The Wage Gap Analysis

When you think about women in the work field today, what do you see? A successful lawyer, a doctor, perhaps. That’s true. In fact, there have been more females holding high employment positions in the late 20th and 21st century than ever before. According to Donald M. Fisk in “Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2003”, 60% of working-age women worked in the labor force in 1999. That’s 41% more than that of 1900, where only 19% of women worked in the labor force. Among these women, a vast majority have seen their salaries sky-rocket in the past two decades, almost surpassing those of male workers. However, it is not always this way.

After years of Civil Rights Movements and Pay Equity Acts, as of 2014, women still only make 79 cents to a man 's every dollar. Although the wage gap has shrunk since the 1970’s, progress has recently stalled and chances of it vanishing on its own is unlikely. The gains that American women have made towards labor market experience and skills is tremendous. In fact, women account for 47% of labor workforce and 49.3% of American jobs. But despite of women’s strides, a gender pay gap still exists. Experts suggest that it will take 100 years to close the gap at the rate employers and legislators are working to create solutions. But by allowing women to work in higher paying positions and by proposing and updating pay equity laws, the gender gap can finally be diminished.

The Wage Gap is unfair and it needs to be fixed, women should have the same equal rights as men. Women can have the same job as men, work the same amount of hours and still not receive the same amount of pay which is simply wrong. The Wage Gap is not fair for women, how much pay that you receive should not be determined by your gender. Women make 79 cents for every dollar earned by men, the wage gap for that is 21 percent. The Wage Gap is the difference in pay between two people.

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’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.

Women joined the workforce in early 1800s. The wage gap fluctuates depending on age and status. In early twenty-first century women’s median pay began to rise compared to men’s median pay (“Women in the Workplace”). The wage gap has remained despite the significant advances made by most generations of women in the labor market (“Understanding the Gender Gap”). In 1933 National Recovery administration designed codes that improved women wages, shortened hours, and increased the number of women employment (“Women in the Workplace”). Despite all the hardships women faced being in the workforce they didn’t give up. The workforce is sexiest in a way due to the fact the workforce is centered towards men and generally unfair to women. In the article

The gender wage gap issue is prevalent in our society and drives many political and social discussions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics states a 23% difference between the wages of men and females, and this data leads to the infamous idea that women make “77 cents for every dollar a man makes.” Many individuals interpret this by assuming that women are discriminated in the work place. Yet most, if not all, of the gender wage gap is a result of individual choice, rather than gender discrimination, and statistical analysis, personal motives/factors such as occupation, hours worked, experience, etc. show that the gender wage gap is highly inflated and misleading.

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.

The wage gap for women constructs a critical function in our society, and is worth studying to recognize where our economy provides unequal opportunities for women in the labor force while including their education, training, race, and

The wage gap has been around for quite some time now. For many years, women working was rare, since they had to stay home to clean the house or take care of the children. But today, you wouldn’t think it was like that, considering that the women’s labor-force participation rate is hovering around 57 percent.but just because they’re participating more, doesn’t mean they’re getting paid fairly. The sad thing is though, is that the pay gap isn’t just based on gender, but age, and ethnicity play a large role too. I get maybe one person having more experience, or education, but gender, age and ethnicity should not have an impact of how much someone gets paid as opposed to one of their coworkers. Many people say there is no wage gap, or that

As stated by many feminists, celebrities and politicians the gender wage is a problem that is justified by the statement that women make 77 cents to every dollar men make. If, for the same work why don’t businesses hire only women? Wages are one of the biggest expenses for small and large businesses, so if they only hired women then they would be saving 23 cents to every dollar they would have to pay. The statistic that there is 77 cents to every dollar isn’t the whole story around the supposed gender wage gap. While statistics are true and very valuable, they are also notorious for being a means that people use to make false and misleading arguments to persuade a large group of people. The gender wage gap is not

The American Association University of Women reports that the average full time workingwoman receives just 80% the salary of a man. In 1960, women made just 60% of what men made, an upward trend that can be explained “largely by women’s progress in education and workforce participation and to men’s wages rising at a slower rate”, but a trend that is not yet equal (p. 4). Hill recognizes that the choices of men and women are not always the same, whether it be in college major, or job choice, however she concludes that women experience pay gaps in virtually all levels of education and lines of work. She suggests that continuing to increase the integration of women in predominately male dominated work will help the pay gap, however, she believes that alone won’t be enough to ensure equal pay for women.

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.

I must admit it is difficult for me to write this essay. In my initial reflection written in September, my stance was one of objectivity and uncertainty. I was skeptical of each claim, and did not formally take specific stances on the presented issues. Instead my main focus was to express my opinion towards several different subjects, mostly pertaining to the questions presented in the prompt. I regret to say I am still not comfortable making a formal, general decision at this moment, even after gaining information that may solidify the notions pertaining to the existence of gender inequality. I do however, feel comfortable making a series of smaller stances on certain subjects that I personally feel that I have an adequate amount of information

April 14, 2015 was identified as “Equal Pay Day” which signified how far into the upcoming year that a normal woman would have to work to bring in what the normal man did the year before. In fact, the White House stated women, who actively work full-time, obtain seventy-seven percent of the income that their male correspondents do. So, this basically indicates that women would have to work an additional sixty days just in order to obtain the same amount of income that men did the year before. Since the 1970 's, the gender pay gap has actually diminished slightly, however it is still a continuing problem (Blau & Kahn, 2006). There is a substantial wage differential between men and women in the same job. On average, women persistently obtain significantly less than men. Over the past thirty years, the pay gap between men and women has hardly changed at all. Why is this the case, though? Do women get paid less than men because of the profession that they choose to go into? Is it because men generally work more full-time jobs? Or is it because women are more often the dominant caretaker of their children? Within this paper, I will be addressing these issues and how the gender pay gap affects women of all backgrounds. Women make up nearly half of the workforce. They are the equivalent, if not dominant, providers in four out of ten families. Women, who obtain college, as well as graduate degrees more often than men, however they persistently make substantially less than men. In