Gender Wage Gap

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).

 “Women earn only 77 cents for every dollar men earn, with women of color at an even greater disadvantage with 64 cents on the dollar for African American women and 56 cents for Hispanic women.” — White House Statement of Administration Policy on Paycheck Fairness Act, June 4. [2]

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.

First of all, the gender pay is a real problem in the world, despite what many think. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the gender pay gap is “the difference between the amounts of money paid to women and men, often for doing the same work”. This is important because many people think that the gender wage gap does not exist, even though it clearly does. Another reason why this is important is because many people argue that the gender wage gap exists because women have lesser-paying jobs, when a lot of the time it happens between men and women working the same job. Many people do not realize what the gender pay gap actually is, and they form an opinion of it before they know what it really is.

The gender pay gap is the difference between male and female earnings averaged in percentages. This difference in pay due to gender seems like it would be an obsolete practice in the twenty-first century, but it is real and is affecting millions of women and households in the country. In 2014, women working full time in the United States were paid 79 percent on average of what men were being paid, which is a gap of approximately 21 percent. This means that in the United States, females earned 94 cents on average to every dollar earned by males. According to one study by the Department of Labor’s Chief Economist, a typical 25-year-old woman working full time would earn $5,000 less over the course of her working career than a typical 25-year old man working in the same career. The reason why this pay gap exists does expand into other factors such as education, experience, the work being performed, qualifications, age, and ethnicity which are taken into account. The studies being conducted on the pay gap has economists verifying that discrimination is the best overall explanation and factor of the difference in pay between males and females.

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.

The gender wage gap has been a nationwide problem since women were able to enter the workforce. Women have begun to speak out more about the issue and evaluate what they can do to change the industries and how they personally present themselves to help this change. Currently there is a wide range of opinions on this issue, with some saying it does not exist while others think it will ruin the economy if not fixed immediately. This makes it more difficult to address the problem and predict how it will be in the future; however, all sides of the spectrum are becoming more aware of what the gender wage gap means and what they can do to change it. This paper will analyze the different stances on the extent of this social issue as well as the current practices being used to increase knowledge and equalize pay for all.

One cannot begin the discussion of gender pay gap without defining it. Simply put, gender pay gap is the inequality between men and women wages. Gender pay gap is a constant international problem, in which women are paid, on average, less than that of their male counterpart. As to if gender pay gap still exist, its exactness fluctuates depending on numerous factors such as professional status, country and regional location, gender, and age. In regards to gender, in some cases, both men and women have stated that the gap does not exist. Due to various countries initiatives to shrink the wage inequality between men and women wages in the work force, the gap has narrowed, respectively, which may have helped form such opinion. However, stating that the gender pay gap does not exist in today’s society, anywhere, is completely unlikely. Seeing that the gap has loosened its grasp in the working world, in other countries, the gap between pay has widen or remained stagnant. One cannot help but wonder why the gap remains consistent even with such substantial progress made in countries where the gap has decreased.

The gender wage gap has been going on since the 1960s till today. The wage gap for full time/year round workers is 21.4%. A women’s median annual earnings is $39,621 and men’s median annual earnings is $50,383. The main reason for the wage gap is gender inequality. Society has made women seem weaker and less powerful than men. To really get into depth, the wage gap is worse for women of color. It is proven that women of color get worse pay than a caucasian woman. For latinos,

The wage gap is when comparing two equally educated and trained females and males, the female earns significantly less for no apparent reason. In the 60’s when feminism started to become a more mainstream idea, laws were made trying to stop discrimination in pay wages that an employer gives, but the wage gap is continually growing especially for women of color. Furthermore, "On average, California women employed full time, year round. are paid just 84 cents for every dollar paid to men - a yearly pay gap of $8,053. That means, in total, women in California lose more than $39 billion every year..." (“California”). This example of the wage gap shows how full-time working women in California only make 84% of what men make. Overall, all women in California impacted by the wage gap make up $39 billion every year. The wage gap impacts women in California very

The gender pay gap is a deabatable issue. Some people might say that there is no pay gap while others insist that there is an injustice happening. I am here to say that there is no gender pay gap. The reason why a woman would earn $0.77 to a mans dollar is due to many factors. Some of thes factors include profession, experience, and willingness to work longer hours. A survey was conducted by Georgetown University and they found that the top five well paying professions were all dominated by males except for one. This shows that the reason why a man earns more than a woman is because men choose to work in higher paying careers. Another study demonstrated that male workers were more willing to work more hours and do laborious work than women.

Although many people are now bringing up a pay gap between genders, there is something being over looked that proves there isn’t a pay gap, but something else. The Gender Income Gap is a supposed payment gap between men and women, stating that to every man’s dollar a woman only gets payed seventy cents. Statements like theses can grab people’s attention and get them to believe this without much proof of it actually existing. Most people get there information about the gap from surveys over all women and men average pay, this is not a good representation of the topic because it doesn’t go into any detail of actual jobs and difference of pay. There are many other factors that going into the pay gap that would make it into something else not necessarily a pay gap. There are several solutions for this problem most of them aren’t necessarily for equality but for the gain of one sex at the cost of the rights of another. The one I will be talking about later doesn’t need government intervention and doesn’t need for one sex to do more. This solution will come from “changes in the labor market, especially how jobs are structured and remunerated to enhance temporal flexibility.”1

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.

We have all heard about the gender wage gap on the news or in the current debates, but why is it any concern to you? I understand that this issue might not apply to a college student; however, you need to be aware of this issue since it could affect your major and future profession. Surprisingly, this issue even applies to males. Some argue that women are facing a wage gap because they choose more flexible professions, lack negotiation skills, and produce less as many hours as men mostly because they are assumed to devote more time to children. I disagree, because women should have the right to earn same amount of money as a man regardless of their personality,