The Wage Gap Between Women And Women

Over the past few decades, great strides have been made by women in the workplace. This increased number in women in the workplace does not mean equality however. Even with equal qualifications and achievements, women are still not given all the opportunities that men have. The chapter in the textbook, “Gender at Work”, shows us more of these inequalities in the workplace. Such inequalities cause gender segregation of jobs and can be linked with the pay inequality in the labor force. Even in jobs that are predominantly filled by women, men earn more than women. Women are often stereotyped as being family focused and not as able to travel, therefore they tend to get passed up for promotions (Garson p.353). This invisible barrier that keeps women from moving up the executive ladder is referred to as the “glass ceiling” (Baxter and Wright p. 346). Women also tend to do more domestic work, or unpaid labor and caregiving. This extra unpaid work is referred to as “the third shift” and is largely rested on the shoulders of women (Gersel p. 352). Consequently, this seems to be one of the biggest things holding women back from taking on jobs that are normally considered male

The average woman in the United States makes approximately $82.90 for every dollar their male counterparts make. (Elsesser). While those 20 cents may seem inconsequential to you, they add up. Losing that much money all year can be the difference between someone living in poverty, and someone living a nice life. The gender pay gap is the cause of this problem. Around the world, women are losing money just because of what gender they are. The gender wage gap is a huge problem, that can only be solved by going to extreme measures, such as requiring people to release their employees wage gap and passing new laws.

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.

The gender pay gap is the difference in pay earned by men and the pay earned by women.( Pay Equity Commission, 2012). There are various ways in measuring the pay gap between genders, such as full- time or full- year wage. Statistics Canada data ( 2012) displayed that the gender pay gap in Ontario was 26% for full- time and full- year employments, which means for every C$1 earned by a man, a woman earned 74 cents( Pay Equity Commission,2012).The pay gap has been narrowing slowly over time compared to the how it was in 1987, which was 36%. However the gender wage gap is still a problem that exists in the society. I will discuss about the feminist theory and how it can be interpreted in the gender pay gap of our society, especially in regards to celebrities.

Thesis: The gender pay gap in the United States is an understated misconception to many men and women today. This paper will overview the reality, causes, statistics, and those being affected by gender pay gap, as well as what this issue means for the future of the United States of America.

Today, the working industry has made substantial progress towards gender equality pay while adding numerous career opportunities for woman in the workforce. However, society still poses ethical concerns between women and men regarding gender pay gap and discrimination for the same job function that apparently still exist. To put it differently, women regrettably have struggled as they continue in trying to make headway in gaining the respect of the working-class industry since the mid-1900’s. In some cases, researchers state that women in the workforce will not get paid equally for the same job function because of discrimination of gender gap. According to one research study, “there is still a gender pay gap. Women continue to earn considerably less than men on average” (Blau & Kahn, 2007, p. 8). While men have the higher ground of work tenure there should be equal pay for women with the same qualifications; I will argue the concerns of gender gap pay while using the utilitarian theory, deontological theory and the objection of moral reasoning to prove the ethical theory.

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.

One cannot begin the discussion of gender pay gap without defining it. Simply put, gender pay gap is the inequality between men and women wages. Gender pay gap is a constant international problem, in which women are paid, on average, less than that of their male counterpart. As to if gender pay gap still exist, its exactness fluctuates depending on numerous factors such as professional status, country and regional location, gender, and age. In regards to gender, in some cases, both men and women have stated that the gap does not exist. Due to various countries initiatives to shrink the wage inequality between men and women wages in the work force, the gap has narrowed, respectively, which may have helped form such opinion. However, stating that the gender pay gap does not exist in today’s society, anywhere, is completely unlikely. Seeing that the gap has loosened its grasp in the working world, in other countries, the gap between pay has widen or remained stagnant. One cannot help but wonder why the gap remains consistent even with such substantial progress made in countries where the gap has decreased.

The wage gap is the difference between what men and women are paid solely based on their gender. Women are paid less than men in virtually every job category tracked by the bureau of labor statistics. Women are paid less than men even when factors such as schools, grades, and majors are taken into account. Official data from the government even states that women make seventy-four cents for ever dollar that men make. In 2015, u.s. women working full time were only payed eighty percent of what full time men earned. The highest wage gap in the country occurs in Louisiana. Throughout a Louisiana woman's career, she loses out on about $671,840 that could have been earned if she was a man. Florida, however has the smallest wage gap (not taking race

“Projected Year the Wage Gap Will Close by State.” Institute for Women's Policy Research, 22 Mar. 2017, iwpr.org/publications/projected-year-wage-gap-will-close-state/.

When someone goes to create a resume, they do not always consider the effects that their gender has on their pay wage, position of authority and benefits. These factors have changed drastically from the past to the present time, but there continues to be evidence of foul play.

Women in general have been discriminated by men that don’t believe in the power of women. Over the course of time, some men discriminate women by particular things that make them men are superior then women. Women are strong not only physically but emotionally and mentally, but some men don’t seem to notice yet. There are people that think men and women aren’t in the same level, and they don’t give women the opportunity to show it. Throughout years in America people have found evidences that there is a wage gap between two genders. Women deserve to be equally paid just as men are being paid. Both genders work the same amount of hours, but have different pay checks; this is unfair because women shouldn’t be paid less just for being a woman. This is an act of discrimination for both genders from society.

Correll identifies a variety of factors that could help explain the motherhood wage gap. The factors include but aren’t limited to, “reduced investment in human capital by mothers, lower work effort by mothers compared with nonmothers, unobserved heterogeneity between mothers and nonmothers, and discrimination against mothers by employers” (Correll 1299). All these things contribute to the gender wage gap. Women in the work place already have to prove themselves in comparison to men, the element of being a mother creates another obstacle for women who are mothers. This also places a harsh reality on women who are not yet mothers but are thinking

The Gender Wage Gap is defined as the different amounts of money that is paid to women and men, often for doing the same work. Women who work full time, year round earn 77 cents for every dollar that men earn. Over a year women make $11,500 less than men and throughout their life this wage gap can affect women by making them earn anywhere from $400,000-$2 million less than men do. (Miller 2008, 6) The wage gap varies for women of different races. On average African-American women are paid 60 cents and Latinas are paid 55 cents for every dollar white men make. Over a year this amounts to a loss of $21,937 for African-American women and $25,177 for Latina women. (Dishman 2015, 1) Asian American women earn the highest amount compared to other minorities at 80 cents to the dollar compared to men. (Miller 2008) Minorities and women are already two of the groups that face the most struggles, but because these women are both women and minorities, this puts this in a greater disadvantage. The Paycheck Fairness Act is an effort to address the issue of the wage gap. It’s purpose is to stop retaliation against employees who disclose wage information and closes loopholes that employers use to avoid paying women equal wages. The Paycheck Fairness act is necessary to lessen the hardships of women due to the gender wage gap, it would help decrease sex based discrimination in the workplace, and because it would help fix the issues that past acts have not been able to resolve and be

It is important to address the systemic inequalities of the gender pay gap. To do this, this essay will use Bacchi (2006) approach to analyse the text “Speech to HRINZ: The reasons for the Gender Pay Gap” by MP Paula Bennett. This essay will illustrate the theoretical perspective of liberal feminism to show the understanding of the problem, and the solutions of the gender pay gap. This essay will also look at two other theoretical perspectives, social democratic, and anti-racism and discuss their viewpoints and solutions towards the problem.