The Importance Of Closing The Wage Gap For Women

gender wage gap. As of 2011, the average hourly wage for females in Canada was that of only

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).

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.

Luckily for women, the American Women’s rights progressed tremendously since the late 1800’s, and the turning point for females was The Equal Pay Act in 1963. Women wanted more than their primary responsibilities of taking care of the home, children, and family. Although this law contributed significant changes in the development of the women in the workforce, it did come with unethical wages.

April 8 is “Equal Pay Day,” which is an event where the main purpose is to raise awareness in regards to the social problem of the gender wage gap. The president makes his announcement that women still earn only about 77 cents for every dollar a man earns. There are people advocating left and right for women to take a stand and sue their employers for wage discrimination or make demands they want the government to fulfill. The question becomes whether or not what everyone is fighting for is actually true and worth fighting for. Authors Sarah Glynn, Kay Hymowitz, Mark Perry, and Andrew Biggs present a different idea. They all showcase in their articles the underlying factors in the gender wage gap such as college major, career choice, hours worked, job experience, and family circumstances. Discrimination cannot be ruled out completely, but the “77 cent” figure reflects gender differences based on the personal choices that people make about their careers, which results in the gender wage gap we have today. Society has been pointing the finger at discrimination for so long, but today we need to take a second look and come to the conclusion that there could be multiple reasons for the pay gap. This social problem is too complex to focus on only one particular reason.

On June 10th 1963, the Equal Pay Act was passed. This was the first time that it became illegal for women to be paid less wages than men, but this paper will argue in the U.S. today the gender wage gap still exists. The definition of gender wage gap as stated by the U.S. government is defined as women who work full time or salary based jobs who receive less earnings than their male counterparts who work equal level jobs (“Equal Pay,” n.d.).[] This analysis will focus on the years of 2012 to 2014, and in these years it is clear that the gender wage gap exists. The topic of gender wage gap sociologically important for many reasons. The most obvious being that women who are in a position that requires them to provide for others will have less money than they should based on their job and skill set. Secondly, being that if women are making less than men for the same amount of skill and work, the workplace is telling the woman that the man is more valuable for the same work, thus saying that the man is superior to the woman. All in all, the gender wage gap has poor sociological implications, and the data analysis in the following paper will prove its existence.

Before 1880, women did not have as many rights as they do today in the United States of America. Women were not able to initiate divorce; they did not have custody over their children; they were not entitled to their own wages; they could not vote; etcetera. This movement was necessary to create a more just and fair society for Americans because women deserved to be treated as well as men were. These things were changed as a result of many suffragists who fought for women’s rights for years. Three women who devoted their lives to gaining equal rights for women were Susan B. Anthony, Lucy Stone, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Without these women among others, women in America would not be treated as they are today.

It has been more than fifty years since the Equal Pay Act of 1963 was enacted, yet gender pay gap still exists today. According to National Women’s Law Center, women are paid only 80 cent for every dollar their male counterpart are paid. According to American Association of University Women, the total estimated loss of earnings for women compared to men over the course of 45 years are $700,000 for a high school graduate, $1.2 million for a college graduate, and $2 million for a professional school graduate. Although there are many factors that are responsible for gender pay gap, 40% of the pay gap is due to discrimination according to a report by the Joint Economic Committee Democratic Staff. By discriminating women, we, as a society, are telling

Have you ever noticed how women are below men in society, whether it’s politically or financially. This all starts with women’s rights of equality and making America a place free of racism and inequality. Women are as hard working, efficient, and spiritually strong as men.

In the 21st Century the number of women enrolling in higher education institutions is surpassing the numbers of men enrolled. The graduation rates of women from high school and higher education are most often higher than for men. The number of women graduates from most professional occupations, including higher paying medicine, law and business, will exceed the number of men graduates in the near future. In numerous occupational areas with a majority of women graduates, salaries already surpass salaries in occupational areas with a majority of men graduates.

Although all women suffer a wage gap among men, there is worse inequality among the women alone. White women are known to make more income and gain more wealth than women of color with a similar educational level. My focus is on how women of color face more discrimination, therefore creating profound negative long-term consequences. Not only is this financially affecting them, but all aspects of their lives including their families. This makes it hard for them to get support to be financially stable and have upward mobility.

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

In the United States of America, as well as in many other countries, there is a significant difference between female and male wages for similar jobs and careers. This situation is known as a gender wage gap, which is an index described as a percentage that depicts how much women earn in comparison to men. This wage gap index is also frequently used to evaluate the difference in wages between various races, geographic locations, and cultures. The index is typically shown in dollar amounts and is calculated by dividing median annual earnings for women by median annual earnings for men (Baldwin). For example, a wage gap may be described as women earning a certain amount of each dollar that a man earns. This paper will focus on evaluating the disparity between male and female pay and salaries. The concept of comparable worth states that jobs which require similar abilities, knowledge, and skills should be compensated the same wage or salary rate regardless of the employee’s age, race, sex, or any other difference. All companies are aware of this issue, however, it appears that there is still a pay difference between men and women. Throughout history, it has been common for women to earn significantly less than men for similar jobs. There are various views of the reasons for this reoccurring phenomena including blatant discrimination, fewer women having professional degrees than men, women’s discontinuous commitment to the labor market, and many

The author identifies the social problem as the gender wage gap, which is the difference of women’s wages compared to men’s for performing the same work or job. The gender wage gap is recognized on a federal level and by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) (The Wage Gap, State by State, 2017). There are many potential causes of the gender wage gap (Stevenson, 2014). Some causes may include the fact that policies have been enacted to encourage women to remain in the workforce, but paid sick and family leave often result in a woman’s lifelong earnings to suffer. Additionally, because women tend to negotiate less, they are less likely than men to receive promotions and/or raises but are more likely to be penalized for taking that initiative.

The gendered wage gap has been a controversial topic thats been debated over since women have worked at jobs for money. The debates range from several things with most focusing on how big the gendered wage gap is, how much of an effect it has on women’s everyday lives, and whether or not the gendered wage gap still exists to this day. Of course the gendered wage gap did exist in the past, that much is apparent. However, today it is a much more complicated story than that. Various studies have shown that even to this day the gendered wage gap does still exist, but for different reasons than it had previously existed for. Discrimination is a steadily decreasing factor to the gendered wage gap that doesn’t play a major role in the gap, instead it is a combination of various factors that show it isn’t just a gendered wage gap. It also isn’t too big in most places and doesn’t affect the daily lives of those affected by it, however, it still is a wage gap. So, while it doesn’t exist for the reasons most think, the gendered wage gap does exist.