For generations, women and men have been held to different standards when it came to the work force and in recent years, the United States has began to see a breakthrough with these barriers starting to diminish. However, pay inequality still remains prevalent. Men and women working the same jobs are not receiving the same wages and that doesn’t make sense to majority of society. As of 2013, women are only making about 78% of what men make (Hill, 2015) and into 2015 we’re still hovering around the same number. Many are confused as to why there is pay inequality between men and women in the same occupations and that’s why the question trying to be answered here is: what are the causes of gender pay inequality among the workforce in the United States and have they changed over time? Many scholars and people in society might think it hasn’t changed much, but starting with a brief history of US women in the workforce, we will see that there are very obvious upward trends even if a gap still does exist. As of 2012, women make up 52% of the labor force (Women in the Labor Force: A Databook, 2), which is a massive improvement from about 100 years ago. Starting in the late 1800s, single, young women made up majority of females in the workforce and the opposite held true for married women (Goldin, 4). The typically young and single women that made up the workforce didn’t have college degrees and the jobs they were employed in (laundresses/cleaners) did not give them a lot of
In American society today there is an imbalance in the gender income gap between men and women in the work force. Many factors such as discrimination, productivity, educational background and disproportional hours worked contribute to this ongoing challenge. While many are skeptical, others remain to have strong beliefs that women and men are treated equally. In most professions according to Glynn “women only earn seventy seven cents for every dollar earned by men” (2014). Although, the seventy seven cents figure does not accurately reflect gender discrimination, it does capture some discrimination,
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 Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap” explains how the pay gap in the United States and how it affects women of all ages, race, and education levels, and what you can do to
Equality of wages in America is of high concern and has been for a long period of time. On no account of America’s history, have women and men’s wages ever been equal, rather they have always had a significant gap between them. This has seen women as undervalued, causing a lot of discrimination and hardship in the workplace for women. Especially for women of color the wage gap is even larger. The pay gap in America affects women of all ages, races, and education levels but what can they do to close it?
The gender pay gap is the biggest unspoken problem in America. This issue has been in the world since the dawn of time, but people only started paying attention to it in the last 80 years. In order to close this gap for good, we have to look at where it began. Stereotypes and traditions of stereotypes are the main roots of this problem; before we look at that, we must make sure we stay balanced in our fight against injustice. If we push too far, we will fall into a gender pay gap in favor of women, and I don’t want that I want fair only.
The contributing factors represent the gray area of the argument on equal pay. The first large factor that contributes to the wage gap is the time period being evaluated. The U.S. has made substantial progress within the past century and a half since the beginning of the women’s rights movement in 1848 for women’s equality and rights (“History”). Women have come a long way since being looked at as maids, property, free work/underpaid, and had little to no rights. Today, women have rightfully gained the same equal rights as everyone else. Not until the past decade or two has equal pay been a priority. With significant push in recent years including the Equal Pay Act being passed by Barack Obama, a movement towards equality in pay began. The time period being analyzed changes the view of whether or not women are being paid
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.
By looking at the data given above, it is proven that men do make more than women in the United States. However, just because there are a greater percentage of men-42.4%- making more money than women in the $75,000 or more category, doesn’t necessarily mean there is income inequality between men and women. I don’t believe there is income inequality while looking at the table and graphs. The survey does not explain which different kind of jobs these men and women who participated in this study are holding. To study income inequality, you would need to hold different surveys with men and women who acquire the same jobs.
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
Social problems have always been a part of society. Although some social problems have disappeared over time others have uprooted and evolved to fit our ever-changing world. Within our textbook, A. Leon-Guerrero defines a social
The United States was established on the basis of freedom. After finally gaining freedom from the tyrannical Great Britain American’s made sure they would never be stripped of their freedoms again by establishing our government and rights like freedom of speech, the press, and religion. Even with these rights in the past the United States was still full of inequality, with African Americans and women not having the same rights as white men. After fighting for their rights these minority groups have gained many rights that our founding fathers probably never would predict they would have. Regardless of these rights gained there is still inequality in our country, even in the 21st century. The Constitution is made up of several amendments that have been enacted over time to provide equality regarding race and gender. None of these amendments have ceased the problem of inequality between men and women in the workplace. In the United States the average woman earns seventy-seven cents to every dollar earned by a male for equivalent work. In this paper I am going to argue that if I were able to make a change to the Constitution I would add an amendment that guarantees equal pay for men and women in any working position.
Since the beginning of time there has been inequality between men and women. This can be traced back to the days when the men would and hunt and gather and the women would stay home and take on the homemaking such as taking care of the children, cooking, and cleaning the house. Until 1920 when women were finally allowed to vote, gender inequality was very apparent. More recently, gender inequality presents itself in the form of gender wage gaps. Although some argue women get paid the same wages as men, there are enormous amounts of evidence that proves this wage gap is definitely still present. The wage gap is noticeable to many, however, pin pointing the causes and solving them are not as easy as some might think. In order to actually understand this injustice, many factors must be taken into account to discover what is actually going on in society today and why this mistreatment is still happening. The only way to truly understand this problem and what steps should be taken to fix it takes research into what the main causes are and ways that it can be combatted.
In academia, gender may contribute to one’s treatment in secondary and tertiary erudition. Gender plays a role in the inequality between women and men in the educational field resulting in wage gaps, sexual harassment, and underrepresentation. Others claim that these conditions are not based on gender, but on the individual’s circumstances. Throughout this research, women and men alike can grasp a more understanding approach to the differences in treatment in academe.
Women always have to face the gender equality, in any country. There will always be some problem regarding the topic gender inequality between men and women was socially constructed and has existed for only about 6000 years (page no.293). From thousand years ago, the society characterised by patriarchy. A system in which power is in the hands of men and many aspects of women’s life controlled by men. However, 20th century started to change everything and we saw lots of change even now. Society began to change their thinking. In future, I believe that we will see gender equality, not inequality. My paper will talk about the feminism, eliminating the gender gap in earnings, how we can stand against any violence.