Increasing Minimum Wage For Women And Young Employees

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.

When you think about women in the work field today, what do you see? A successful lawyer, a doctor, perhaps. That’s true. In fact, there have been more females holding high employment positions in the late 20th and 21st century than ever before. According to Donald M. Fisk in “Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2003”, 60% of working-age women worked in the labor force in 1999. That’s 41% more than that of 1900, where only 19% of women worked in the labor force. Among these women, a vast majority have seen their salaries sky-rocket in the past two decades, almost surpassing those of male workers. However, it is not always this way.

America is a place where the people strive to create equal opportunities in every avenue of life. Every American should have unrestricted access to the options presented before them, allowing them to pursue their life goals and die happy deaths. However, this principle only stands for access to options, it has nothing to do with the advantages and disadvantages of said choices. The American dream is the idea that if you work hard enough, persevere, and really believe in yourself, good things will come. Drastically raising the minimum wage goes against all of those principles, rewarding lethargic actions and poor life choices. Raising the minimum wage to $15 will do more harm than good for middle class americans by decreasing the value of the money in their pockets, driving out big companies, and generally increasing unemployment.

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 of the beginning issues of women being oppressed starts with the wage gap between working women and men. This wage gap is often one of the most direct roots to the overwhelming amount of women living in poverty. Despite many women working, or looking for work in the U.S, they have been continually paid less than their male counterparts. For years, women, especially those who are working class’ equal rights have been pushed aside and causes an endless cycle of oppression for many women. The inequalities working-class women face such as the wage gap causes economical issues such as poverty, that affects the economy as a whole. In efforts to close the wage gap, the United States needs to raise the federal minimum wage, ensure family and medical leave, and encourage everyone to speak out about gender equality.

This research paper will be addressing minimum wage and the comparison and correlation of it from when it was first instituted through the Fair Labor Act of 1938 to now in 2015. This paper will also go into the inequality of pay concerning women as well. Some factors that I’m focusing on are instances that have affected minimum wage, firstly the affect that unions had in guaranteeing the continuing rise of minimum wage along with inflation until it began to stagnate in the 1970s, which seemed to happen in correlation with the decline of companies encouraging unions; and, secondly what has happened to the work force as a result of women transitioning from free home and domestic work to paid jobs in the market place in such great numbers.

Recently there have been concerns that there is a noticeable wage gap between workers of opposite genders that are on the same job level. Men seem to earn more than their female colleagues who are on the same level with them (Gregory). Increasing the minimum wage would level the playing ground across genders ensuring that no one is discriminated against on the basis of gender especially among low income earners. There have also been concerns regarding the discrepancies on wages of workers from different racial backgrounds despite being on the same job level. White employees are likely to be paid a higher salary than employees from other races (Hipp). Increasing the minimum wage would help to reduce this inequality and social

Did you know that the wage gap is affected by more than just wages? Until the Enlightenment of Europe in the 1400s, women were viewed as less than men. They were not expected to work or be in any leadership positions. Now, the modern feminist movement is gaining momentum in raising the equality of women by increasing access to information about inequalities women face and hosting protests. Despite their success, women still face inequalities, especially in the work force. Women’s lack of access to equal employment opportunities leads to a wage disparity, for which political solutions have been implemented without success.

I think a better alternative to minimum wage for low to moderate income families is to expand the earned income tax credit (EITC). I believe this would be more beneficial because eligibility is based on total income of the family and factors in their number of children rather than being based off an individuals income. I think that if EITC increased and wage subsidies increased it would promote business, create jobs, and encourage employers to raise wages. Another solution would be to give small businesses tax reductions giving the owners incentive to higher more employees and counteract job loss that raising minimum wage brings. An alternative to rent control is subsidized housing for low-income families. It is available to those making

According to the Center for American Progress Organization there are seven vital steps that can be taken in order to decrease the gender wage gap. Firstly, this organization firmly believes that raising the minimum wage will positively affect the wage gap between men and women. Averages illustrate that differentiation 's among men and women 's job selections could be considered for virtually half of the gender pay gap. Increasing the minimum wage will benefit those dedicated women laborers by helping support their families. Two third of mothers are sole providers within their households and these same women are the ones, who made up relatively two-thirds of all minimum-salaried employees in the year 2012 (Glynn, Fisher & Baxter, 2014). In 2014, the minimum wage was only $7.25 an hour which means that a person, who works full-time would only bring in $15,080 over the course of a year. This is not enough for an individual, who has a family to live on because in actuality it is barely enough for a single person to survive on. This particular organization feels if the minimum-wage is increased to at least $10.10 an hour, then it would benefit around 15 millions women and also help narrow the pay gap that exists between men and women. Secondly, the Center for American Progress Organization believes that increasing the tipped minimum salary would close the gender pay gap, as well. The minimum tip wage has not been altered since the year 1991 and it only rewards employees $2.13 a

Raising the minimum wage has been a talking point for a long time. Rarely raised, it has not kept up with either the cost of living or worker productivity. If the wage had kept up with the cost of living it would already be at 16 dollars per hour. Had it kept up with worker productivity it would be an astounding 22 dollars an hour.

However, raising women’s wages so they are comparable to men’s is certainly a possible solution. This is important because approximately 1/3 of all working mothers are the sole or primary source of income for their families. 5 While raising working women’s wages may increase costs to businesses, it is the only solution if a company resolves to follow the regulations set forth to ensure equal pay for equal work, which by law, they are required to do. Most likely businesses will not be inclined to absorb these costs but rather pass them on to the consumer. However, in order to remain competitive they may find it wise to keep their customers happy or else they may lose them. To achieve this, they most likely will have to “eat the cost” of providing equal pay for women.

After analyzing the history of the gender wage gap, the paper will now look at the current state of the issue. The percentage of female earnings compared to male earnings increased from around 60 percent in 1980 to 77 percent in 2010, according to National Compensation Survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (Blau and Kahn 2000). The gap was larger for African-American and Hispanic women, who earned only 70% and 61% respectively of what white men earned. As a result, April 20, 2011 was known as Equal Pay Day, which is the approximate day the average female employee would

The minimum wage has grown twenty two times since it was first introduced in 1938.