The Gender Payage Gap

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.

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).

Equality has been a topic of major discussion in the last decade. Equality, which definition consists of the state of being equal or the same, has not had a major impact on gender pay. Men are known to make more money than women simply based on gender. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 was supported by President John F. Kennedy to cease the gender pay gap and allow women equal rights in wages as men. Although, it has been fifty four years since The Equal Pay Act of 1963 went into effect, it seems as if the idea for equal pay for women is still not only a topic for debate, but also an issue for women that needs to be resolved.

On the basis of gender, women continue to be paid less for the same work as men; however, women are outnumbered by men in the highest-paying jobs and dominate in the lowest-paying jobs.

Women employees make less than men in the same job position. “It is an absolute scandal that American women continue to earn just $0.77 for every dollar men earn.” (Sen. Mikulski) There should not be a gender pay gap. Workers should be given salaries based on their work ethics, degrees, and academic credentials.

Even though men and women who work in the same work place doing the same exact job should be getting the same exact pay, also known as the Equal Pay Act of 1963, this matter is still a constant battle. For example, women earned 79 cents for every dollar that a man earns (whitehouse.gov). This statistic, referred to as the gender gap, has been reoccurring for decades and although the numbers have changed throughout the years, the gap

In no way is it trying to be conveyed that men and women are exactly equal. They both hold equally valuable qualities and abilities, but nonetheless, are different. Some men work more hours and earn more pay than their female counterpart, and the flip side of that is also true. There is much to remember when learning and understanding the issue of pay gap and the discrimination it sends towards women. The idea that women are being discouraged and pushed out of high paying jobs possibly because they are women is the root of the issue. In a survey conducted by Pew Research, 42% of the women interviewed said that they felt discriminated at their workplace, and 25% of these women felt that they actually received less than their male counterpart for the same work. These percentages show that despite the fact that women in today’s society have earned the rights to have these jobs, they do not feel as though they are treated equally in these said jobs.

The gender pay gap is a deabatable issue. Some people might say that there is no pay gap while others insist that there is an injustice happening. I am here to say that there is no gender pay gap. The reason why a woman would earn $0.77 to a mans dollar is due to many factors. Some of thes factors include profession, experience, and willingness to work longer hours. A survey was conducted by Georgetown University and they found that the top five well paying professions were all dominated by males except for one. This shows that the reason why a man earns more than a woman is because men choose to work in higher paying careers. Another study demonstrated that male workers were more willing to work more hours and do laborious work than women.

Today, the workforce is unfair; genders are not treated equally. Women are paid less than men for a variety of reasons. Whether it be discrimination, tradition, or simply the effects of the wage gap beginning right out of college, women are underpaid.

The Huffington post (n.d) notes that in 2015, and on average, women still make 78 cents to a man's dollar. A new report goes beyond that oft-quoted statistic and examines this discrepancy along racial, geographical and educational lines. The American Association of University Women's (AAUW) "The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap" report breaks down the wage gap in every state, including Washington D.C., using data from 2013. The U.S. capital comes closest to pay equity, with women earning an average of 91 percent of the wages that men do. At the bottom of the list is Louisiana, where women earn just 66 percent of what men do. The report also found that women of color continue to be hit hardest by the gender wage gap. Asian-American women

As Claudia Goldin, a professor of economics at Harvard University who has spent years researching the gender gap states, “By comparing the 469 occupations in the US Census, she found that women disproportionately holding certain jobs only accounted for about 25% of the difference in earnings between men and women. Factors within each occupation overwhelmingly accounted for differences in pay.” In her findings she found out that only 25% of the jobs do not have equal pay because of the type of work women are doing. This means that even with men and women having the same jobs, that the women will still get paid less than the men do. Another Economists Francine Blau and Lawrence Kahn found, “Differences in occupation and industry explain about 49 percent of the wage gap, but 41 percent of the wage gap is not explained by differences in educational attainment, experience, demographic characteristics, job type, or union status” (Stevenson).This is just another statement backing up that the gender pay gap is not happening, just because women take lower paying jobs than men. It says that even if women do the exact same job as men, women still will get paid less than men do

The data shows that women earn only 76 cents for each dollar earned by male coworkers. Women work just as hard as men, the pay gap is too wide, and job rates are going down. Women should be getting payed the same as men.

Every dollar a man makes, a woman receive only 72 cents of it. Women have hardly ever been treated the same as men in anything. First of all, men get paid more in sports, acting, and in any job, really. Secondly, men also have more respect towards them than women do, and this has been all throughout history. Many people stand up for women and think that they should be treated and paid just as much as their male companion. If women do the same amount of work and put in effort like the men, then why are they getting paid less. Women inequality is real, and needs to stop.

Considerable changes have taken place over the past two decades (WGEA, 2017c). Women have become more prominent within the workforce (WGEA, 2017c). Participation of women in the workplace has risen from 45% to 60% over the last 40 years (WGEA, 2017c, ABS, 2017a). Women’s education attainment has risen, showing a 28% increase since 1996 (ABS, 2017b; WGEA, 2017c). Despite this, earnings are not equal between male and female undergraduates (WGEA, 2017b). One suggestion is that women are choosing lower paid professions, contributing to an unequal distribution among part-time and full-time work (WGEA, 2017b).

Men and women should always have equal pay. In some ways women are payed less than a man, even though they did the same work. “Women make 79 cents for every man’s dollar.” Workers that are 25 to 34, women on average made 93% as much as men. Women and men should get equal pay if they do the same job, for the same amount of time. “Gender isn’t something that should be determined how much a person is