The Wage Gap Analysis

Human rights are rights that we deserve including the right to equal wages; gender and ethnic inequality has been an on-going issue in the United States for a very long time. This inequality has been the reason for the Wage Gap which is a violation of everyone’s human rights. Some people believe that the wage gap is just a gender problem but it is not, it is unequal opportunities for racial and gender minorities; in fact some women that are of a certain race are paid significantly less than someone who is only of one minority. The wage gap relates to human rights because it violates the right to standard adequate living and fair wage. The wage gaps existence is soon to be understood through the deplorable conditions of women and racial

According to the US Census Bureau, in 2010 the median earnings for women were $36,931 compared to $47,715 for men. [3] The majority of college degrees earned in the US are by women, and yet a study according to the American Association of University Women found that these educated graduated women are starting out with earning 5 percent less than their male peers. This was after several factors were taken into account, such as experience, training, and what school women earned their degrees from. Their study summarizes that, “In this analysis the portion of the pay gap that remains unexplained after all other factors are taken into account is 5 percent one year after graduation and 12 percent ten years after graduation.” – Behind the Pay Gap, American Association of University Women, Dey, Judy Goldberg

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.

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.

Our dinner party consisted of meeting at Char’s, where we shared swipes for those not on a meal plan (myself). While this was a great experience as I have never been there before and definitely interesting to see as I am a recent transfer student. Our topics really seem to range and develop into much deeper conversations compared to last I must say! The major discussion revolved around wage gap, beauty ideals with sexual violence reference, and overall experiences of the ancestor interview.

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.

Women nowadays have opportunities that were not obtainable in past decades but must overcome, or in most cases overlook, the barrier of being punished in the long run for simply being a woman; “gender differences in starting salaries are a significant contributor to long-term earning differentials between men and women” (Bowels and Babcock). It seems to me that in the workforce, a woman is a person just as a man is a person, if that person gets the job done right, he or she should be paid for doing so, if not, that person receives repercussions. The influence of gender on this issue is very curious as to why it is even a factor in the first place.According to “melanievarnell.wordpress.com” Doing research on the equal work equal pay topic has aroused many questions and proposed solutions, but the lingering query is why employers are still enabling this workplace behavior and discrimination in the 21st century. An article titled, “Equal Work for Equal Pay”: Not Even College Helps Women, was written by “Korva Coleman”; who claims that women are worth less than men when entering the workforce after completing a college degree. Throughout the article, Coleman supports her claim using different studies’ results that “show when men and women attend the same kind of college, pick the same major and accept the same kind of job, on average, the woman will still earn 82 cents to every dollar

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 most well-known limit placed upon women in a work setting is the wage gap, or the difference between a man’s salary and a woman’s salary. Authors dive into the subject of the current wage gap because of its presence in modern society, and one author who does speak out about the topic is Caroline Fredrickson. Fredrickson, president of the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy, writes in her book Under the Bus: How Working Women Are Being Run Over about how the gap between a man and woman’s salaries does exist in today’s progressive society. To argue her case, Fredrickson reveals, “In the past decade, women have not made any progress at all, with the wage gap overall remaining stubbornly at 77 percent…” (44). This gap of seventy seven percent implies that the majority of women are paid only seventy seven percent of what a man is paid in any given position.

According to the The American Association of University Women (AAUW), the wage gap will close in 2119. The wage gap is happening in the world, but people just cannot see it. The wage gap affects women of all ages, races, and education levels. Women get paid only 80 percent of what men get paid, and their education level does not help close the gap. However, people also believe women should have the wage gap because of the extra retraining needed after childbirth. Nevertheless, the wage gap is real and it is affecting women of all ages, races, and education levels.

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.

Did you know that the wage gap is affected by more than just wages? Until the Enlightenment of Europe in the 1400s, women were viewed as less than men. They were not expected to work or be in any leadership positions. Now, the modern feminist movement is gaining momentum in raising the equality of women by increasing access to information about inequalities women face and hosting protests. Despite their success, women still face inequalities, especially in the work force. Women’s lack of access to equal employment opportunities leads to a wage disparity, for which political solutions have been implemented without success.

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.

Many believe they are living in a country that helps the deprived succeed, but in one specific area the underprivileged are the ones oppressed. Much is unknown about how wages are distributed between coworkers. In the land of the free, one should be able to question their employer and not be at risk of getting fired from their job or reaping retributions from asking questions about pay. When women are forced to think of asking such questions, it denies the equality that women have tried for generations to achieve. At odds with what the United States preaches about “equality” in today’s modern society, men are still receiving higher pay than their women colleagues for the same work produced at the same job place.

The workforce is constantly inclining in it’s participation of women, and thus, affects the way the United States economy is displayed. In other words, women have a perpetually strong contribution to the economy. Taking this into account, sources from the “National Partnership for women and Families”, a nonprofit organization that concern policies and education that focus on women and families, confer facts for the wage gap concerning women. The organization reports that, “On average, women employed full time in the United States lose a combined total of more than $840 billion every year due to the wage gap” (“NPWF”). Nationally putting everything together and applying it to a single woman that is being affected, there is an “ annual gender