Analysis: The Gender Wage Gap

Before 1880, women did not have as many rights as they do today in the United States of America. Women were not able to initiate divorce; they did not have custody over their children; they were not entitled to their own wages; they could not vote; etcetera. This movement was necessary to create a more just and fair society for Americans because women deserved to be treated as well as men were. These things were changed as a result of many suffragists who fought for women’s rights for years. Three women who devoted their lives to gaining equal rights for women were Susan B. Anthony, Lucy Stone, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Without these women among others, women in America would not be treated as they are today.

The gender pay gap is a problem nationwide in the United States. It is a phenomenon that affects women of all education levels, ages, and races. Although it varies in a state-by-state basis, the pay gap is prevalent in all states (Miller, 2017). The issue is also occupation-wide, meaning that nearly every occupation will have a gender gap (Miller, 2017). Statistics from The Simple Truth About the Gender Pay Gap have shown that while an increase in education help women earn more, it does not eliminate the problem all together or close the gap (Miller, 2017). As of recent statistics, women are paid approximately 80 cents for every dollar a man makes, however, the gap is worse for women of color, especially, when compared to the salary of that of white men; African American women earn 63% of the salary that white men earn, Native American women earn 58%, and the largest gap is for Latina women, who earn only 54% (Miller, 2017).

The gender wage gap is the difference in men and women’s annual salaries and can be found in every kind of job at all times. The gap stems from prejudice against women workers, resulting in women receiving less pay than men do for the same work. As of 1999, women make up sixty percent of the workforce and are the main income provider for four of every ten families. Yet, in 2015, the median annual income for women was $40,742 and $51,212 for men. That is eighty percent of what men are earning, or a twenty percent wage gap. In the past half-century there has not been a consistent decrease in the wage gap: in 1960 women were earning sixty-four percent of men’s annual income, in 1978 they were earning fifty-nine percent, and in 2000 they were

The article “The Simple Truth About the Gender Wage Gap,” Kevin Miller describes this issue by providing evidence and statistics that men get paid more than women, despite similarities in education and ethnicity, emphasizing that the difference in gender causes the difference in pay. In fact, Miller declares, “The gap has narrowed since the 1970s, due largely to women’s progress in education and workforce participation and to men’s wages rising at a slower rate. Still, the pay gap does not appear likely to go away on its own.” Therefore, since the early 1900’s, women advanced, further closing the pay gap between men and women. Women now have careers and become educated rather than become bound to their roles as a possession of their husbands and mothers to their children. Although the gap does not seem to completely close soon, the clear improvement of women in society suggests that women’s oppression decreased over time. However, the wage gap is not the only issue regarding women’s

The gender wage gap in the U.S. has been a topic of debate in politics through most of the 21st century. In 2015, women were paid 80 percent of what men were paid (SIMPLE TRUTH). This number is considerably smaller than that of the 1960’s because of women’s progress in education and participation in the workforce (SIMPLE TRUTH). The wage gap can have adverse lifelong effects on a woman’s life. Because women are paid less than men, a woman will receive less social security, pensions, and other resources when they retire than a man would (Fischer & Hayes, 2013). There is a common stigma that women do not get paid as much as men because they do not ask for higher wages but not everything can be “explained

The Gender Wage Gap is defined as the different amounts of money that is paid to women and men, often for doing the same work. Women who work full time, year round earn 77 cents for every dollar that men earn. Over a year women make $11,500 less than men and throughout their life this wage gap can affect women by making them earn anywhere from $400,000-$2 million less than men do. (Miller 2008, 6) This causes women to have to unfairly face more challenges economically than men do and also makes them have to become more competitive in the workfield. The wage gap varies for women of different races. On average African-American women are paid 60 cents and Latinas are paid 55 cents for every dollar white men make. Over a year this amounts to a

That answer is not an easy one to answer with many people having different solutions to it. Hadas Mandel and Michael Shalev say, in the same article, “ earnings differentials of all kinds narrow when labor enjoys substantial political and institutional power and wage determination is centralized.” (Mandel and Shalev, Jun. 2009, pg. 1874). Analyzing the quote it says that the more power that labor gets both politically and institutional the more the gender based wage gap narrows. With all the many problems the United States have economically it might be easy for this to get overlooked even if it is a hot topic. There needs to be more of a focus on labor. The quote also says that wage determination being centralized has a big impact on if the gender based wage gap narrows or gets larger. Overall more attention given to the topic would narrow the gender wage gap significantly. However Richard A. Epstein has a different approach to the problem. In his article Why Income and Wealth Equality Cannot End Wage Stagnation Epstein says, “ What is needed, therefore, is a complete reversal in direction to undo the current economic swoon. We must concentrate first on growing the pie, not on evening out the size of the slices. No one can predict with confidence how the gain will be distributed… The only confident conclusion is… larger slices for most people.” (Epstein, Dec. 2014, pg. 4). Interesting

The gender wage gap issue is prevalent in our society and drives many political and social discussions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics states a 23% difference between the wages of men and females, and this data leads to the infamous idea that women make “77 cents for every dollar a man makes.” Many individuals interpret this by assuming that women are discriminated in the work place. Yet most, if not all, of the gender wage gap is a result of individual choice, rather than gender discrimination, and statistical analysis, personal motives/factors such as occupation, hours worked, experience, etc. show that the gender wage gap is highly inflated and misleading.

The gender wage gap has been a substantial subject that has had numerous studies done, that included extensive debates and commentary for the past three centuries. In fact, the gender wage gap predominantly affects women. For example, in 2003 people reported that women make eighty cents for every dollar men make(Gender Pay 8). For one thing, women should not be getting paid less for doing the same job as men. The individual hired at the same time as another individual should receive the same starting pay until it is shown they deserve more pay than they are receiving. If the wage gap continues to grow at the rate it has been, it will be another fifty years before women make the same as men (Discrimination 1). The workforce has grown a considerable

I agree with that article that believes that the gender pay gap is true because they show higher quality information from a trustworthy source. According to aauw.org, in the 1960s women got paid 60% of the amount men got paid and in 2015 women get paid around 75% of the amount that men get paid, but since the 2000s the rate of the gender pay gap in slowly getting smaller and smaller. Aauw projected at this rate the gender pay gap won’t close until 2152, that is over 100 years of women getting substantially less than men. They also noticed that the pay gap gets larger as a women gets older, a woman between 55 and 64 gets paid only 79% of the amount of a man of that age group. According to forbes.com, the gender pay gap was closed on April 12,

and that is why there may be a difference in compensation. Even though the numbers of women who major in those fields isn’t large, the idea that women don’t major in them is false. They are just as equally capable of completing the same tasks but coworkers and bosses might think differently. The problem is more profound in the highest paying jobs women suffer the most wage gaps. The percentage comparison to both men and women is high. It’s not the industry, its society that undermines women’s abilities. Gender stereotypes are hard to give up, and at times we are all likely to engage in stereotyping each other. As a society, we need to encourage people to go beyond stereotypes and recognize the contributions regardless of the sexes.

Women will never receive as much pay as a man. A woman cannot be hired to do a man’s job. These are so statements that are made by some men who believe women are inferior to the male them. It is a fact that some companies pay demand higher wages than women. This on their action is called the wage gap. Let’s take a closer look by what the definition of wage entails. According to WAGE (Women Are Getting Even), the ways Results in different types of sex discrimination in the workplace. These ladies stated that the wage gap can include discriminating in hiring, promotions, pay, sexual harassment, occupational segregation, bias against mothers in other ways that undervalue women ("Why Is There A Wage Gap?", n.d.). On their webpage, these determine

This study takes a look at the wage gap between women and men. It has always been known that men make more money than women. Many acts of legislation have been passed to address the disparities. But as time has progressed this topic is not one that grasps the attention of society. Society feels that there are other more important topics to focus on. The inequities amongst men and women pay has been in effect from the early 1800s and continues on in the new millennium despite, the gains women have made. And unfortunately the millennium women have many challenges that still lie ahead. This study has shown the transition from the early 1800s up until now and in the 21st century we are still dealing with inequities when it

Living in a developed country, we often assume freedom is guaranteed and all are treated with equality. However, many fail to see the injustices continuing in our nation, as well as several others around the world, that are continuing to occur to this day. Despite the advances made everyday in modern westernized countries, women and minority races earn less than caucasian males for the same occupation and it is deemed acceptable.

According to the Real World, the conflict theory is, “a paradigm that sees social conflict as the basis of society and social change, and emphasizes a materialist view of society, a critical view of the status quo, and a dynamic model of historical change” (Ferris and Stein, 2008). This definition is spot on when analyzing the gender wage gap. Tensions and conflict arise when power and social standings are unequal, such as women’s wage. This has been a conflict for many years.