The Gender Pay Gap Is An Inequality For Motherhoods

Simultaneously, the gender pay gap has financial effects not just on the women, yet their families too. Studies have shown that American families with children count on a women’s earnings as a massive part of their family’s income, and many are the head of the household. Data demonstrates that “seventy percent of mothers with children under 18 participate in the labor force, with over 75 percent employed full-time. Mothers are the primary or sole earners for 40 percent of households with children under 18 today, compared with 11 percent in 1960. Women’s participation in the U.S. labor force has climbed since WWII: from 32.7 percent in 1948 to 56.8 percent in 2016” (Dewolf). Now women make up more than half of the U.S. workforce, the gap in earning deciphers to $7968 per year in median earnings for a high school graduate, $11,616 for a college graduate, and $19,360 for a professional school graduate. By and large, this gap effects hundreds of millions of women and their families, and lag them back hundreds of thousands of dollars throughout their life.

The pay gap stems from traditionalized views of life that have not changed for decades. A recent article by the Los Angeles Times states, “It’s discriminatory because the differences were almost certainly the result of gender bias,” The pay gap has not changed throughout time, which emphasizes the lasting effect of sexism. Gender bias is introduced very young in children, and they grow up with ideas, believing them to be true. Studies show that the need for family time “…lead women to take lower-paying jobs because they’re more likely to offer flexible [hours], while fears of discrimination might steer them away from higher-paying professions” (Lam). Women typically take off more time than men for children, and often do not receive paid leave. This causes a large problem among young and single mothers who do not have another income to support them.

To this day, women get paid less due to the motherhood penalty, educational opportunities, women’s roles in the society historically, choice of job, and more. All of these components affect women’s wages and the superiority of men in the labor force. One side of the argument states that women rightfully deserve the downside of this wage gap, and others posses the opinion that all workers should be treated equally. Historically, gender roles have gotten in the way of equality in pay. However, people also believe that women choose jobs that do not offer an abundance of pay. Factors such as the motherhood penalty have skewed the pay gap as well. While some people believe that women should be treated equally regarding pay, since they are doing

For the first time in history women had surpassed men in the paid labor force. Yet, instead of provoking an equality among the sexes, the figures play no statistical significance, as women still try to bridge the gap between their inequality among their male counterparts. One apparent setback for women in the workplace is their unequal payment, “Women workers are still paid less than men, currently about-three quarters of mens income if they work full time and year round”(Institute for Womens’s Policy Research, 2010). Although there women are beginning to integrate into vastly male populated jobs throughout the labor force “… women in America today earn 78 cents to a man’s dollar, according to the U.S Census Bureau, and have struggled for decades to achieve pay for equal work” (Riley 2). Not only has this pay gap significantly effected the nature of women throughout the county, it has also violated the bill that Congress passed called the Equal Pay Act of 1963. The Equal Pay Act was signed in order to establish a more sound and equal treatment among the sexes. It noted that an employer was unable to discriminate employees on grounds of gender, yet as figures denote today, this bill seems to not possess enough jurisdiction over the wage gap. The wage gap has contributed to various problems within the United States, especially among single mothers who do not have a supporting male figure within their household.

Since the late 19th century, women have been struggling with the issue of not receiving the same amount of pay as men. The gender wage gap was not seen as a major issue until the 1960s, however, and unfortunately, it is still a major issue in our world today. (cite source). In the early 1900’s, World War I caused many men to leave their families behind to fight for their country. As a result of this, women had to take the responsibility of the male roles in the workforce. Women were expected to do the same jobs as men did before they were deployed, but were paid less to do so (cite source). This problem still exists in our world today. In 2011, it was proven that the weekly earnings for a female full-time worker is $684, compared

But since 2000, progress has all but flatlined. A big underlying factor is the slowdown in women’s wage growth. That’s what helped propel the closure of the gap in earlier decades, but women have seen a standstill in wage growth since about 2001, as has most of the country.Women make less than men, on average, for a number of reasons. About 10 percent of it is thanks to different work experience, often because women are much more likely to take breaks from work to care for family members. The drop of women in the labor force over the last decade can be tied to the country’s lack of paid family leave, child care assistance, and support for flexible schedules.Some of it is also due to the fact that women end up working in areas that tend to pay less. But that doesn’t mean they can escape the gap by choosing different paths. They make less in virtually every industry and every job. And while getting more education boosts earnings, women make less than men with the same educational credentials at every level and even make less than their former male classmates when they graduate from top-tier universities. Some of that difference may be due to different majors or grades, but when salaries in the first year after graduation are compared while taking the college, major, grades, and other factors into account, women still experience a significant wage gap.Discrimination therefore plays a role. Economists consistently find a portion of the gap that can’t be explained by a variety of other factors. Studies have found that people of both genders are inclined to give men more money, especially if the woman is a mother. Meanwhile, women’s job performance is continuously underrated compared to men’s. Therefore in the workforce are discriminated

The discrepancy of the wage gap grows substantially for more elite jobs. Males and females who have the same education and experience who go into higher paying jobs, such as doctors and lawyers, the female counterpart earns significantly less than males. This quote shows just how unjust the wage gap is that for the same amount of work, and the same education and education, males are still on average paid more. The higher paying jobs that require much higher education are not as forgiving to allow females to take a lot of time off work to have children. The females are making the wage gap by taking fewer hours to be a mother (Perry, Mark J., and Andrew G. Biggs). However, statistics say otherwise. Other statistics show to prove that women are not being paid significantly less in more elite jobs because a lot take time off to start a family, women are in general paid less per hour than men.This wage discrepancy is just dramaticized in elite jobs. Females are not paid less for the hours they take off, since comparing the hours between males and females, women are paid less on average per hour than

The gender wage gap is a prominent issue which is fought for in feminism today. In the past, this standard has been justified due to the fact that women were more likely to be stay-at-home moms, and were less likely to have jobs or college degrees. Today, women are getting comparable education to men, and working comparable jobs, yet the issue remains. The gender wage gap is a women’s rights issue based on the old-fashioned role of women in society which needs to be fought against and decreased in the United States during this current political and social climate.

The gender wage gap in the U.S. has been a topic of debate in politics through most of the 21st century. In 2015, women were paid 80 percent of what men were paid (SIMPLE TRUTH). This number is considerably smaller than that of the 1960’s because of women’s progress in education and participation in the workforce (SIMPLE TRUTH). The wage gap can have adverse lifelong effects on a woman’s life. Because women are paid less than men, a woman will receive less social security, pensions, and other resources when they retire than a man would (Fischer & Hayes, 2013). There is a common stigma that women do not get paid as much as men because they do not ask for higher wages but not everything can be “explained

The gendered wage gap has been a controversial topic that's been around since women started working at jobs for money in the United States during the 1900’s era. With a steadily increasing amount of women working at jobs, came steadily strong opinions about women’s work rights. Women had been given a lesser wage compared to their male counterparts and it outraged women. However, as women were treated more and more equal, their wages were treated more equally as well. Then came a stand still in this improving equality for women in the 21st century, as it has been debated that women are now treated equally, compared to men. This standstill has caused even further debate ranging from several things with most focusing on

Women’s pay has long been a subject in the economic community and to a further extent society. With arguments being presented from both sides, but one thing cannot be disputed there is a gender based wage gap between women and men. Why is there a gap and how can society in the United States change that? First we must examine women in the workforce. Then ask why it happens then figure out how we can put an end to the pay gap.

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 is a major issue that is constantly brought up in the work place. Many people use the term “wage gap” to state how gender can affect someone’s income. There has always been an understanding that men typically made more money than women. For a long time, women were not allowed to work therefore men were in charge of “bringing home the bacon”. However, times have changed and there are many situations where a household is centered off a women’s’ income. Females can become single mothers who have a responsibility to care for a child(s). Responsibilities can include monthly payments of water and electric bills and even weekly payments towards groceries. Women have to acquire enough money so that they are able to support the people they need too and not have to rely on a male’s income solely. Stays at home dads are being more popular as well. Gender and race should not be a factor in the amount of money someone can make, though the amount of schooling and hours put into the job should be the primary consideration when it comes to determining income.

For Marriage and family in the women’s pay gap has been a big issue for the children and even for themselves and has been the issue since the beginning of when they started to take over. Even though women work more hours than an average guy does a women gets paid less for 80 cents every dollar a guy makes. As, in this article says, “Currently, among women under 30 or so

It is a common conception that women in the work place to begin with have a disadvantage but even more so if the woman is in fact a mother or the primary caregiver in the family. Written in Motherhood as a Status Characteristic says that “The pay gap between mothers and non-mothers under age thirty-five is now larger than the wage gap between young men and women” Nearly everyday there is one that asks why there is a wage gap between men and women but you rarely hear someone ask about the wage gap between mothers in the workforce and non-mothers in the work force. Ridgeway and Correll analyze some of the reasons as to why there could be a gap in how and why women of motherhood and women on non-motherhood get treated differently in society.