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Pay Inequality Research Paper

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Shelby Stream
Mrs. Stuckey
Composition I
21 December 2016
Salary Inequality If the United States is an equal country, then why are men and women still paid different salaries? The U.S. is said to be a country of freedom and equality, but the crucial part of every individual’s life, getting a job and working, is not equal. Men and women in America are separated by a long-existing wage gap. Though the gap may only be a few cents difference, over time, it adds up to a large amount of money. Education seems like a solution to the problem, but it does not help. Also, the gap can hurt young girl’s self-esteem as well as making it harder for single mothers to care for themselves and their children. To achieve a truly equal country, the pay gap …show more content…

Companies, for starters, could begin to fix the problem by publishing all employee’s salaries (Miller, Claire). One reason the gap exists is from individuals not knowing what others in the same field earn (Bloch). This allows anyone to see the differences in what men and women earn for the same jobs. This may in turn make women want to negotiate their salaries, knowing they earn less than men (Miller, Kevin). On average, 51.5% of men negotiate their salaries while only 12.5% of women negotiate theirs (Miller, Claire). If women learn to negotiate more and better, the gap will start shrinking. Employers can also ignore an employee’s past salaries so they cannot base their new salary on an old one (Miller, Claire). This would then make an employer pay an individual for the job they are currently doing rather than basing their pay on an old job that maybe did not interest them or fit their personality. Changes can also be made at the federal level. The Paycheck Act can be put into place to improve the Equal Pay Act (Miller, Kevin). The Equal Pay Act states that employers must pay men and women equally for doing the same work (The Equal Pay Act). By the law being changed, both men and women could finally be paid the same salary. These are all simple solutions that can make a huge impact. Women could live in a world where they are not discriminated against because of their gender and feel equally as important and valuable as men. …show more content…

With simple solutions like negotiation skills and laws, the problem can begin to be solved. As a result, men and women can work in the career they want and not worry about being discriminated against due to their gender. Gender should never be the deciding factor of what an individual earns, it should be based on their skills and how well they perform in the field they chose. It can also certainly be said that a single mother could possibly get enough money through child support and her own job, but that might not always be the case. Maybe the individual paying child support does not make much money in their job, then in turn cannot pay the single mother much money. In this situation, the extra money that a woman would lose over the course of her career would be tremendously helpful. Therefore, by having equal salaries, it would be easier for single mothers to care for their children. If the wage gap is eliminated, then salaries would not be based on gender and single mothers would be better off. This would then again point the United States in the direction of

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