Gender Discrimination: the Main Reason That Women Are Paid Less Than Men

It is not up for debate whether women are discriminated against in the workplace, it is evident in census data; in 2013, among full-time, year-round workers, women were paid 78 percent of what men were paid. It is said that the organizations that are pro-equal pay, including some unions, support the idea that the government should set wages for all jobs. To the contrary, the organizations that are proponents of equal pay are not for job wages being set by the government-they wish to have the discrimination taken out of pay scales from within the company. Commonly, this pay gap is attributed to the fact that women in the United States are still expected to attend to familial obligations over work.

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.

Ninety-five years ago the nineteenth amendment was passed giving women in America the right to vote (America’s Historical Documents), this was a pivotal step for women rights. Since then women’s rights have increasingly advanced throughout America: in politics and in the workforce. In fact “women today make up almost half of all worker in the United States” (The State of Women in America). Sadly though, women are paid less than males in the workforce. "Women in the United States are paid only 77 cents for every dollar a man makes" (The State of Women in America). One question that derives from this topic is: why are women still not getting paid as much as men? Women should get paid as equally as men do. A fair argument to make against the topic is the difference in the types of work a woman and a man does (Debate). For example in construction men are tasked with most of the heavy lifting as opposed to a women that do not have as much

The gender pay gap is the difference in pay earned by men and the pay earned by women.( Pay Equity Commission, 2012). There are various ways in measuring the pay gap between genders, such as full- time or full- year wage. Statistics Canada data ( 2012) displayed that the gender pay gap in Ontario was 26% for full- time and full- year employments, which means for every C$1 earned by a man, a woman earned 74 cents( Pay Equity Commission,2012).The pay gap has been narrowing slowly over time compared to the how it was in 1987, which was 36%. However the gender wage gap is still a problem that exists in the society. I will discuss about the feminist theory and how it can be interpreted in the gender pay gap of our society, especially in regards to celebrities.

An important federal employment law that all employees and employers should be aware of is the Equal Pay Act of 1963. As conversed in week nine of class discussion and video lecture, the Equal Pay Act of 1963 ends wage disparity based on sex. The main goal of this act was to ban discrimination in wages, benefits, and pensions based the gender of an employee in any place of employment. Women traditionally earned less than men for doing similar work. The United States has had a long history of knowledge of unequal pay between men and women, but it was not until around World War II that the problem arose and women started fighting for their rights on this issue. Women have tried passing several bills to help close this pay gap throughout the 1950’s, but ended up in failure.

Today, the working industry has made substantial progress towards gender equality pay while adding numerous career opportunities for woman in the workforce. However, society still poses ethical concerns between women and men regarding gender pay gap and discrimination for the same job function that apparently still exist. To put it differently, women regrettably have struggled as they continue in trying to make headway in gaining the respect of the working-class industry since the mid-1900’s. In some cases, researchers state that women in the workforce will not get paid equally for the same job function because of discrimination of gender gap. According to one research study, “there is still a gender pay gap. Women continue to earn considerably less than men on average” (Blau & Kahn, 2007, p. 8). While men have the higher ground of work tenure there should be equal pay for women with the same qualifications; I will argue the concerns of gender gap pay while using the utilitarian theory, deontological theory and the objection of moral reasoning to prove the ethical theory.

Women have made significant strides in society, proving themselves to be as capable as men in the workforce. However, while women are making equal contributions, men and women are not earning equal wages. Even though the Equal Pay Act was established in 1963, women continue to earn lower wages than men over half a century later. This inequality not only affects women as individuals but has a detrimental effect on the national economy. The gender wage gap in the United States should end because it is unjust; correcting it would have social and economic benefits for the U.S.

To this day, women get paid less due to the motherhood penalty, educational opportunities, women’s roles in the society historically, choice of job, and more. All of these components affect women’s wages and the superiority of men in the labor force. One side of the argument states that women rightfully deserve the downside of this wage gap, and others posses the opinion that all workers should be treated equally. Historically, gender roles have gotten in the way of equality in pay. However, people also believe that women choose jobs that do not offer an abundance of pay. Factors such as the motherhood penalty have skewed the pay gap as well. While some people believe that women should be treated equally regarding pay, since they are doing

In 1942, the National War Labor Board urged employers to voluntarily equalize wage and salary rates for women to meet the wages of men. The Equal Pay act was signed in 1963, making it illegal for employers to pay unequal wages to men and women who hold the same job and do the same work, but this hasn’t changed much. Two landmark court cases served to strengthen and further define the Equal Pay Act: Schultz v. Wheaton Glass Co. (1970), U.S. Court of Appeals for

Throughout the history of the United States, equality for all has been a highly sought-after, yet controversial aspect of American life. Whether it was the period of Native American reorganization or the destructive era of Southern slavery, it has been equality that continues to be denied to a certain group of citizens. In order to combat this, many efforts have been made to influence equality in all elements of citizen’s lives. However, in today’s society, many of these attempts have failed to be noticed, for true equality has yet to be entirely achieved. Notably, working women all over the country have been denied equal wages to that of men. Thus, condoning the use of wage discrimination against women in the workplace is unjust and inequitable because women perform many of the same jobs as men do, they are entitled to the same basic rights as the rest of society, and because laws have already been passed to illegalize wage discrimination based on gender. Both men and women in the labor force are expected of comparable tasks and performances, yet the payment that women receive as compensation remains noticeably less than that of men.

It has been more than fifty years since the Equal Pay Act of 1963 was enacted, yet gender pay gap still exists today. According to National Women’s Law Center, women are paid only 80 cent for every dollar their male counterpart are paid. According to American Association of University Women, the total estimated loss of earnings for women compared to men over the course of 45 years are $700,000 for a high school graduate, $1.2 million for a college graduate, and $2 million for a professional school graduate. Although there are many factors that are responsible for gender pay gap, 40% of the pay gap is due to discrimination according to a report by the Joint Economic Committee Democratic Staff. By discriminating women, we, as a society, are telling

The gender pay gap is the biggest unspoken problem in America. This issue has been in the world since the dawn of time, but people only started paying attention to it in the last 80 years. In order to close this gap for good, we have to look at where it began. Stereotypes and traditions of stereotypes are the main roots of this problem; before we look at that, we must make sure we stay balanced in our fight against injustice. If we push too far, we will fall into a gender pay gap in favor of women, and I don’t want that I want fair only.

What are possible reasons, according to the author, for why the issue of unequal pay among women of color in particular does not garner national media attention?

Government has tackled the issue of pay equity for several decades, through a string of Acts. The issue arose as part of the discussion of civil rights in the 1960s but the conversation continues today. The concept of equal pay for equal work has philosophical roots in the doctrine of equality, where all Americans are considered to be equal under the law and entitled to equal rights. The issue of equal pay became a public policy topic as a means of enforcing this equality doctrine. This paper will discuss not only the doctrine, but the history of equal pay legislation from the Civil Rights Act to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009.

The American economy runs as a cycle of employment and consumer spending for centuries, with profit, cost and salaries as the inputs and outputs. If the market is supplied by workers who are paid and encouraged to spend their wages in order to keep the market running, then the phenomenon of all employees paid equally for the same job should be universally understood in modern society. The working gender gap in the United States has revolutionized since the end of World War II in which the women who were originally temporarily employed in the workforce in place of drafted males were now seeking to be the rising breadwinners of the family. Through the Equal Pay Act, signed into law by President John F. Kennedy on June 10, 1963, the “prohibition of sex discrimination” in all forms of pay intends to eliminate unequal pay for the same jobs occupied by different genders (“The Equal”, n.d.).