Wage Gaps and Demographic Behavior

Segregation of the labor force not only helped the wealthy whites maintain power and money, but it also helped lower income to middle-class white Americans. This is because segregation “prevented blacks from competing with them for better- paying jobs.” Due to the segregation of some jobs, lower class whites were often guaranteed employment because the demand for white workers was high. This high demand was caused by a number of employers searching for white employees, and would not settle for black

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).

The racial wage gap involves the unequal distribution of races in certain occupations which results in unequal wages. It must consider more sources and attributes that could affect the gap compared to the wage gap between white men and women. The complex income difference between black men and women and white men and women is problematic in that it does not segregate solely by race – it is segregated mainly by gender. The complexity of the racial wage gap requires further understanding in order to be able to solve this puzzle.

Racially constituted labor was commonly seen during the early 20th century. Because of the implementation of labor disparity between races, “capricious restrictions that made economic parity with whites virtually impossible” (Sides, 2006). Although there have been attempts at labor equality, racial groups were oppressed and marginalized by white hierarchy. Deliberately assigning specific races to lower labor markets resulted in hindered work mobility for all minorities.

In 2008 black male workers only made 74 cents to every dollar made by a white worker with equal education. This is a significant issue because it creates a self reinforcing system that puts a large portion of the population at a disadvantage. Although the poor economic situation for African Americans in the U.S. may not be as prevalent as it was in the 1930’s, there still exists a significant gap between wages earned by white and black workers.

Women continue to face disadvantages in the workplace in regards to not receiving equal pay as well. There are many instances where women have the same or more qualifications to do a job than their male counterparts but do not receive the same pay. This difference in pay is not only related to gender differences but also racial differences. Women employees of different racial backgrounds tend to earn less money than their white female and male counterparts. Many women of color often face discrimination when applying to jobs and are overlooked for a position despite having the qualifications to do the work. When they are hired to these occupations they are not receiving the same pay as their white female counterparts. This double bind that minority women face within the work place continues to lead to economic hardships. Regarding women in the workplace in general, due to society’s high regard for men they are often not promoted to positions of authority or receive equal pay because people assume that women are inferior workers. (Buchanan, p205-207)

According to Pager and Shepherd (2008), ‘Overall, then, the literature points toward consistent evidence of discrimination in access to employment, but less consistent evidence of discrimination in wages.” Levels of income vary from person to person depending on a variety of advantages such as education and experience. However, income differences also can depend on age, gender and race. There are numerous studies that show the significance of race discrimination affects wages or income.

The gender pay gap effects women in almost all fields of work and in all racial or ethnic

Unequal pay is something that has been an issue in America for a very long time. Gender has been one of the main culprits that played a factor in the wage gap between men and women, but race may have a role. The wage gap is expressed as a percentage (e.g., in 2013, women earned 78.3% as much as men aged 16 and over) and is calculated by dividing the median annual earnings for women by the median annual earnings for men. (“The Wage Gap”)

Many believe that those who don't have education can’t have wages that are higher than a minimum wage job. In some cases this is true but Hispanics and blacks who have received the same amount of education in a certain field to those of the Asian and White races still make less. However, looking just at those with a bachelor’s degree or more education, wage gaps by gender, race and ethnicity persist. College-educated black and Hispanic men earn roughly 80% the hourly wages of white college educated men ($25 and $26 vs. $32, respectively). White and Asian college-educated women also earn roughly 80% the hourly wages of white college-educated men ($25 and $27, respectively). However, black and Hispanic women with a college degree earn only about

Income inequality is a huge problem in the United States. We have a higher income inequality than any other country. For most of recorded history, men tended to have higher wage than women which could reflect and underpin the gender roles that men were more highly valued socially and as well as economically. Since it becomes a problem, it is necessary to understand why that occurs and what can be the solution of it. In the present paper, the wage gap between gender in the U.S. society would be investigated and the facts behind would be discussed in depth.

This paper explores the sociological effects gender wage gap in all aspects of our society. Gender wage gap is when a Women is paid 79% of what men are paid, the gap is referencing the 21% gap in between what a man is paid and what a women is paid.This topic relates to Sociology because it pertains to social inequality, gender pay Discrimination, gender segregation, gender diversity, patriarchy, feminism, and gender inequality. African Americans and Hispanics have the biggest gap in pay and white and Asian women have the smallest gap. Inequality with Race and wage gap are one in the same when it comes to social inequality they are both a form of discrimination.

According to (Gillespie, 2014) and The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics the pay gap affects almost all working women, it is especially bad for Latina, African American, American Indian, and Native Hawaiian full-time female workers. In 2014, Latina women's annual salaries averaged just 54 percent of what white men in the same jobs brought home. When we look solely at the salaries of people of color, the pay gap is smaller — but only because men of color are paid less than non-Latino white men. Furthermore, white women earn more than African American and Latina women who have the same level of education — so the pay gap is a racial discrimination issue,

A sad fact that needs to be considered when looking at this is from an article that Kellogg Insight put out. It states, “black job seekers are offered—and accept—less compensation than white job seekers. In fact, racial discrimination among employers could account for at least a third of the raw wage gap between black and white workers.” This shows how discrimination impacts income inequality.