Who Are Women Paid Equal?

As long as an American woman is putting in the same amount of hours with the same qualifications and experience in the same occupation as an American male, and yet taking home a wage that is any lower, she is not being treated fairly as an equal. Contrary to many arguments, it’s undeniable that a wage gap exists, and while there are various ideas as to the most probable cause, there is no reason why this gap should continue to go uncorrected or unchanged. Our government should take concrete steps to close the gender wage gap because it violates women’s rights and equality.

According to statistics, there are disparities with pay in the workplace. Men are paid more in wages, comprehensive packages, and benefits than women who performed the same job responsibilities and roles in the workplace. The big question is why are women being unvalued? Since, this is a common practice in the workplace, is this fair to both genders and is this the most favorable outcome for the greatest number affected by this business practice? The Equal Pay Act of 1963 was passed to eliminate this type of discrimination based on sex with paying wages to employees, in such establishment at a rate less than the rate at which pays, wages to employees of the opposite sex for equal work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions.

Since the time the United States was founded, women were not given the same rights as men, resulting in many women struggling for years. In the second wave of feminism, “Feminists worked for the Equal Rights Amendment, the Equal Pay Act, the addition of sex discrimination to the Civil Rights Act and other laws that would guarantee equality” (Napikoski, 2016). Despite so much time fighting for the Equal Pay Act, in 2017 there is still a very prominent issue with women not being paid as much as men. Women will do the same job as a male peer, and still be paid less; they even have a lower starting salary than men do. A man can make 6.6% more than a woman will a year

Wage discrimination is embedded in our legal system. The ongoing battle for equal pay for women dates back to the Civil War. Throughout history, men seemed as the ideal-type of employers. Men were primary the breadwinners, and women who worked at the time only pinch in money oppose to having a stable salary equivalent to their male counterparts. The job roles such as nurses, teacher, and retail sales clerk became a “traditional female” occupations. In “Here’s the History of the Battle for Equal Pay for American Women,” Charlotte Alter points out a letter sent to the editor of the New York Times on February 1869. In this letter, the writer questioned why female government officials did not have similar pay to their male colleagues: ‘Very few persons deny the justice of the principle that equal work should command equal pay without regard to the sex of the laborer.’ Even in the late 19th century in which men had far more opportunities than women, people question the inequality in regards of the workplace. The

President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act (EPA) into law on June 10, 1963. “The act aimed towards stopping wage inequality through not only races but also genders within the United States.” The income difference between a male and a female was substantial. The Equal Pay Act was not the first act to attempt to be passed. In 1942, twenty years earlier Congresswoman Winifred C. Stanley introduced the Prohibiting Discrimination in Pay on Account of Sex Act. This act was not passed. The equal pay for equal work is an idea that people that do the same work, as others will be compensated in the same way. The act was established because women were receiving less pay than men were for the same exact job. After woman starting taking jobs that men were doing while they were men were fighting in wars, woman took their jobs but were being payed a substantial amount less then the men were.

The Equal Pay Act was signed into law in 1963 as an amendment of the Fair Labor Standards act. The goal of the Act was to order employers to pay men and women equally for essentially equal work. At that time, women were making around 59 cents to every dollar being earned by a man. In the 52 years that have passed since the Equal Pay Act came into play, the gap has diminished by a paltry 18 cents. President Kennedy said the Equal Pay Act was “only a “first step” and emphasized, “much work remains to be done to achieve full equality of economic opportunity.” (50 Years & Counting, The Unfinished Business Of Achieving

In a public hearing with the EEOC, Jocelyn C. Frye from the Center For American Progress mentions, “Vigorous enforcement of equal pay laws is vitally important to creating workplace environments that foster fair pay practices and operate free of discrimination”. There is no way that progress can be achieved on any front when enforcement committees aren’t even be used to their max potential. It is evident that even after over 50 years of the passage of the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and after great strides towards equality, there is still a concerning difference in the wage gap, clearly indicating that enforcement has been less than acceptable up to the modern day and must be strengthened. As a way of enhancing enforcement of these requirements, the bill makes employers justify how they pay workers by having a “bona fide factor other than sex, such as education, training or experience” as the reason for the difference in their pay. This makes it that much harder for employers to justify their uneven wages to

Quickly defining what wages includes, any fringe benefits like overtime, vacation pay, insurance benefits, and pensions, are seen as wages and must be taken into account equally. Just like how Title VII has helped people discriminate less with jobs, the Equal Pay Act has helped better even out the pay gap between genders. The Equal Pay Act prohibits an employer from discrimination between employees on the basis of sex by paying unequal wages for the same work. (R. Mann & B. Roberts, 2015, p. 933) The Women’s Bureau declared that “Wages should be established on the basis of occupation and not on the basis of sex.” Until the enactment of the Equal Pay Act in 1963, this recommendation hadn’t been turned into a reality. (C. Burns & J. Burns,

At the beginning of World War I in 1918, men were headed off to war leaving behind jobs that needed backfilling. The United States Employment Service were among the agencies who recruited women to fill those positions that they felt were not work for men, but more suitable for women. In a 1918 NY Times article, the Assistant Director of the U.S. Employment Service was quoted as saying “When the lists have been prepared…it is believed that the force of public opinion and self-respect will prevent any able-bodied man from keeping a position officially designated as “woman’s work””, and that “The decent fellows will get out without delay; the slackers will be forced out and especially, I think, by the sentiment of women who stand ready.” (Alter, 2015)

Luckily for women, the American Women’s rights progressed tremendously since the late 1800’s, and the turning point for females was The Equal Pay Act in 1963. Women wanted more than their primary responsibilities of taking care of the home, children, and family. Although this law contributed significant changes in the development of the women in the workforce, it did come with unethical gender pay gap.

There have been many cases where a man will be doing the same job as a woman, yet the man will receive more pay. In June 20th, 2011 Wal-Mart was going thru a big lawsuit for employment discrimination. Men were not just getting more pay then women but they were also receiving more promotions. Because of this, women’s pay and promotion were left in the hands of nearly an all-male management. New York Times writes “The suit, against Wal-Mart stores, had sought to consolidate the claims of as many as 1.5 million women on the theory that the company had discriminated against them.” The case did reach supreme court level, which worried other companies; the companies thought it would cause a flood of lawsuits for them. In the

The gender gap places woman on a lower pedestal. We are continually receiving less pay, despite possessing similar knowledge and capabilities as men. An article from the World Economic Forum stated that the pay gap is widening and having the opposite effect than planned “despite [the] numerous initiatives to break glass ceilings and force salary disclosure.” This pressing issue is in dire need of a resolution. The gender gap not only threatens women’s individual rights, it violates the equal protection clause under the fourteenth amendment which promises to protect women from sex discrimination. With the equal protection clause in place that specifically declared the “equal protection of the laws,” one would have hoped that gender equality fell within this criteria, however that is not the case.

The Equal Pay Act of 1963, established during the Kennedy administration, promised the people equal pay for equal work. Since then, the gender wage gap has been narrowing every year, but it still does exist in the United States. The gender wage gap is the difference between what women get paid and what men get paid for doing the same job. The discrimination subject on gender salaries earned by women have continued to be a complicated matter. It has turned into an issue which combines our business economics and social culture. As time has slowly progressed, women now make on average 79 cents for every dollar men make. Shockingly, only a 20 cent increase over the last 54 years. At this rate, per the Institute of Women’s Policy Research, it could take a full 45 years before this gender inequality disappears.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistic, in 2016, the median weekly earnings for women were 82 percent of the median weekly earnings for men. Which signifies, women’s median weekly earnings were $749 of the median weekly earnings for men $915 that cast women $7968 per year; women justified for 44 percent of full-time wage and salary workers. “Despite the fact that pay equity is the law, studies show women earn less money than men for doing the same work. This pay gap does not necessarily decrease simply because more women are achieving “bread winner” status” (Gillette 4). Therefore, Equal Pay Act prohibits sex-based wage discrimination between men and women in the same establishment. “Even though in 1963, Congress

Both men and women have been inequalities in the workplace. Women are still are not receiving equal pay for the equal work and the equal pay of work of the equal value. Even though women have increased their presence in higher paying jobs that are dominated by men, still women continue to work in low paying occupations as men. For so long woman have received less pay in jobs. They have not been treated fair and equal as a man does in the same job fields. Woman has worked so hard and have accomplished so any jobs, just like men does in the job. Even though they still have done so much on the job, they are not receiving the same pay and opportunities as a man do. It is unfair for woman that have worked so hard and sweat their lives out of the jobs they do and not be treat equal in the job. They work the same long hours and have done hard labor as men do. Women have worked as hard as men do in the job. Employees regardless of one’s gender should receive the same pay, benefits and opportunities for advancement for the same work.