The Gender Pay Gap

“Join the union, girls, and together say Equal Pay for Equal Work” -Susan B. Anthony. Countless women, even here in the U.S. have some sort of the wage gap. The wage gap is the difference between the median earnings of women relative to median earnings of men. In this case, women earn a significant amount less than men. Although the wage gap has gotten smaller over the years, the wage gap still has a long way to go. Women deserve better than just minimum earnings. Full time, working women should obtain the best promotions and benefits. Women that work just as tough and have the equivalent qualifications as men do still earn less, and that is just unacceptable. The wage gap should be abolished on behalf of women of color and their struggle, equal pay is a global problem, equal pay benefits employers and workers, and the wage gap accumulates over time.

The gender pay gap is the difference between male and female earnings averaged in percentages. This difference in pay due to gender seems like it would be an obsolete practice in the twenty-first century, but it is real and is affecting millions of women and households in the country. In 2014, women working full time in the United States were paid 79 percent on average of what men were being paid, which is a gap of approximately 21 percent. This means that in the United States, females earned 94 cents on average to every dollar earned by males. According to one study by the Department of Labor’s Chief Economist, a typical 25-year-old woman working full time would earn $5,000 less over the course of her working career than a typical 25-year old man working in the same career. The reason why this pay gap exists does expand into other factors such as education, experience, the work being performed, qualifications, age, and ethnicity which are taken into account. The studies being conducted on the pay gap has economists verifying that discrimination is the best overall explanation and factor of the difference in pay between males and females.

The gender pay gap is a problem nationwide in the United States. It is a phenomenon that affects women of all education levels, ages, and races. Although it varies in a state-by-state basis, the pay gap is prevalent in all states (Miller, 2017). The issue is also occupation-wide, meaning that nearly every occupation will have a gender gap (Miller, 2017). Statistics from The Simple Truth About the Gender Pay Gap have shown that while an increase in education help women earn more, it does not eliminate the problem all together or close the gap (Miller, 2017). As of recent statistics, women are paid approximately 80 cents for every dollar a man makes, however, the gap is worse for women of color, especially, when compared to the salary of that of white men; African American women earn 63% of the salary that white men earn, Native American women earn 58%, and the largest gap is for Latina women, who earn only 54% (Miller, 2017).

The gender pay gap in the United States forms a slightly mixed feeling. On one hand, after years of opposition to the earnings of women compared to men. There has been a large increase in women's earnings since the 1970s. The gender pay gap in the United States is measured through the female to male average yearly earnings for a full-time, year-round worker. Previously, a woman earned 77 cents for every dollar that a male gets. Since 1980, the gap has narrowed by 16.8 cents, improving from 60.2 cents to 77 cents, as stated by the Institute for Women’s Policy. The current pay gap between female and male is 82 cent for every one dollar. This growth is significant because it opposes the relative stability of the earlier incomes of a woman in the

The gender pay gap in is the difference of paid between a man and a woman doing the same work. This is not just a United States problem as it can be seen across the world in many fields of work. There are many factors that contribute to the gender pay gap and there is not one clear solution for these issues. Regardless of a solution the results of the wage gap are apparent, it mainly effects women as it lowers their wages as they are paid less for equal work, have penalized them for having children, and shows bias within employers. It unfair that women are getting frequently paid less regardless of education, age, and field.

Equality of wages in America is of high concern and has been for a long period of time. On no account of America’s history, have women and men’s wages ever been equal, rather they have always had a significant gap between them. This has seen women as undervalued, causing a lot of discrimination and hardship in the workplace for women. Especially for women of color the wage gap is even larger. The pay gap in America affects women of all ages, races, and education levels but what can they do to close it?

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.

According to The National Organization for Women, women only make 77 cents per dollar a man makes, this can cause women to stay in unhealthy and abusive relationships because they are financially depended on their spouse or boyfriend. There is a 9.4% pay gap between men and women, this causes many women to feel angry and that there is a social injustice that they want to change. Women do the same work as men and only earn 77 per dollar simply because she is a woman. This results in women making thousands of dollars less than a

We as women go against lots of discrimination based on our genders and that needs to be stopped. Pay inequality isn't at all new news, it has been a problem for a while and women have had to work harder just to earn the same amount as their male coworkers. Before and after the equal pay act was passed in 1963, there has been a large gap in the economy between men and women. In our jobs, all across America we face a pay gap especially in our sport teams. Pay gaps in sports are big problems especially for female athletes.

Being a woman myself, the gender pay gap is something I’ve heard of and am well aware of. The gender pay gap is something that affects, women of all races, ages, whether they are married or single. It’s also something that is affecting women with higher education and in professions all around the world.

This statistic alone shows that women are viewed as less important and unworthy of the same financial stability that a man is entitled to. This is an important issue because women are the breadwinners for more than 50% of American households. (The White House) Families and children depend on women to get a substantial income, and without receiving as high of a salary as a man, the households who rely on women are at a disadvantage. Simple school supplies, medical expenses, and college tuition are all harder to obtain and pay for for those families who rely on women to provide the bulk or all of the income. It takes mothers an extra six months to acquire the same amount of money that fathers earn in one year, which sets them back and makes it harder for women to live a life equal to that of a man. (The White House) While the Equal Pay Act was put into place in 1963, the pay gap definitely still exists. This shows that even though there are restrictions on unequal pay, somehow businesses and corporations are getting around it and allowing men to make more money than women.

Income inequalities among the genders are often reported in numerous countries around the world with some having a very high disparity rate. This disparity is referred to as gender wage gap and is measured as the ratio between the women 's median earnings and the men 's median earning in a certain period. According to American Association of University Women (AAUW), the United States had a gender wage gap of about 22% in 2013 (Glynn, Sarah, Milia and Emily 2). This means that women earned about 78% of the earnings of their male counterparts. According to Bennett, the U.S Department of Labor recorded a gender wage gap of 18% weekly in 2013; Since the 1970s, this gap

     On average, women earn 74 cents for each dollar earned by the male population. This number is calculated by comparing median annual earnings of men and women. But several other differences between the sexes make up for the variation in pay. Work experience, education, background, skills, and other lifestyle choices account for much of the pay gap.

Women are getting paid only 79 cents for every dollar men are earning (Gender Inequality and Women in the Workplace). 79 cents do not sound like much of a difference from one dollar, but why should women be comforted with that instead of equal pay. If women bring the same skill level to the job and same level of higher education, then they should be getting paid the same as their male co- workers. The problem with equal pay is that many people are not aware that women and men are not being paid the same for completing the same level of work. Approximately “91 percent of men think that there is equal pay between both male and females and 50 percent of females believe the same” (How to beat workplace gender inequality). Like mentioned the root of the problem is that people not being effected by the issue tend to believe that there is no issue. The gap between the amount men get paid and the amount that women get paid is improving, but at a very slow rate throughout the decades. In other countries such as Europe the gender wage gap has a difference of only 16. 4 percent of how much women earn compared to men (GENDER INEQUALITY). Although the percentage of that does not seem too high, there should be no difference there at all for women to gain equality.

One of the most heavily debated socio-economic issues in today’s world revolves around the unequal pay between males and females. Despite multiple legislations passed by the government, gender inequality is still apparent; pay gaps can be observed in all different fields. Splitting the wages of women by their race displays even more discrimination, as African-American and Latina women are paid significantly less than Caucasian women. There are several factors which attempt to explain the reason behind the gender wage gap, such as the influence of traditional gender roles and the evidence of vertical and horizontal sex segregation. The gender wage gap is a worldwide problem which contributes to the social inequality between sexes and requires immediate improvement through economic solutions.