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).
Equal pay is a problem on a global scale. Over 145 countries have a documented pay wage gap (Werft). One would hope the United States would have the smallest wage gap, but in 2016, the United States was in only 45th place in the smallest wage gap (“Rankings”). In fact, most women in the United States only make $0.77 compared to a whole dollar they should earn. The state with the worst wage gap is Louisiana, with only, on average $0.69 for every man’s dollar (“Rankings”). One in three of the 15.2 million families headed by women have fallen below the poverty line, leaving their children to suffer in poverty
Despite the California state legislature enacting the state's Equal Pay Act in 1949, for the duration of the 20th century, women in California continued to earn significantly less than men for the same employment. In 2014, female earnings in California for full-time, year-round, employment were 84 % of male earnings. The national average was even-worse: 79%. The wage discrepancy is even more devastating for African-American and Latina women. African American women earn 64% of what a man earns. California's Latina wage gap of 44% is astoundingly the worst of its kind in the United States. As the numbers show, the California Equal Pay Act, as well as the nearly identical federal Equal Pay Act, have been limited still in their effectiveness fifteen
The history in the fight for gender equality in America is one that started long ago and is not yet finished. Individually, California has always been ahead of the rest when it comes to gender equality and rights. California has come a long way from the times where women couldn’t vote, get certain jobs and were actively discriminated against. The success and accomplishments that the state of California has seen in terms of gender equality have not been met without opposition, doubt and setbacks. Through the different waves of feminism, women and the LGBT community have gained rights that were once never extended to them and now have protections to protect them from discrimination that was once legal. The early 1900’s were a significant time
“In 2015, female full-time workers made only 80 cents for every dollar earned by men, a gender wage gap of twenty percent” (iwpr.org). Women are getting paid less to do the exact same job as men. Females of certain ethnicity make even less. Black and Hispanic women made thirteen dollars an hour while Asian and white women made eighteen dollars an hour. Not only is there a national pay gap statistic, but the pay gap can also range according to state. For example, in Wyoming, women were paid only 64 percent of what men were paid. (Miller) This means that no matter where a woman lives and works in the United States, she will have to face this gap every day.
According to the Institute For Women’s Policy Research’s website, “In 2015 female full-time workers made only 80 cents for every dollar earned by a man, a gender wage gap of 20 percent.” Women are continually being paid less than a man in the same occupation. The gender salary gap is a growing problem in the United States. For generations women have been thought of a being at home, while men work to support the family. But as time has gone by, women have stepped up and have begun to work alongside the men. Women have proven they work just as hard as men, and deserve equal pay. Women are now addressing the problem hoping for a change. But there are those who do not think this is an issue, believing it’s fine how it is. The gender wage gap should be broken because women work just as hard for the job as a man, and single mothers are struggling to raise their children because they can not be paid the same as men.
For many decades, the male gender has managed to uphold a role of dominance, leaving American women in a position of disadvantage in what should be an equally privileged setting. As a result, the issue continues to influence the existence of gender inequality, and with it being associated with the unequal pay rates, the issue remains to influence society still today. Prior to several women favoring laws, such as, the Women’s Rights Act, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, The Equal Pay Act, Civil Rights Act, etc., women have been obligated to overcome discriminating obstacles within society since the beginning. Although equality and discrimination have been a common struggle for women historically, moving forward, history has advanced and developed over time, informing society and providing them with access to resources. The most recent events in the 2016 election display the levels at which history and the American people have changed, where we nearly voted for the first female candidate as president. Yet, while job positions, pay rates, and the cost of living, have all increased substantially with time, one significant topic remains stable, and that is the average pay difference between men in America, remains to exceed that of women’s.
Gender equality has come a long way in many modern societies. Christianity used to view women as property. They existed to have children, take care of the children, and submit to man. However, as society progressed, these ideals slowly dwindled to nothing. Of course, women’s suffrage wasn’t universally accepted within the United States until 1920 with the ratification of the 19th amendment. The nuclear family of the 1950’s still held true to ideals in which the woman of the family would cook, clean, take care of the children, etc. Systemic and internalized misogyny still exist in our American society. It is interesting to see how social movements have changed how some people view the Bible.
Megan Friedman revealed that ‘women in the U.S. working full- and part-time make 84% of what their male counterparts earn, according to the Pew Research Center….Women worldwide make 77% the amount paid to men, according to a report from the United Nation's International Labor Organization”, illustrating that even when women perform the same work as men, they receive less pay, thus once again restricting their opportunities in society. With less money, women are more likely to be in poverty, and also have to work more in order to make the same amount of money as men. Women also have less job opportunities compared to men. The article “Gender Inequality in the U.S. Today” stated that “In 2011, women ran only 12 of the Fortune 500 companies. In 2010, women made up 31.5% of all lawyers… women held only 23% of all federal judgeships and only 27% of state judgeships in 2010…Men outnumber women at a rate of 73% vs. 27% in all sectors of employment for science and engineering as of 2009,” which demonstrates how few opportunities women have in comparison to men. Not only do they receive less pay for work, but they also have less positions to contend
This sociological issue of equal pay for women is extremely relevant in today’s environment where women perform equal work as men in many occupations. Furthermore, with almost 50% of the work force being women, women contributing equally to the family income, and a large number of women being the single parents supporting children, lack of equal pay over time could increase the poverty rates for women (White House, 2016). In addition, IWPR’s 2015 report on the status of American women, states that if women receive equal pay for the same work, poverty rate among women will see a
What is culture? Culture is each of the individual components that make up the way people live from one area to the next. This can be the art, music, gender rules and roles, beliefs, clothing, food, education, and even the traditions and celebrations that they have. One large component of culture is gender roles. Gender roles differ from one place to the next, which shows what people on each area value. Religion also affects each individual’s life style. There is often times one main religion practiced by a group of people along with a few others that people who don’t agree with those choices practice. As we look into culture we also will see different celebrations people have. In Mexico one of the biggest celebrations they have is Day of the Dead. This is an example of how people s cultures reflect ones beliefs.
Before women became economic independence, they have to rely on men to survive. While the proportion of women to education is increasing, self-reliance has already become a new mark of modern women. “The data show more women than men today have college degrees. In 1970, 64% of graduates were men and 36% were women; in 2007, 53.5% were women and 46.5% were men” (Jayson 2010). Obtained a degree means that more women can afford their living expenses, or even allow their families to have a better living standard. “Also, women's earnings grew 44% from 1970 to 2007, compared with 6% for men” (Jayson 2010). Although men still make more on average, women’s incomes are significant
We have a tendency to believe things have quite improved since 1970, but it is unfortunate to observe not much has evolved, according to data from the Census Bureau. The number of women in the workforce has dramatically escalated 30.3 million (37.97% of workforce) in 1970 to 72.7 million (47.21%) during 2006-2010. Nevertheless, the growth some aspects of the workforce slowed down. The Bureau discloses the rapid growth of women in the workforce occurred between 1970 and 1980 ; which then slowed down illustration only 0.4% average growth between 2000 and 2006-2010 (Baig, 2017).
It's hard to imagine a progressive world after the next presidential election. On one hand we have a woman who is as corrupted as her own husband and on the other hand we have a sexist bigot whose plans are to “Make America Great Again.” The battle of gender equality will continue unless someone takes the initiative to change these social barriers. It is said that this is a man’s world but for the sake of my future I hope this year's election is not that case. If I ever have the opportunity to speak to the next president on behalf of all oppressed woman my discussion would go as follow:
From the history of USA gender inequality began diminishing and a gender equality started being realized in 1900’s (LSE). Even though this has been realized gender inequality is still realized today in areas such as in participation of political representation, unequalness in household jobs and also unequalness in specified type of job such as Engineering.