The Gender Wage Gap in 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. Two thousand ten, forty-three years since the first law to fight the gender wage gap. The Equal Pay Act was initiated during the Kennedy administration. Since then,
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Katz and Andronici, attorneys specializing in woman’s rights issues, said in this case many businesses can hide behind the “she didn’t ask for more” law. This is an example where a business manages to take advantage of women for their skills. Sadly many businesses all over the United States get away with this injustice. According to Forbes.com, in the United States, 7 out the 10 top college majors for women are the Arts related. Women are encouraged from when they are children to be a teacher, nurse, even a psychologist. But rarely are they ever encouraged to be a doctor, engineers or scientist. It seems as though many people want the girls to be someone they are already predestined to be. In the business world, it’s all about being assertive. The people who get the highest ranks are the most assertive in their occupation, but for women there seems to be a “catch 22” in their assertiveness. Assertive women in the workplace are often viewed as rude or pushy, therefore making it harder for them to move up in the high ranks of the company. However, if a woman is not assertive enough then the business might think she is not committed to the job she is doing. There is also a “glass ceiling” put in place for many women. A “glass ceiling” is a goal that one would think can be achieved but really it is an unattainable goal due to policies or corporate culture. Many women feel the impact of the glass ceilings as they start climbing the business ladder.
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.
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
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 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).
Many believe that those who don't have education can’t have wages that are higher than a minimum wage job. In some cases this is true but Hispanics and blacks who have received the same amount of education in a certain field to those of the Asian and White races still make less. However, looking just at those with a bachelor’s degree or more education, wage gaps by gender, race and ethnicity persist. College-educated black and Hispanic men earn roughly 80% the hourly wages of white college educated men ($25 and $26 vs. $32, respectively). White and Asian college-educated women also earn roughly 80% the hourly wages of white college-educated men ($25 and $27, respectively). However, black and Hispanic women with a college degree earn only about
The gender wage gap is where men get paid more than women for doing the same job. The gender wage gap has been around since 1960, when women began working full time jobs outside the home. When the wage gap between women and men first became apparent, the issue primarily centered around discrimination against women as the “weaker sex”, a social stereotype. Today the issue has become more complex, involving American cultural norms and politics, and concerns that there are glass ceilings within businesses for women. As a result, many people are indecisive when it comes to taking a position on the matter while others are adamantly entrenched in their mind set. The fact of the matter is that women’s wages should match men’s wages whenever performance of duty is equal. The issue is that there should be equal pay for equal work. Wages should be based on education, experience, exposure, and location in that career field.
The gender wage gap issue has been around since the old days. Now, it has been reported that the gender wage gap has been widening among the young, fresh and newly graduated educated students.
The “glass ceiling” has made it difficult or impossible for women to rise in the ranks. The further women progress in the workforce, the closer they are to shattering it. The glass ceiling is a term that has seen a lot of widespread use in the mass media that has caused the true meaning of the glass ceiling has been skewed. Women in the glass ceiling are in the top of middle management and they are stopping and getting stuck. Hillary Clinton’s campaign for president was arguably one of the biggest attempts in history on breaking it; “Although we were not able to shatter that highest and hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you it has 18 million cracks in it, and the light is shining through like never before, filling us all with the hope and the sure knowledge that the path will be a little easier next time, and we are going to keep working to make it so, today keep with me and stand for me, we still have so much to do together, we made history, and let's make some more” (Quote). Just within under thirty years, women made tremendous progress in the number of women members on corporate boards. “The conservative feminist organization, Independent Women's Forum, points out that in 1973, 11% of corporate boards had one or more women members, and that in 1998, 72% of corporate boards had one or more women members” (Glass Ceiling). There is still progress to be made. Women need
The gender wage gap is not the only problem as also there is another right in which women are arguing for and that is to legally have an abortion. Feminists would argue that they should have the right to choose to whether they want to have an abortion. This reiterates that women still do not have the rights that they feel like they deserve to have and that they should continue to protest and fight until they do. Angela Breslin in her article “A Wall of Legislative Obstacles in the Path of A Woman Exercising Her Right To An Abortion: Planned Parenthood Arizona INC.V. Betlach” argues how Supreme Court Cases on abortion have gone against it therefore violating their rights. She talks about the court cases on how they took away the right to
Gender pay gaps are defined as the average difference between men’s and women’s aggregate hourly earnings. One of the largest driving factors of the gender wage gap is the fact that men and women, on average, work in different industries and occupations. Women in every state experience the pay gap, but in some states it is worse than others. The pay gap affects women from all backgrounds, at all ages, and of all levels of educational achievement. In 2014, women working full time in the United States typically were paid just 79 percent of what men were paid which is a gap of 21 percent. The gap has narrowed since the 1970s due to women 's progress in education and workforce participation and to men 's wages rising at a slower rate. The progress has stalled in recent years and the pay gap does not appear likely to go away on its own.
The wage gap for women constructs a critical function in our society, and is worth studying to recognize where our economy provides unequal opportunities for women in the labor force while including their education, training, race, and
When someone goes to create a resume, they do not always consider the effects that their gender has on their pay wage, position of authority and benefits. These factors have changed drastically from the past to the present time, but there continues to be evidence of foul play.
The economic issue with the gender pay gap has been a concern for quite some time. Many people say that men are paid more money, or have higher salaries than women; however, there are also people who believe otherwise. Some argue that maternity leave or education level is a reason why women seem to be paid less than men, and others argue that there is a bigger issue such as race and age. The following information will address both viewpoints on the gender pay gap and its issues within the economy, as well as history of women in the workforce.
More than two million enterprises have women in management positions, but gender inequality in the workplace at small and medium-sized enterprises is still a big problem in our world today. According to a study done by Workingmums, more than two thousand women said they’ve had flexible working requests turn down. This can be really hard on these women because most of them need these flexible hours because they’re supporting a family. An enterprise called The Typeface Group is trying to help their workers and they offer flexibility to all their women. There’s no glass ceiling at this enterprise but this is usually not the case at other companies. A company with the name DAME made an effort to secure funding for women and this led to many problems such as sexism. Men started to go against this business because the co founder had children that men thought were getting in the way of her growing the business. “ Sarah Andersen, the head of people science at HR software company, Fairsail, believes that businesses have an unconscious gender bias that’s rooted in both men and women.” When this bias is
Across many American industries, the gender wage gap has been proven to be a major financial issue. There is no clear and concrete reason for its existence, but researchers have found that lowered perceived competence and commitment to the job, lack of negotiation, and general employer sexism all contribute to the prolongation of the