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Such inequality is hardly unique to the United States, however. In the following Q&A, Mary Brinton-sociology professor at Harvard University-answered a few questions about how the United States compares to other postindustrial countries on gender inequality, as well as how gender equality can help solve declining birth rates.

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE BIGGEST OBSTACLE FOR GENDER EQUALITY IN THE WORKPLACE TODAY?

It is important to incorporate men into the theoretical framework. Let's talk about how workplaces need to adapt to the "whole person," both women and men.

There is not a problem with female achievement. Women have caught up with men in terms of education. In fact, in the United States and a number of other countries, women now actually surpass men in educational achievement.

The problem arises when young adults try to balance work and family, and women end up carrying nearly all of the caregiving responsibilities.

If women put many more hours into these household activities than men, this greatly disadvantages women in the workplace. It is unrealistic to expect gender equality if workplaces demand that women be available all the time.

YOUR RESEARCH FOCUSES ON DECLINING FERTILITY RATES IN POSTINDUSTRIAL COUNTRIES. HOW DO FERTILITY RATES CONNECT WITH GENDER EQUALITY IN THE WORKPLACE?

A fertility rate-meaning birth rate-of 2.1 is necessary for a country to naturally replace its population. Since the 1980s, fertility rates have steadily declined around the world. In the United States, the fertility rate is 1.9. In Southern Europe and East Asia, rates are now below 1.3.

In Japan, for example, entrenched attitudes about women in the workforce and as mothers are likely contributing to the low birth rate. The cultural emphasis on being the ideal mother, along with a corporate culture that demands long work hours, makes motherhood very difficult for women with careers.

It's interesting to note that the countries with high female labor force participation rates tend to have higher birth rates. The postindustrial countries that have made it possible for women (and men) to balance work and family typically have replacement-level birth rates. Increased gender equality-both in the workplace and at home-is an important part of the solution to declining birth rates.

IN YOUR RESEARCH ON JAPAN, YOU DESCRIBE A "DEMOGRAPHIC TIME BOMB." WHAT IS THIS?

Japanese women are getting more education and want to have a career. But within the home, gender equality is not on pace with workforce equality. Woman end up doing a "second shift" of housework and childcare when they return home from work. The result is that many women are waiting longer to get into a partnership. They are choosing, instead, to focus on their career. And when they do get married, they have fewer children.

Japan's population is projected to drop by one-sixth by 2020, and by 2025, 40 percent of the population will be 65 years of age or older. This means skyrocketing health care and pension costs as the population ages. The reduced number of young, homegrown workers entering the workforce and paying into the pension systems could undermine Japan's economy.

WHAT CAN JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES DO TO INCREASE GENDER EQUALITY?

Gender stereotypes are hard to break and, like it or not, we are all prone to engaging in stereotyping at one time or another. It's important to study our biases and quantify inequality, such as the work conducted here at Harvard, so that we can understand how to effect change.

In both Japan and the United States, public policy is an important part of increasing gender equality in the workplace and at home, but not all of it.

As a society, we need to continue to encourage people to go beyond stereotypes and recognize the contributions that each individual, male or female, can make to the workplace and to relationships at home.

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Gender Inequality and Women in the Workplace

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Such inequality is hardly unique to the United States, however. In the following Q&A, Mary Brinton-sociology professor at Harvard University-answered a few questions about how the United States compares to other postindustrial countries on gender inequality, as well as how gender equality can help solve declining birth rates.

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Although we are only a few months into 2015, it has already proven to be a watershed year for women's rights around the world. On the heels of the International Women's Day March for Gender Equality, the He for She and Planet 50-50 by 2030 Campaigns and the twentieth anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, international advocates and officials alike are coming together to evaluate the progress that has been made over the past several years. This raises the question: what is the current status of women in the United States?

The Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR )-- in partnership with a multitude of organizations including the Ford Foundation, the Roosevelt Institute Campus Network, and the Center for American Progress -- just released the 2015 edition of its project on the Status of Women in the States, with newly updated data and trend analyses on women's economic, social and political progress in the United States. The findings? Although we have indeed experienced progress toward gender equity, it's likely that we won't see equal pay for American women within our lifetime. (For more on this topic, see this post by Roosevelt Fellow Andrea Flynn.)

The road to achieving gender equality in the U.S. is quite clearly checkered with significant potholes.

Over the next several weeks, IWPR will be releasing a series of reports that include data on U.S. women's employment and earnings, poverty and opportunity, work and family, violence and safety, reproductive rights, health and well-being and political participation. The data and trend analyses found in these reports can be explored by topic and differing demographics (women of color, older women, immigrant women and Millennials, to name a few), as well as on a national or state level. The first two chapters on employment and earnings and poverty and opportunity have already been released, revealing a number of insights on the state of women within this country. Some highlights:

In just about every state in the country, Millennial women are more likely than Millennial men to have a college degree, yet Millennial women also have higher poverty rates and lower earnings than Millennial men.

Although more women are receiving high school diplomas and completing college than ever before, a considerable proportion of women either do not graduate high school or finish their education with only a high school diploma.

By the time a college-educated woman turns 59, she will have lost almost $800,000 throughout her life due to the gender wage gap.

There are incredibly large disparities throughout different regions of the United States; southern women are the worst off with regard to employment and earnings. Furthermore, the status of women differs notably by race and ethnicity, with Hispanic women having the lowest median annual earnings compared to other women.

In general, women's economic security is directly linked to their family income, which includes earnings from jobs, but women tend to be concentrated in fields that lead to jobs with relatively low wages. Even women who do go into higher-paying fields still earn less than their male peers. This helps explain why, in 2013, about 14.5 percent of women ages 18 and older had family incomes that placed them below the federal poverty line, compared with 11 percent of men. However, even this estimate does not fully capture the extent of the hardship that women continue to face in the U.S.

What can we conclude from this data? As a recent article in The Washington Post puts it: "When it comes to equal pay, the American woman is stuck in a proverbial waiting room. But the number on her ticket, the length of her stay, largely depends on where she lives and to whom she was born." In other words, the status of women in this country is incredibly complex, and as a result, there is no simple, one-size-fits-all solution to achieving gender equality.

Gender equality is an intricate mosaic, a picture that cannot be complete without understanding and exploring the dynamic regional, national and demographic factors at play. As a result, we cannot approach these issues without thoroughly peeling back and exploring each layer. It is necessary for all of us to reassess how we measure, monitor and evaluate the status of women so that we can effectively determine both the progress that has already been made toward achieving full gender equality and the challenges and obstacles that lie ahead.

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For U.S. Women, Inequality Takes Many Forms

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Although we are only a few months into 2015, it has already proven to be a watershed year for women's rights around the world.

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Girls also has to deal with double standards.

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Girls also has to deal with double standards.

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Girls getting exposed cause they make the mistake of trusting guys.

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Girls getting exposed cause they make the mistake of trusting guys.

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Girls give birth and thats a lot of pain

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They get periods while guys don't.

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Girls whether they gain or lose weight people are always shaming their bodies

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Life is most definitely more difficult for women