pay less as joint filers than they would have as singles (the marriage "bonus"). Both situations can reduce the incentive for a married woman to work outside the home. When women work, they pay taxes into the Social Security system, providing for their own benefits
Conclusion
By the early 1980s, it was largely perceived that women had met their goals and succeeded in changing social attitudes towards gender roles. Over the course of the past 40 years women have taken on greater roles in society such as serving in government and many have taken advantage of opportunities in higher education. Progress has been made in professional fields such as medicine, law, and science. Today the number of women in government and traditionally male-dominated fields has dramatically increased, and in 2009 women were expected to pass men in the American workforce. Although, the wake of the feminist movement has narrowed the wage gap, there still exists a significant wage gap between the sexes so women will still have to fight to gain equal pay for equal work so we can contribute to the tax system.