Women have historically struggled to secure equal treatment in the workplace. They have faced formal and informal barriers to different forms of occupation, often being denied employment because of their gender. The phrase women’s work refers to domestic chores such as cooking, cleaning, and raising children. Such work was historically not only unpaid, but it was also often demeaning and unrewarding. Yet many women were confined to such roles because of discriminatory societal customs. Indeed, for much of the history of the United States, females who were able to obtain employment outside of the home were often confined to low-paying jobs as domestic workers or childcare providers. In addition, women faced continuing disparities in pay and compensation even as new employment opportunities emerged in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Discrimination also prevented women from being promoted or appointed to senior positions, a phenomenon known as the “glass ceiling” (referring to the widespread invisible barrier that constrained women’s advancement in business). While considerable progress was made, the struggle for equal rights in the workplace continued into the twenty-first century.