Equal Work For Equal Pay Analysis

Sexism: A Modern, Ugly Beast The ancient novel Beowulf depicts the famous life of a hero by the same name. Our hero faces many foes, all of them dragons, but one stands out more than the rest. Grendel is the first monster our hero must face, and does so with bravery and honor.

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,

Women continue to face disadvantages in the workplace in regards to not receiving equal pay as well. There are many instances where women have the same or more qualifications to do a job than their male counterparts but do not receive the same pay. This difference in pay is not only related to gender differences but also racial differences. Women employees of different racial backgrounds tend to earn less money than their white female and male counterparts. Many women of color often face discrimination when applying to jobs and are overlooked for a position despite having the qualifications to do the work. When they are hired to these occupations they are not receiving the same pay as their white female counterparts. This double bind that minority women face within the work place continues to lead to economic hardships. Regarding women in the workplace in general, due to society’s high regard for men they are often not promoted to positions of authority or receive equal pay because people assume that women are inferior workers. (Buchanan, p205-207)

For example, becoming a mother and having to deal with motherly responsibilities can take an abundance of time out of the hours in which they could be earning money, thus “[skewing] pay-gap statistics, as they decrease the average total hours worked by women” (Cholensky 16). Working mothers spend at least twelve unpaid weeks on maternity leave. Regardless, an abundance of mothers need more time to bond with and take care of her newborn baby. There is a term that was coined for this exact disadvantage; the motherhood penalty. This argues that working mothers encounter disadvantages in pay, perceived competence, and benefits relative to childless women. However “ fathers earn somewhat more than childless men with the same characteristics—referred to as a fatherhood bonus” (Misra 27). Fathers and mothers may both work the same amount of hours and have very similar jobs, but the father will almost always get paid more than the working mother. This is because assumptions have made it so that women take responsibility of household chores and take care of their families. In the past, male counterparts have made the money to support their families and households. Standards in society have also been made, which influence the decisions that couples make in their

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.

Women nowadays have opportunities that were not obtainable in past decades but must overcome, or in most cases overlook, the barrier of being punished in the long run for simply being a woman; “gender differences in starting salaries are a significant contributor to long-term earning differentials between men and women” (Bowels and Babcock). It seems to me that in the workforce, a woman is a person just as a man is a person, if that person gets the job done right, he or she should be paid for doing so, if not, that person receives repercussions. The influence of gender on this issue is very curious as to why it is even a factor in the first place.According to “melanievarnell.wordpress.com” Doing research on the equal work equal pay topic has aroused many questions and proposed solutions, but the lingering query is why employers are still enabling this workplace behavior and discrimination in the 21st century. An article titled, “Equal Work for Equal Pay”: Not Even College Helps Women, was written by “Korva Coleman”; who claims that women are worth less than men when entering the workforce after completing a college degree. Throughout the article, Coleman supports her claim using different studies’ results that “show when men and women attend the same kind of college, pick the same major and accept the same kind of job, on average, the woman will still earn 82 cents to every dollar

But since 2000, progress has all but flatlined. A big underlying factor is the slowdown in women’s wage growth. That’s what helped propel the closure of the gap in earlier decades, but women have seen a standstill in wage growth since about 2001, as has most of the country.Women make less than men, on average, for a number of reasons. About 10 percent of it is thanks to different work experience, often because women are much more likely to take breaks from work to care for family members. The drop of women in the labor force over the last decade can be tied to the country’s lack of paid family leave, child care assistance, and support for flexible schedules.Some of it is also due to the fact that women end up working in areas that tend to pay less. But that doesn’t mean they can escape the gap by choosing different paths. They make less in virtually every industry and every job. And while getting more education boosts earnings, women make less than men with the same educational credentials at every level and even make less than their former male classmates when they graduate from top-tier universities. Some of that difference may be due to different majors or grades, but when salaries in the first year after graduation are compared while taking the college, major, grades, and other factors into account, women still experience a significant wage gap.Discrimination therefore plays a role. Economists consistently find a portion of the gap that can’t be explained by a variety of other factors. Studies have found that people of both genders are inclined to give men more money, especially if the woman is a mother. Meanwhile, women’s job performance is continuously underrated compared to men’s. Therefore in the workforce are discriminated

By the time the Equal Pay Act became a federal law in 1963, women throughout America were only making an average of 59 cents to every dollar that men earned (The Pay Gap, the Glass Ceiling). When the Equal Pay Act was enforced, Congress was focusing on the wages gap that was present for men and women who were working the same job. Therefore, women were supposed to receive “equal pay for equal work” (California Closes the Gap, par. 3) relative to the men they worked alongside with. Many companies within the private sector took advantage of the wording of this Act, citing that women were not doing “equal work” to the men, so they did not justifiably deserve “equal pay”. This is how even now, 50 years later, “persistence of a twenty percent gender pay gap” (ABA Journal, par. 1) makes it so that on a national average women are still making less than men. However, while cultural bias is one of the contributing factors, it is only

Half of the whole workforce in the United States is made up of women, yet their average pay is more than twenty percent less than a male counterpart (“Pay”)(Claire). If they do ask for a raise, many employers deem them as untrustworthy though many men are more respected. (Claire). Women in the United States make only seventy-eight cents to every man’s dollar (“Pay”). Yet, 49,000,000 children in the U.S. today rely on a female to provide them with food, clothing, and other necessities (“Did”). Women being paid less is caused because of sexism, the history of our nation, and small details that employers find relevant enough to lower a woman’s pay.

Women have made extraordinary strides toward workplace equality in the last century. The labor-market participation rate for women 25 to 44 years of age - the average child bearing years - rose from less than 20% to more than 75% between 1900 and 1999 (Velasquez, 1.) Author Andrea Lunsford writes about the simple concept of “comparable worth” saying that concept of workers with “comparable skills, education and experience be paid equal amounts” should be a fairly simple policy to institute. (Lunsford, 617) But as many women know first hand, this practice can be fairly difficult to enforce. Many companies can even seem downright opposed to it. Women in the workplace have it hard enough; they are under more

The federal law of The Equal Pay Act of 1963 protects against wage discrimination based on sex doing the equal work when women are performing the same profession and duties being approved. Despite of that law, women average earn 78 cents for each dollar men earn, although the reduction of the gap between women's and men's wages, progress is painfully slow (state news para 3). The same credentials, full-time in the field, such as men, women must still work all year for less money. For example, women's business majors earned $ 38,000 a year or more, then just graduated a little over $ 45,000 compared to men. Two-thirds of women think professional women are scrutinized more harshly than men, compared to half of men who agree. Meanwhile, just a

Even with women’s increasing workplace successes over the passing years, the gender wage gap continues on. Scholars and researchers descriptions of the pay differences are explained at vaguely two different levels. There are individual differences in workplace results that are sometimes credited to gender specific preferences. At the college level, institutional practices may hinder women, or certain laws in place can balance out the results of these practices. We’re making an effort to rise above this separation by examining the wage gap at both levels; our study plans to contribute to filling this gap.

As a future working woman, I have come to realize that the work I have done thus far for my career will simply not be adequate. I will not at any given point deem myself less valuable than any of my future male co-workers, who are on the same standing as I am. Yet despite similar testimonies, many American women today still face pay discrimination which has grown to become a major dilemma that shortchanges these women as well as their families.

A society in which both men and women are given equal opportunities, rights, and outcomes is gender equality. The desire for equal pay has been debated for years however, women’s work continues to be under appreciated. Male dominance is prevalent today and history tells us why. Too often women are payed less than men regardless of education or effort. The assumption that women cannot carry the same roles as men in the workforce creates this pay gap. Women are more likely than men to leave their job during and after pregnancy and because of this they’re less likely to get promoted or keep a job. Power is continuously being taken from women including reproductive rights.

Women earn 77 cents to every dollar a man makes. The most common jobs/occupations in the country are segregated by gender some examples are truck driving, construction worker, firefighter nursing, and secretarial work. There are a few occupation that require a degree but they are still heavily skewed towards men some examples would be law and medicine. The reason is because women are more likely to do jobs that are similar to what they do at home and in the olden days like taking care of the family and kids, keeping the inside the house clean and teaching. Men are seen as the muscles more like construction and engineering.