The Issue Of The Wage Gap

Even though there is an Elimination Act of all forms of discrimination against women in 1979 the United States still continue to bridge a gap in wages. When you look at the wage gap you can clearly see the difference in gender and it is much worse for people of color. The wage gap is not just a gender issue it also affects racial minorities. Asian American women experience the smallest gender pay gap. The Hispanic and Latina women had the largest gap with 54 percent of what the white men were paid in 2013. The gender pay gap for American Indian and Alaska Native women has went down to 60 and 59 percent in 2013. As for African American women they are paid 64 percent of what white men were paid in 2013 and white women were paid 78 percent of what white men were paid ( Catherine, H). Over the years the wage gap is in fact improving but only by a small percentage. In 2012 the wage gap was 77% and in 2013 the

The gender wage gap in America is a social problem that has existed since women entered the workforce. According to the National Committee on Pay Equity, for every dollar earned by a man, a woman made 78.3 cents in 2013 (Leon-Guerrero, 2016). Data from 1983 to 1998 and concluded that women workers in their prime earning years make 38% of what men make. During the 15-year period, an average prime-age working woman earned only $273,592 compared with $722,693 earned by the average working man in 1999 (Leon-Guerrero, 2016). The wage gap affects women of color in a more profound way that it does non-hispanic white women. Hispanic women are making 53%, African American women are making 64%, and Asian American women are making 87% of white men’s earnings each year (AAUW, 2013).

“Join the union, girls, and together say Equal Pay for Equal Work” -Susan B. Anthony. Countless women, even here in the U.S. have some sort of the wage gap. The wage gap is the difference between the median earnings of women relative to median earnings of men. In this case, women earn a significant amount less than men. Although the wage gap has gotten smaller over the years, the wage gap still has a long way to go. Women deserve better than just minimum earnings. Full time, working women should obtain the best promotions and benefits. Women that work just as tough and have the equivalent qualifications as men do still earn less, and that is just unacceptable. The wage gap should be abolished on behalf of women of color and their struggle, equal pay is a global problem, equal pay benefits employers and workers, and the wage gap accumulates over time.

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.

First off, women in America can’t make as much money as the average white male, as stated before. This is an issue for women across the states, and while most people could simply assume that women just tend to pick lower paying jobs, which is only slightly true, women still tend to make less money in ALL jobs and fields compared to men. However, 21% is simply the average wage gap throughout the nation. In certain states, such as Louisiana, the gap is even higher at 35%. Equally important, this gap can increase even more based on their race as well. Compared to white men, black women make 63% of their annual wage. For Pacific Islanders, 62%. For Hispanic women, it’s as low as 54%. On a bigger scale, this means that for every $100 that the average white male makes, the average Spanish woman can only make $54.

Women and minorities would also benefit from the increase wages, as it will close the gap in wage inequality. According to Economic Policy Institute, “The Raise the Wage Act also would help closes the gender wage gap. Not only would more women than men get a raise under the bill, but because women are especially concentrated in the very lowest-paying jobs, they also would see the largest increases in their pay.” (December 2013, Cooper) As a result, women and minorities would have advantages to an increase wages, as it will make them feel that they are getting fair pay for their work.

Although many people are now bringing up a pay gap between genders, there is something being over looked that proves there isn’t a pay gap, but something else. The Gender Income Gap is a supposed payment gap between men and women, stating that to every man’s dollar a woman only gets payed seventy cents. Statements like theses can grab people’s attention and get them to believe this without much proof of it actually existing. Most people get there information about the gap from surveys over all women and men average pay, this is not a good representation of the topic because it doesn’t go into any detail of actual jobs and difference of pay. There are many other factors that going into the pay gap that would make it into something else not necessarily a pay gap. There are several solutions for this problem most of them aren’t necessarily for equality but for the gain of one sex at the cost of the rights of another. The one I will be talking about later doesn’t need government intervention and doesn’t need for one sex to do more. This solution will come from “changes in the labor market, especially how jobs are structured and remunerated to enhance temporal flexibility.”1

From the beginning of time there has been a distinction between the accepted roles of males and females. For ages men have been viewed as the family provider and women as the family caretaker. Although new roles developed with different eras, the same ideals have held for centuries now. Since the late 1800’s, the idea of “feminism,” or the social, political, and economic equality for females, has begun to shake the foundations of gender roles. It is 2015, and women have made tremendous strides to establish equality for themselves in a world dominated by male leaders. However, women have not been able to conquer the wage gap. The gender wage gap refers to women being paid on average 78% of what men do. Although the gap is closing, it is still

Women as a minority group concerning the wage gap, also known as the gender pay gap, is an older phenomenon that has gradually become more of a topic of concern since the 1960s. The wage gap is recognized as the difference between male and female earnings that is identified as a percentage of male earnings. In 1963 the Equal Pay Act was instituted declaring that it would be illegal to pay women lower wages simply based on their gender. The wage gap remains a popular area of active and innovative study and has been investigated for numerous decades. By further examining the ongoing discussion individuals can distinguish a connection between how women are rarely employed in high-paying positions, have superior educational achievements, and by some means still have significantly less earnings than men do. There are individuals who believe that women of different races are even more affected by the wage gap. This paper concerning the wage gap uncovers various opinions about what specifically prevents women from generating as much wealth as men. Although there are diverse analyses regarding what lies within the complexities of the wage gap, there is an understanding that women do suffer from a difference in wages compared to men.

The occupational wage gap has always been and still continues to be a conflict within the work force. The gender wage gap is defined as the average income of a male compared to the average income of a female. There have been a few laws that were put into effect due to women’s efforts to create fairness in the workplace. The first law, called the Equal Pay Act of 1963 signed into law by President John F. Kennedy, requires men and women in the same workplace be given equal pay for equal work (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission). The Paycheck Fairness Act is a recent extension of the Equal Pay Act, it gives workers added protection to take action in the wage discrimination (National Women’s Law Center). When comparing full time and year round workers, 23.5% is the gap between the annual male earnings compared to women and that has not changed much since 2001 (Burns, 1). In the profession I have chosen, there is quite a difference in dominant gender between dental hygienists and dentists. Dental hygiene is a very female dominated field of work, although few male dental hygienists exist. Due to the gender roles our society has molded, hygiene is usually compared to nursing because it revolves around care giving service and many believe that is not a task men are usually willing to do. Contrary to belief, men can be just as, if not more, nurturing than women. On the other hand, women are perfectly capable of becoming dentists as well. The culture we were raised in

A lot of attention is placed on the inequity of pay for men and women. But as time passes, the focus of this issue has subdued. This situation still exists, even though more politicized issues seem to be taking precedence. The wage gap is not only an issue of men and women but also of other races and ethnicities. Why does this continue to be a problem? Do wage gaps make women dependent on men? Even in the light of statistics that shows the disparities, why do society feeling it’s a thing of the past? Will there always be a double standard that women are primarily made to be homemakers? Do we give up the fight to expect equal compensations? Will the new millennium women totally put this inequity to rest? My paper will seek why the disparities and what the future holds.

The wage gap is one of the most important issues that needs to be discussed and solved in contemporary society. Out of all the developed countries the United States of America has the largest wealth inequality, similar to countries such as Mexico and Malaysia. The United States is very dependent on its currency, without it then you are almost unable to live. Healthcare is free in most other developed countries while in the United States you are forced to literally pay for your life if the situation ever comes to it, some people that get diagnosed with terminal illnesses often choose to not seek treatment in order to not plague and burden their families with bills. America has the largest wage gap and if steps are not taken to close it as soon as possible then this country will soon revert to the monopoly overlords that once ruled this country.

The wage gap is a myth, simple as that it is a lie started by feminists who simply want to get payed more it has been debunked millions of times the whole 79 cents on a dollar thing may be true but it is not because of sexism or whatever feminists scream and complain about. Feminists sometimes say that employers more often hire men than women but that is also not true there is a higher unemployment rate for men right now then women

The wage gap is a very challenging concept to understand. Should we focus on women's economic well being or the business’ success? Businesses, don’t want to pay women who aren’t working because that affects the bottom line. From the woman's standpoint, they want to be paid when taking their time off as raising a child is expensive, and living without pay could be challenging. In addition, they want to be paid the same

“For women ages fifteen to twenty-four who work full-time and year round, the wage gap is $4,373. By the time they reach the age of forty-five to sixty-four, they earn $15,404 less than men per year” (Holmes). Wage gap is the difference between women’s and men’s earnings, and the earnings of different races. Wage gap not only affects women and individuals of different races, but it also affects the society. Equal pay could improve the American society in many ways. The American economy is distressed by the fact that a wage gap continues to exist between the sexes and different races.