Earning Differences by Gender

Even though there is an Elimination Act of all forms of discrimination against women in 1979 the United States still continue to bridge a gap in wages. When you look at the wage gap you can clearly see the difference in gender and it is much worse for people of color. The wage gap is not just a gender issue it also affects racial minorities. Asian American women experience the smallest gender pay gap. The Hispanic and Latina women had the largest gap with 54 percent of what the white men were paid in 2013. The gender pay gap for American Indian and Alaska Native women has went down to 60 and 59 percent in 2013. As for African American women they are paid 64 percent of what white men were paid in 2013 and white women were paid 78 percent of what white men were paid ( Catherine, H). Over the years the wage gap is in fact improving but only by a small percentage. In 2012 the wage gap was 77% and in 2013 the

According to the US Census Bureau, in 2010 the median earnings for women were $36,931 compared to $47,715 for men. [3] The majority of college degrees earned in the US are by women, and yet a study according to the American Association of University Women found that these educated graduated women are starting out with earning 5 percent less than their male peers. This was after several factors were taken into account, such as experience, training, and what school women earned their degrees from. Their study summarizes that, “In this analysis the portion of the pay gap that remains unexplained after all other factors are taken into account is 5 percent one year after graduation and 12 percent ten years after graduation.” – Behind the Pay Gap, American Association of University Women, Dey, Judy Goldberg

The gender pay gap is the difference between male and female earnings averaged in percentages. This difference in pay due to gender seems like it would be an obsolete practice in the twenty-first century, but it is real and is affecting millions of women and households in the country. In 2014, women working full time in the United States were paid 79 percent on average of what men were being paid, which is a gap of approximately 21 percent. This means that in the United States, females earned 94 cents on average to every dollar earned by males. According to one study by the Department of Labor’s Chief Economist, a typical 25-year-old woman working full time would earn $5,000 less over the course of her working career than a typical 25-year old man working in the same career. The reason why this pay gap exists does expand into other factors such as education, experience, the work being performed, qualifications, age, and ethnicity which are taken into account. The studies being conducted on the pay gap has economists verifying that discrimination is the best overall explanation and factor of the difference in pay between males and females.

Gender equality is something that has been a problem through the ages. Susan B. Anthony and many others fought for the right to vote which was granted in 1920. In 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law stating that no employer can discriminate based on gender. The American Association of University Women published a graph on Women’s Median Annual Earnings as a Percentage of Men’s Median Annual Earnings for Full-time, Year-round Workers, 1974-2014 and it shows that in 1974, women were paid 59% of what men were paid. The graph shows the improvements over the years and that in 2014, women were paid 79% of what men were paid. The gap has not budged since 2014. The gender pay gap has improved over the years, but it will not close until new legislation passes.

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 pay gap in the United States forms a slightly mixed feeling. On one hand, after years of opposition to the earnings of women compared to men. There has been a large increase in women's earnings since the 1970s. The gender pay gap in the United States is measured through the female to male average yearly earnings for a full-time, year-round worker. Previously, a woman earned 77 cents for every dollar that a male gets. Since 1980, the gap has narrowed by 16.8 cents, improving from 60.2 cents to 77 cents, as stated by the Institute for Women’s Policy. The current pay gap between female and male is 82 cent for every one dollar. This growth is significant because it opposes the relative stability of the earlier incomes of a woman in the

While such rulings must not be discounted, the decrease in the wage gap is in comparison small, when compared to the fact that between 1950-1960 women working full-time earned on average 59-64 cents for every dollar men earned in the same job (Rowen). In addition, according to a recent report by the National Partnership for Women and Families, “America’s Women and the Wage Gap” (2016), on average women in the United States are paid 80 cents for every dollar paid to men amounting to an annual gender wage gap of $10,470. These wage gaps amount to loss

The gender wage gap has been going on since the 1960s till today. The wage gap for full time/year round workers is 21.4%. A women’s median annual earnings is $39,621 and men’s median annual earnings is $50,383. The main reason for the wage gap is gender inequality. Society has made women seem weaker and less powerful than men. To really get into depth, the wage gap is worse for women of color. It is proven that women of color get worse pay than a caucasian woman. For latinos,

In the 21st Century the number of women enrolling in higher education institutions is surpassing the numbers of men enrolled. The graduation rates of women from high school and higher education are most often higher than for men. The number of women graduates from most professional occupations, including higher paying medicine, law and business, will exceed the number of men graduates in the near future. In numerous occupational areas with a majority of women graduates, salaries already surpass salaries in occupational areas with a majority of men graduates.

The gendered wage gap has been a controversial topic that's been around since women started working at jobs for money in the United States during the 1900’s era. With a steadily increasing amount of women working at jobs, came steadily strong opinions about women’s work rights. Women had been given a lesser wage compared to their male counterparts and it outraged women. However, as women were treated more and more equal, their wages were treated more equally as well. Then came a stand still in this improving equality for women in the 21st century, as it has been debated that women are now treated equally, compared to men. This standstill has caused even further debate ranging from several things with most focusing on

Since the 1970’s there have been surveys showing there is a pay gap between men and women. This gap seems to have been decreasing since then but it is still there. There have been social movements over the pay gap issue stating that “in the 1970s was 59 cents on the dollar and a more recent crusade for pay

Between the time both articles were written, it appears there has been little changes in the wage gap, but the explanations as to why are similar. In the article in the book, is the Gender Wage Gap Justified, in 2012 they pointed out that the women workers median income was 71.8 percent that of the median income of full-time men workers. Lis Quast states, the 2014 median hourly wages of U.S. women were only 83 percent of men’s. They suggest the decrease in the difference of pay is not because women are being paid more, but because men are being paid less. J.R Shackleton says, “Males and females make different choices in the labour market, in terms of the trade-off between pay and other job characteristics, choice of education, choice of occupation,

I examined different professional industries in The United States to get a familiar understanding of gender inequality around me. Gender inequality does not particularly favor one sex in every professional industry. Joanne Lipman’s article, "Let’s Expose the Gender Pay Gap," dealt with professional women in the work force and the gender pay gap that exists between professional men. There is also a distinct gender gap between a woman and a man asking for a raise or promotion within a company. “Female doctors and surgeons, for example, earn 71 percent of what their male colleagues make, while female financial specialists are paid just 66 percent as much as comparable men. Other researchers have calculated that women one year out of college earn 6.6 percent less than men after controlling for occupation and hours, and that female M.B.A. graduates earn on average $4,600 less than their male classmates for their first jobs.” (Lipman). There is a statistical gender pay gap in The United States that is undeniable.

Now more than ever women are going to college and getting degrees. Some studies even show that women are doing better in school than men (Buchmann and Diprete). Yet despite of this, women are still not getting paid equally as men in America. Why is this?

Throughout history women and men have been viewed differently, not only physically, but socially and economically. Many major changes have been made over the years, but women still suffer from discrimination in many ways. One of the most obvious is the wage gap between women and men. This difference in pay for women has had a significant impact on the United States in both sports and business. Over the past 30 years there have been many defining events in this continuing struggle.