Gender Wage Gap And Gender Inequality Essay

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.

Thesis: The gender pay gap in the United States is an understated misconception to many men and women today. This paper will overview the reality, causes, statistics, and those being affected by gender pay gap, as well as what this issue means for the future of the United States of America.

The gender wage gap has been around since women began having jobs and careers. Though in the beginning the gender wage gap was purely do to discrimination by social stereotypes, now it has become more complicated than that. The issue today has evolved into a complex issue which combines our American culture with business economics. As a result, some are skeptical of the issue and some are very adamant in their beliefs. The issue encompasses not only gender stereo types but also educational, government policies and business’s best practices.

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.

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.

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

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 in the United States has been a tensely debated topic since the Equal Pay Act of 1963. Although the Equal Pay Act requires equal pay for men and women, the issue of the gender pay gap has been a heightened issue as time has progressed. Phyllis Schlafly, Mark J. Perry, Anita Little and Sheryl Sandberg each address the gender pay gap in dynamically different ways. Phyllis Schlafly and Mark J. Perry firmly believe that the gender pay gap is entirely created by life choices that women make. While Anita Little and Sheryl Sandberg argue that the pay gap is caused by external forces. Each author addresses: creation of the wage gap, the severity of the wage gap and the viability of a solution.

This paper explores the sociological effects gender wage gap in all aspects of our society. Gender wage gap is when a Women is paid 79% of what men are paid, the gap is referencing the 21% gap in between what a man is paid and what a women is paid.This topic relates to Sociology because it pertains to social inequality, gender pay Discrimination, gender segregation, gender diversity, patriarchy, feminism, and gender inequality. African Americans and Hispanics have the biggest gap in pay and white and Asian women have the smallest gap. Inequality with Race and wage gap are one in the same when it comes to social inequality they are both a form of discrimination.

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.

Some researchers do believe that a gender wage gap exists due to women's age compared to men but women have had a substantially gain throughout the year (1970 – 1995). Ornstein (2011) conducted a study by looking at the mean earning of men and women in terms of age and years, and found out that “women made substantial earnings gains between 1970 and 1995, but there was no change between 1995 and 2000, and a substantial gender gap remains” Ornstein (2011), believes that women’s remuneration fluctuate over the years when they age, his research revealed that “In 2000, women under 30 averaged 82 percent of the earnings of men the same age, falling to 78 percent at ages 30–34, 74 percent at ages 35–39, 70 percent at ages 40–49, about 68 percent

This is an example of what some women in America face. Some people deny the existence of a wage gap while others argue that a change must be made for equality in this facet of the workforce. There have been many actions taken to give women equality, but there are still places where that has yet to be realized. Looking at both sides of the argument is helpful in learning the conditions under which the wage gap exists and the efforts to come to a conclusion or conclusions to benefit all parties involved. It is an issue that even the current president of the United States has voiced his concerns for. In this paper, we will be looking at the benefits and disadvantages that come from closing the wage gap.

Inequality has been a dilemma for several years in countless different ways. A persistent problem with disproportion of income between women and men has been lingering within many companies in the United States. It has been said that women earn less money than men in the workplace for many different reasons. Some of these reasons are that women have not spent enough time in the office to be rewarded with raises and bonuses because they are busy with their home lives and taking care of their children, they, unlike men, have been taught to be timid and unaggressive which ultimately steers them away from requesting higher pay, or they do not meet the qualifications to receive promotions (Hymowitz, 2008). This essay is in response to On

One of the most heavily debated socio-economic issues in today’s world revolves around the unequal pay between males and females. Despite multiple legislations passed by the government, gender inequality is still apparent; pay gaps can be observed in all different fields. Splitting the wages of women by their race displays even more discrimination, as African-American and Latina women are paid significantly less than Caucasian women. There are several factors which attempt to explain the reason behind the gender wage gap, such as the influence of traditional gender roles and the evidence of vertical and horizontal sex segregation. The gender wage gap is a worldwide problem which contributes to the social inequality between sexes and requires immediate improvement through economic solutions.