Women And A Living Wage Essay

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.

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.

The gender wage gap has been around since women began having jobs and careers. Though in the beginning the gender wage gap was purely do to discrimination by social stereotypes, now it has become more complicated than that. The issue today has evolved into a complex issue which combines our American culture with business economics. As a result, some are skeptical of the issue and some are very adamant in their beliefs. The issue encompasses not only gender stereo types but also educational, government policies and business’s best practices.

Women have made significant strides in society, proving themselves to be as capable as men in the workforce. However, while women are making equal contributions, men and women are not earning equal wages. Even though the Equal Pay Act was established in 1963, women continue to earn lower wages than men over half a century later. This inequality not only affects women as individuals but has a detrimental effect on the national economy. The gender wage gap in the United States should end because it is unjust; correcting it would have social and economic benefits for the U.S.

The gender wage gap has been a nationwide problem since women were able to enter the workforce. Women have begun to speak out more about the issue and evaluate what they can do to change the industries and how they personally present themselves to help this change. Currently there is a wide range of opinions on this issue, with some saying it does not exist while others think it will ruin the economy if not fixed immediately. This makes it more difficult to address the problem and predict how it will be in the future; however, all sides of the spectrum are becoming more aware of what the gender wage gap means and what they can do to change it. This paper will analyze the different stances on the extent of this social issue as well as the current practices being used to increase knowledge and equalize pay for all.

It has been more than fifty years since the Equal Pay Act of 1963 was enacted, yet gender pay gap still exists today. According to National Women’s Law Center, women are paid only 80 cent for every dollar their male counterpart are paid. According to American Association of University Women, the total estimated loss of earnings for women compared to men over the course of 45 years are $700,000 for a high school graduate, $1.2 million for a college graduate, and $2 million for a professional school graduate. Although there are many factors that are responsible for gender pay gap, 40% of the pay gap is due to discrimination according to a report by the Joint Economic Committee Democratic Staff. By discriminating women, we, as a society, are telling

The gender wage gap is a widespread and pressing issue. It is also a highly debated subject in the United States in which some refuse to even believe exists at all.

Inequality has been a dilemma for several years in countless different ways. A persistent problem with disproportion of income between women and men has been lingering within many companies in the United States. It has been said that women earn less money than men in the workplace for many different reasons. Some of these reasons are that women have not spent enough time in the office to be rewarded with raises and bonuses because they are busy with their home lives and taking care of their children, they, unlike men, have been taught to be timid and unaggressive which ultimately steers them away from requesting higher pay, or they do not meet the qualifications to receive promotions (Hymowitz, 2008). This essay is in response to On

In the past, men outnumbered the women workforce, but women have made large economic and educational progress during the past decades despite the gender pay gap. This was possible due to the 1963 Equal Pay Act and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which are designed to bring the gender wage and other discriminatory practices to an end. Organizations are failing to apply the law of the Equal Pay Act and for this reason the progress of gender pay equity is not satisfactory. In the tech sector, the ratio of female employees to male employees is much lower than in other fields. The gender wage gap has been a major issue for women in the workforce, making the pay scale unequal regardless of the individual’s experience, skills, and equal educational background as men; thus the government has to take action on this matter to ensure pay equity.

The gender pay gap measures the earning differences between women and men in paid employment in the labour market. It is one of many indicators of gender inequality in a country, when examining labour market participation in terms of gender (EC 2007). Though we try to fight for gender equality in the workplace, us females still face many difficulties. While they’ve made strides in breaking through the “glass ceiling,” we often have many other challenges, things such as sexism, discrimination, sometimes even racism. We have a large gender pay gap all around the world. In the United States alone, it’s found in Hollywood to Wall Street to the middle of nowhere in Missouri. Even in the medical profession, there are many pay gaps.

After analyzing the history of the gender wage gap, the paper will now look at the current state of the issue. The percentage of female earnings compared to male earnings increased from around 60 percent in 1980 to 77 percent in 2010, according to National Compensation Survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (Blau and Kahn 2000). The gap was larger for African-American and Hispanic women, who earned only 70% and 61% respectively of what white men earned. As a result, April 20, 2011 was known as Equal Pay Day, which is the approximate day the average female employee would

Throughout American history and culture, the male sex is portrayed as more valuable than the female sex. In other words, superior. When you look at the greatest influential leaders, entrepreneurs, politicians, musicians; most of them are men. When you look at the workplace, almost every industry is dominated by males. Sports is also a field mostly dominated by men. The question is why? Many people believe it is because males are physically, mentally, and emotionally more powerful than females which make them more superior. However, many feminists argue that women are superior to men but they never had enough time to prove it. The physical and psychological differences between the two sexes formed two different social roles. However, gender socialization and stereotypes prevented American women from being able to prove of being equal to men if not better.

I believe that the biggest reason that gender inequality still exists today is due to the fact the much of the population is stuck in the past. Just a few generations ago, the roles for males and females were clearly laid out. The male was to be the head of the household and provide for his family. While the man worked, the woman was expected to be the homemaker. She cooked, cleaned, and cared for the children. Some families still operate like this, and I have nothing against it, but the fact is the roles have changed. Author Sheryl Sandberg made an interesting

Gender inequality is defined as the unequal treatment of individuals on the ground of gender. Gender inequality is the result from the different social construction as well as biological difference. It is the treatment of boys and girls differently at home, school, work, and other situations. From childhood, society develops norms that are expressing a gender role that what type of behavior is acceptable for boys and girls in the society. As, boys are expected to act with those toys that assist them in decision making roles, whereas girls usually play with those toys that teach them an expressive role like caring and nourishing. Gender role creates the masculinity and femininity identity that describe the masculine and feminine behavior for men and women in society.

Gender inequality refers to unequal treatment or perceptions of individuals based on their gender. It arises from differences in socially constructed gender roles as well as biologically through chromosomes, brain structure, and hormonal differences. There is a natural difference also in the relative physical strengths of the sexes.