Gender Inequality : The United States

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).

After years of Civil Rights Movements and Pay Equity Acts, as of 2014, women still only make 79 cents to a man 's every dollar. Although the wage gap has shrunk since the 1970’s, progress has recently stalled and chances of it vanishing on its own is unlikely. The gains that American women have made towards labor market experience and skills is tremendous. In fact, women account for 47% of labor workforce and 49.3% of American jobs. But despite of women’s strides, a gender pay gap still exists. Experts suggest that it will take 100 years to close the gap at the rate employers and legislators are working to create solutions. But by allowing women to work in higher paying positions and by proposing and updating pay equity laws, the gender gap can finally be diminished.

In a 2015 study, it is shown that the wage gap can even seem to increase at higher degrees of education. For men and women with less than a high school diploma, the wage gap is at about 20%. Surprisingly, for men and women with an advanced degree, the wage gap is 26%. While The wage gap steadily closed at a relatively rapid pace between the 1960s and 1990s, improving from a 60 percent gap to a 71 percent gap. But since 2000, progress has all but flatlined. Men earned $50,400 at the median in 2014, while women earned $39,600. Neither gender has seen a significant increase in their median earnings since 2009, and women’s 2014 median earnings were not statistically different than what they made in 2007. In conclusion, this is a big issue across the nation, and shown by statistics, not much has been done in the recent

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 most well-known limit placed upon women in a work setting is the wage gap, or the difference between a man’s salary and a woman’s salary. Authors dive into the subject of the current wage gap because of its presence in modern society, and one author who does speak out about the topic is Caroline Fredrickson. Fredrickson, president of the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy, writes in her book Under the Bus: How Working Women Are Being Run Over about how the gap between a man and woman’s salaries does exist in today’s progressive society. To argue her case, Fredrickson reveals, “In the past decade, women have not made any progress at all, with the wage gap overall remaining stubbornly at 77 percent…” (44). This gap of seventy seven percent implies that the majority of women are paid only seventy seven percent of what a man is paid in any given position.

The gender wage gap is the difference in men and women’s annual salaries and can be found in every kind of job at all times. The gap stems from prejudice against women workers, resulting in women receiving less pay than men do for the same work. As of 1999, women make up sixty percent of the workforce and are the main income provider for four of every ten families. Yet, in 2015, the median annual income for women was $40,742 and $51,212 for men. That is eighty percent of what men are earning, or a twenty percent wage gap. In the past half-century there has not been a consistent decrease in the wage gap: in 1960 women were earning sixty-four percent of men’s annual income, in 1978 they were earning fifty-nine percent, and in 2000 they were

The Gender Wage Gap is defined as the different amounts of money that is paid to women and men, often for doing the same work. Women who work full time, year round earn 77 cents for every dollar that men earn. Over a year women make $11,500 less than men and throughout their life this wage gap can affect women by making them earn anywhere from $400,000-$2 million less than men do. (Miller 2008, 6) This causes women to have to unfairly face more challenges economically than men do and also makes them have to become more competitive in the workfield. The wage gap varies for women of different races. On average African-American women are paid 60 cents and Latinas are paid 55 cents for every dollar white men make. Over a year this amounts to a

As stated by many feminists, celebrities and politicians the gender wage is a problem that is justified by the statement that women make 77 cents to every dollar men make. If, for the same work why don’t businesses hire only women? Wages are one of the biggest expenses for small and large businesses, so if they only hired women then they would be saving 23 cents to every dollar they would have to pay. The statistic that there is 77 cents to every dollar isn’t the whole story around the supposed gender wage gap. While statistics are true and very valuable, they are also notorious for being a means that people use to make false and misleading arguments to persuade a large group of people. The gender wage gap is not

Generally speaking, women earn approximately $.77 compared to their male counterparts (Kessler, 2014). The article, however, tends to focus on the dispute this notion (Kessler, 2014). The Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics states that if weekly wages are analyzed, the gap lessens to 19 cents (Kessler, 2014). Similarly, if the hourly wages are analyzed, the wage gap further decreases to 14 cents (Kessler, 2014). The article then further examines the difficulties in assessing this aspect of gender inequality (Kessler, 2014). For example, if part time workers were included in the analysis, the gap would widen to about 27.7 cents (Kessler 2014). The article also covers several different factors that may influence the gap and examines each in a great amount of detail. Topics such as the amount of hours worked, the amount of work experience, the type of work (whether part time or full time), and whether someone leaves the work force for a period of time, et cetera, are issues that are addressed (Kessler 2014). According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics there is practically no wage gap between unmarried women and men, the former earning approximately 96 cents for every dollar made by man (Kessler 2014). Granted, this particular research reinforces my old stance, by laying credence to the complexity of the topic. Depending on what information is taken into

The wicked problem of the gender wage gap’s presence in the United States workforce is highly debated. Because the issue is often intangible and so complex in nature, the causes of the wage gap are often difficult to pinpoint and wholly address. In nearly almost every occupation women earn less than their male counterparts. Over their lifetimes men will be paid more than women (Institute for Women’s Policy Research, 2017). There are various contributions to income gap seen between women and men these include: discrimination in payment, hiring, or promotions. Furthermore, there are other factors that must be considered in explaining the wage gap between women and men. Other conditions include: statistically, women-dominated careers are lower

The American Association University of Women reports that the average full time workingwoman receives just 80% the salary of a man. In 1960, women made just 60% of what men made, an upward trend that can be explained “largely by women’s progress in education and workforce participation and to men’s wages rising at a slower rate”, but a trend that is not yet equal (p. 4). Hill recognizes that the choices of men and women are not always the same, whether it be in college major, or job choice, however she concludes that women experience pay gaps in virtually all levels of education and lines of work. She suggests that continuing to increase the integration of women in predominately male dominated work will help the pay gap, however, she believes that alone won’t be enough to ensure equal pay for women.

Gender has had a repeating effect on the choice of careers for people all throughout the United States. In history, it is taught that males dominated women in many careers, while women dominated males in only a few other minor positions. Males had an upper hand over women in engineering and in the military. One of the reasons males dominated was the idea of dominance over women has been passed down for centuries. It was never common for a women to be an engineer of a home or anything that wasn’t meant for women. Women only dominated in certain areas in the medical field because they were subjected to few positions. In the military, women were put down due their physical ability and laws set blocked many careers and positions in the military. Throughout history women have fought many laws to break gender inequality. And even up to now there are still some laws that prohibit women from doing specific jobs in their desired field.

The United State of America is known widely for the political equality and political liberty all around the world. People around the world are not aware of what is happening inside of the United States of America and what the citizens must encounter daily basis due to the separation they face based on their gender, and ethnic background. We as citizens of America have the right to fight for our freedom, if not nobody will merely give us that freedom. Centuries ago slaves from Africa were shipped to America to build this nation what we call our home. To build this country many Africans lost their freedom and their own life. Furthermore, the Africans who made this country are not appreciated for what they have done and still in the current society they encounter inequality. The formers of United States were white males, and they created laws which mostly favor their people. However, the female population of America also undergo through gender inequality on daily bases. The real picture of America is not very well known around the world. In the mid of nineteenth-century people started to raise up more frequently for their freedom and rights. We live in a nation which is a democracy, however America is not fully a democratic country, Individuals face inequality due to their gender and race still in our society. There are three branches of our government which are the Judicial branch, Legislative branch, and Executive branch. Judicial branch helps citizens to obtain political