A Historical Perspective: The Wage Gap

Many employers may not realize their pay scale favors white men. Women are less likely to receive additional compensation such as bonuses, stock options, and profit sharing. Equal pay makes good business sense. It promotes a workforce that feels valued, which helps the bottom line. Fair pay polices will attract the best workers. The national committee on pay equality has a ten step guide that is developed to assist employers to recognize and reward the skills of working women.

In American society today there is an imbalance in the gender income gap between men and women in the work force. Many factors such as discrimination, productivity, educational background and disproportional hours worked contribute to this ongoing challenge. While many are skeptical, others remain to have strong beliefs that women and men are treated equally. In most professions according to Glynn “women only earn seventy seven cents for every dollar earned by men” (2014). Although, the seventy seven cents figure does not accurately reflect gender discrimination, it does capture some discrimination,

For the first time in history women had surpassed men in the paid labor force. Yet, instead of provoking an equality among the sexes, the figures play no statistical significance, as women still try to bridge the gap between their inequality among their male counterparts. One apparent setback for women in the workplace is their unequal payment, “Women workers are still paid less than men, currently about-three quarters of mens income if they work full time and year round”(Institute for Womens’s Policy Research, 2010). Although there women are beginning to integrate into vastly male populated jobs throughout the labor force “… women in America today earn 78 cents to a man’s dollar, according to the U.S Census Bureau, and have struggled for decades to achieve pay for equal work” (Riley 2). Not only has this pay gap significantly effected the nature of women throughout the county, it has also violated the bill that Congress passed called the Equal Pay Act of 1963. The Equal Pay Act was signed in order to establish a more sound and equal treatment among the sexes. It noted that an employer was unable to discriminate employees on grounds of gender, yet as figures denote today, this bill seems to not possess enough jurisdiction over the wage gap. The wage gap has contributed to various problems within the United States, especially among single mothers who do not have a supporting male figure within their household.

Not only is gender discrimination seen in sports, but it can be witnessed in regular jobs as well. Just like the story of Cassandra, women of all educational levels can experience a wage gap. One might imagine that with a great education, breaking the stereotypical gap would be possible, but the reality is that even with education women find it hard to break the the wage gap. According to the Pew Research Center, women in the U.S. who work full time are typically paid only 77 cents for every dollar paid to their male coworkers make. Even when women earn a Bachelor’s degree, they still make less than what men with the same degree make (about $51,681 vs. $52,072). In some cases men with only a high school degree typically make more than women

Unfortunately, it has been proven through a multitude of research that the average female makes about 79% of the amount that their male counterpart would make. Even after achieving the victory of making jobs for women a norm, women still struggle with the male advantage. As Susan B. Anthony continued in Suffrage and the Working Woman, “When she has attained ability to compete with them and to do just as well in every respect she is placed at work, if at all, on half pay” (Anthony). Although some argue that the gender pay gap is nothing but a myth, the statistical facts show otherwise. While those in positions of power and privilege attempt to thrust this issue out of the picture, it remains a large problem that no woman should be unaware of. Unequal pay is a common issue for plenty of women for far too long, and must be

Women joined the workforce in early 1800s. The wage gap fluctuates depending on age and status. In early twenty-first century women’s median pay began to rise compared to men’s median pay (“Women in the Workplace”). The wage gap has remained despite the significant advances made by most generations of women in the labor market (“Understanding the Gender Gap”). In 1933 National Recovery administration designed codes that improved women wages, shortened hours, and increased the number of women employment (“Women in the Workplace”). Despite all the hardships women faced being in the workforce they didn’t give up. The workforce is sexiest in a way due to the fact the workforce is centered towards men and generally unfair to women. In the article

The wage gap has been around for quite some time now. For many years, women working was rare, since they had to stay home to clean the house or take care of the children. But today, you wouldn’t think it was like that, considering that the women’s labor-force participation rate is hovering around 57 percent.but just because they’re participating more, doesn’t mean they’re getting paid fairly. The sad thing is though, is that the pay gap isn’t just based on gender, but age, and ethnicity play a large role too. I get maybe one person having more experience, or education, but gender, age and ethnicity should not have an impact of how much someone gets paid as opposed to one of their coworkers. Many people say there is no wage gap, or that

The politically correct definition of the wage gap is “a statistical indicator often used as an index of the status of women’s earnings relative to men’s. It is also used to compare the earnings of other races and ethnicities to those of white males” (“The Wage Gap”). Some given statistics—per Jane Farrell and Sarah Jane Glynn of the Center for American Progress—that attribute to the wage gap were: 2.4 % race/ethnicity, 3.5 % union status, 10.5 % labor force experience, 21.9 % industry, and 27.4 % occupation. While a -6.7 % in educational attainment helped to ease the gender wage difference. These figures account for 59% of the reason for a wage gap, but 41% is still unaccounted for. Howard J. Wall can be quoted in The Regional Economist’s article “The Gender Wage Gap and Wage Discrimination: Illusion or Reality?”, which was published on the website of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, claiming that “the unexplained portion of the gender wage gap could be due to wage discrimination.” This discrimination,

The wage gap for women constructs a critical function in our society, and is worth studying to recognize where our economy provides unequal opportunities for women in the labor force while including their education, training, race, and

In general, the wage gap has narrowed at a slow, and uneven, pace over last three decades. Recent data shows that women in the American workforce earn 77 cents for every dollar a man earns (Trevino). The existence of this “gender wage gap” has been an issue since women entered the workforce. The ongoing issue of the past has now become an apparent problem in our modern-day, progressive society. Women nowadays have opportunities that were not obtainable in past decades but must overcome, or ignore, the barrier of being punished in the long run for simply being a woman. While there have been major progresses in breaking through the norms and social constructs, women face other challenges, including discrimination and sexism (Gender). Despite the ongoing struggle to reach wage equality between the sexes through various legislative initiatives and the ever increasing involvement of women in the American workforce, the wage gap has only closed by a marginal 15 percent over the last four decades (Dale and Levine).

The wage gap in the workforce is one of the main ways women are marginalized in society. Women are paid significantly less than men, even when working in the same profession. In 2014, women ages 25-34 made 90% of what men did in the same profession, and ages 35-44 only made 81%. In 2015, the men’s median wage was $51,212 and women’s was $40,742

A commonly debated topic is whether or not further work is required to ensure women’s rights. Despite of the increasing opportunities, women still have along ways to go before they have the same options as men do. A statistic from WIC says, “Women constituted more than 45 percent of employed persons in the United States in 1989, but they had only a small share of the decision-making jobs" (WIC 2). As women continue to fight for jobs they impact the world as they go. Another issue is the pay gap between the sexes. The US Census Bureau published their findings, “Women working full time made 78.6 percent as much as men did in 2014” but the gap was even bigger for minority women; African American women made sixty-four cents and Latina women made

The workforce is constantly inclining in it’s participation of women, and thus, affects the way the United States economy is displayed. In other words, women have a perpetually strong contribution to the economy. Taking this into account, sources from the “National Partnership for women and Families”, a nonprofit organization that concern policies and education that focus on women and families, confer facts for the wage gap concerning women. The organization reports that, “On average, women employed full time in the United States lose a combined total of more than $840 billion every year due to the wage gap” (“NPWF”). Nationally putting everything together and applying it to a single woman that is being affected, there is an “ annual gender

For many years in the United States, women have been faced with equality issues. Men were regarded as superior, which made women feel inferior and insignificant. One place this has occurred is the workplace. This type of inequality dates backs centuries and comes from the common belief that since men were the breadwinners, women should take care of the home and children. As a result, men were believed to be more efficient in their careers. This is also known as systemic discrimination (Kennedy et al., 2008). When women were given the right to vote, they began to progress and take their place in the workforce. As they increased in numbers, there became a need to for fair

The oppression of women through occupationally established sex segregation and the gender wage difference remains an important economic discussion. The overall gender wage gap has fallen significantly since 1890 to its current rate of 21.4%. Women are making great strides increasing their labor market experience and skills. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Report 58.6% of women make up the labor force, 50.2% have multiple jobs, and 75.4% of single mothers are in the labor force. Today more women are head of households. Despite all the progress a large gender pay gap still exist. This is not simply a result of women’s choices, but structural, economic and social barriers that limit women’s ability to compete resulting in lower pay.