GAP. For some, this is just a department store with a variety of practical clothes. However, for most, that word describes the pay inequality and discrimination they receive from the workplace. In America, women earn just 77 cents for every dollar a man earns. With today's inflation and high taxes, women are simply not able to advance in the economic world. For example, males perceive females in such a way that they will refuse a job, only to give it to a male with equal or lower qualifications. Additionally, employers believe that women should take a lot of time off to focus on family responsibilities. Not to mention the fact that the media shows women in a negative way and leads society to believe that women are incompetent, which. Current equal pay policy has improved the gap, but has not closed it. The Equal Pay Act report describes that “the Equal Pay Act of 1963 was the first in a series of major federal and state laws that had a profound effect on women's employment opportunities and earnings over the next century, and threw the foundations for women to enter the paid workforce at unprecedented levels” (The White House 4). Although this act was put in place and women made progress in the workplace, it was not very effective with the pay gap. Women still do not earn the same salary as men and the law has been in place for 52 years. When families or individuals fall below the poverty line, they do not receive the government help they need and should receive. In the study conducted by Son and Bauer, mothers were eligible for government assistance, but did not necessarily receive it. Financial help from the government includes child care subsidies, food stamps, or WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) benefits (109). Planned assistance fails to help these women. However, the government does not do an adequate job to ensure that these women are taken care of. The Equal Pay Act has improved the pay gap, but when women are left helpless because they don't receive government assistance, they have no choice but to work harder if