According to the United States Department of Labor(2016), the unemployment rates among black americans was a staggering 8.6, compared to 4.1 with white americans as of October of 2016. This gap, although much smaller compared to thirty five years ago, shows no trend of changing. Unemployment rates among the minority citizens of america has been consistently about double that of white america for an extremely long amount of time, six decades to be exact, according to Pew Research Center (2013). This is not only an issue in the United States, in the UK nearly half of young black males looking for a job are unemployed. This shows that discrimination is not just a factor in today’s labor force in the United States, but throughout the world as
The gender wage gap in America is a social problem that has existed since women entered the workforce. According to the National Committee on Pay Equity, for every dollar earned by a man, a woman made 78.3 cents in 2013 (Leon-Guerrero, 2016). Data from 1983 to 1998 and concluded that women workers in their prime earning years make 38% of what men make. During the 15-year period, an average prime-age working woman earned only $273,592 compared with $722,693 earned by the average working man in 1999 (Leon-Guerrero, 2016). The wage gap affects women of color in a more profound way that it does non-hispanic white women. Hispanic women are making 53%, African American women are making 64%, and Asian American women are making 87% of white men’s earnings each year (AAUW, 2013).
The racial wage gap involves the unequal distribution of races in certain occupations which results in unequal wages. It must consider more sources and attributes that could affect the gap compared to the wage gap between white men and women. The complex income difference between black men and women and white men and women is problematic in that it does not segregate solely by race – it is segregated mainly by gender. The complexity of the racial wage gap requires further understanding in order to be able to solve this puzzle.
Inequality is present in every corner of the United States of America. It comes in all different shapes and sizes; it may come in the form of race, ethnicity, sex, or even gender. To showcase how big of an issue it really is I will compare and contrast the differences between them. One of the most ongoing and present topics of inequality is race. The inequality often lies in the sense of income made by different races, the most common being white Americans making more than African Americans. In the 2011, the average income of the white American household was $110,000, while the African American household average was just over $6,000(Vega). The difference is jaw dropping, it would take no rocket scientist to realize there is some sort of inequality occurring between African Americans and White Americans. However, this is not the only type of inequality occurring. Inequality between gender is very similar to the inequality between ethnicities. The wage gap between genders seems to be the most prevalent topic among discussion at the present time. We fortunately live in a society and time where the fight for equality is very strong. We have seen so much change just within the past 5 years. “In 2015, women working full time in the United States typically were paid just 80 percent of what men were paid” (Miller). The difference in wage is jarring. From
(Newman and Pedulla, 2010). This number is twice as much as whites. Even if they had a job, many African Americans work for the low quality jobs. This means low levels of income relatively whites. And also nearly 50% of the wage differences between blacks and whites result from the racial discrimination. (Greene and Rogers, 1994). So, we can say that discrimination of wages between blacks and whites play a key role to determinate the income status of blacks. Also underemployment is serious as unemployment for many Americans especially for African Americans, because generally they work in that kind of positions. In March, almost 6 percent of workers had worked part time involuntary jobs. (Newman and Pedulla, 2010).
Education is a highly important factor in wages and that means it’s a large factor in the racial wage gap as well. There are alternating education stratums and different races proceed to interchanging wages. “During the 1940’s till the 1970’s the largest reason for the black-white wage gap was because the African Americans had a decreeing education status. Even though the education levels between races have been evened out the wage gap is still there (Racial Wage Gap in the United States). ”
Even after accounting for education, skill level, location and other factors that contribute to occupational inequality, there is still a missing piece of the puzzle of racial wage gap. The piece is the individuals race itself. Differences in wage solely due to the individuals race itself is discrimination and it is widely present in the modern work environment. A study conducted by Grodsky and Pager in 2001 found that just about 50 percent of the wage gap between blacks and whites is explained by differences in education and residential location. Another 20 percent is attributed to difference in occupation and position level. The remaining 30 percent of the wage gap between blacks and whites has no clear source other than being solely due
Racial bias is very prevalent in business hiring today. The idea of racial bias specifically against black people has been about equal to the discrimination that occurred in 1990 while the discrimination against Latino people has stayed steady over the last twenty-seven years (Sherman,2016). This shows that racial bias in business hiring is still very prevalent today, and action needs to be taken to prevent minorities with the same qualifications as whites from getting a job simply because of their race.
Based on the author’s research, G. Donald Jud and James L. Walker examined how class and race are utilized as a form of discrimination on individuals, mostly young men in the labor market based on their educational achievement. By utilizing a recursive structural model, the authors used a sample of males through the ages of 18-28, both white and black males, whom were already done with school for at least a year. The authors were able to conclude that discrimination against young black males becomes more prevalent as they acquire more experience within the labor force. Their research showed that the quality of education an individual has, also plays a major role in deciding the earnings of young men when they first enter the workforce. This
Many living a contemporary lifestyle in the United States would say there is extreme racial inequality in the wage gap between minorities and the Caucasian majority. As a matter of fact, Ta-Nehisi Coates, from The Atlantic, recently stated in her 2014 article, “The Case for Reparations” that, “The income gap between black and white households is roughly the same today as it was in 1970. And whereas whites born into affluent neighborhoods tended to remain in affluent neighborhood, blacks tended to fall out of them” (Coates, 2017) With some statistics stating that, when taking into account inflation, the wage gap specifically between African Americans and Caucasian Americans is the same as it was in 1970, eleven years before the last known racial lynching. Assuming this is considered a problem, one would need to take steps to fix the problem, likely by minimizing the wage gap. A radical solution would be to criminalize discrepancies in pay in both private and public businesses. Another unfit solution would be to tax people and redistribute wealth based on race, as this would be considered an even more prevalent form of discrimination against Caucasian Americans than the current forms of discrimination against African Americans. To find a solution covering a reasonable middle ground, one could create a social justice movement, bringing attention to the discriminatory pay rates to the public eye, which will hopefully de facto change the wage gap among all races and minorities.
A sad fact that needs to be considered when looking at this is from an article that Kellogg Insight put out. It states, “black job seekers are offered—and accept—less compensation than white job seekers. In fact, racial discrimination among employers could account for at least a third of the raw wage gap between black and white workers.” This shows how discrimination impacts income inequality.
Discrimination and poverty are problems that many are currently facing in the United States. African Americans in particular are the most affected by discrimination and poverty. Currently the economic status of African Americans in the United States is 56 percent of that of Whites when comparing income, unemployment, homeownership, business ownership, median net worth and poverty rates. As Malcolm Gladwell discusses in “Black Like Them” (1996) African Americans are seen as lazy people and they are therefore blamed for their own fate. This research investigates if discrimination reduces job and educational opportunities for African Americans. It was found that African Americans
Prejudice attitudes have existed in corporate America prior to and ever since the first corporation began. As businesses develop with an increase in diversity, bigotry continues to evolve with older professionals who don’t see minorities as equals. Several significant events in history such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Act suggest a decrease in overt racism in the workplace. However, it is still prevalent in many parts of the country especially in the corporate world. In today’s society, prejudice attitudes and racism is often seen in company’s lack of representation of minority men and women. In other words, it is still difficult for minorities such as African Americans to escape the unfortunate reality that bias exist against them
When looking for a job, many companies claim to be an Equal Opportunity Employer, meaning it is illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of the person’s race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetic information. Many companies still discriminate based on people’s race. In the eyes of America’s employers, blacks and whites are unequal. Unemployment is at 5.8%, the lowest it’s been since July of 2008. Unless you happen to be black, where it is double. Among African Americans, the unemployment rate is 12.4%, more than twice as high as the 4.9% among whites.
Modern America is a colorblind society; people don’t consider race or ethnicity, racist is a devastating slur, civil rights legislation exists and a Black man was president. Victory in the fight for equality has been achieved; discrimination and racism are a thing of the past and we can all bask in the glow of an equitable society. However, in reality, discrimination still exists; in personal prejudice and implicit bias, in stereotypes and in labor markets. Specifically, labor market discrimination occurs when employers consider factors of race or ethnicity during recruitment. Considering race, including all the implications and stereotypes therewithin, can jeopardize individuals’ chances of acquiring employment. Even though some purport America as a post-racial, colorblind society, labor market discrimination continues to exist and is perpetuated by employers due to their acceptance and reinforcement of stereotypes. Furthermore, due to this discrimination, Black job seekers adapt their job search strategies.