Download
1 / 1
30 likes | 123 Views
John Massey School of Business Singlism: A New Type of Discrimination? C . W. Von Bergen & Deborah S. Combs. Singlism: How to Stop It Be aware of the impact of policies and procedures on singles. Scrutinize family-friendly initiatives that may privilege married or coupled people.
E N D
John Massey School of BusinessSinglism: A New Type of Discrimination?C. W. Von Bergen & Deborah S. Combs Singlism: How to Stop It Be aware of the impact of policies and procedures on singles. Scrutinize family-friendly initiatives that may privilege married or coupled people. Address singlism in diversity and multicultural training. 4. Make marital status discrimination in employment a prohibited activity. 5. Allow singles the same choices and benefits available to married employees. Singlism: Why It Matters The coworkers, neighbors, friends, and relatives who practice singlism in their everyday lives create less congenial workplaces, neighborhoods, social networks, and families. Married people enjoy numerous perks that singles do not (e.g., healthcare benefits, unemployment benefits, insurance rates, and miscellaneous family discounts). Singles are targets of stereotyping, stigmatizing, prejudice, and discrimination. Potential lawsuits in our litigious-happy society. Singles are often paid less than married people. Singlism: What Is It? The widespread stereotyping, stigmatizing, and discrimination against people who are single. This practice has long gone unrecognized, unchallenged, and unnamed. Sometimes this is called marital status discrimination. Singlism: Some History 1. Being married was–-and is–-considered a social good! 2. Perceptions of single people are overwhelmingly more negative than perceptions of married or coupled people. 3. Anti-discrimination laws cover race, religion, gender, disability, color, national origin, and age–-but singles go woefully unprotected. 4. To appear “family friendly” firms often overcompensate at the expense of singles. 5. The U.S. government is the worst offender of singlism—more than 1000 federal laws benefit or protect only those people who are legally married: a) IRAs, b) income taxes, c) social security, d) health spending, and e) housing. 6. We’re not going nuclear anymore—many are going solo.
