Gender gap was started to be seen as a social, economic and political issue in the 1970’s. During this time proponents of equal rights and especially feminists fought for social equality for women including same wage comparing with men. Gender pay gap is considered to be the difference in men’s and women’s median earnings doing the same job. Even though over a past few years the gap was decreasing, at the moment it is still considerable. According Eurostat, in 2014 women 's gross hourly earnings were on average 16.1% below those of men in the European Union.
For many years there has been controversies about the gender wage gap in our society. Discrimination, abuse, illegal, unfair, and chauvinism are some of terms that come to our minds when this topic is brought to the table since these are the words most critics, advocates, feminist activist, social workers and many others use to refer to the wide gender pay gap existing nowadays. In this paper we are going to examine the arguments of J. R. Shackleton and Hilary M. Lips, to have a better understanding of the gender wage gap in our country and to see if there is a possible solution to this problem. Shackleton suggest that there are some explanation about the differences in women and men hourly wages, and attempts to explain why are these differences
For African American women, however, another 65 years is added merely because the color of their skin is different from others. The worst though is for Hispanic women; equality in pay is not expected to come to them until 2233 (Pay). This all goes to show truly how unique each case can become. An analysis by Oxfam Canada and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives states that the gender wage gap is not merely because the stereotypical woman works less than men or because women have a different degree of education or experience. The analysis states that “Even when all of these factors are considered, the result remains the same: a wage gap” (Grant).
On top of that they also have the same education. According to the source, “ In 2016 the gender wage gap between men and women was only 20 percent which is an improvement from the 1970’s - 2000’s wage gap”(The Simple Truth). Even though the gap between the wages has decreased since years past doesn’t mean that this world issue has been solved. In fact there is still significant work to be done. Studies found that, “In 50 states of the USA plus the District of Columbia there is a wage gap problem”(The Simple Truth).
“Overall, women are paid 80 cents for every man’s dollar” (Ness n.pg.) One of the most prevalent topics in the last decade men and women alike have been actively working for equality in this pay disparity, and fighting to eliminate this discrimination against women. It is true a gap exists in the earnings between men and women; however, there are too many factors left out of the statistic to be as simple as discrimination. Employment statistics have shown that throughout history humans of different gender and race have different tendencies in the workplace, and jobs they choose. That is why the Gender Wage Gap does not have to do with gender discrimination because of such factors as specific occupation choices, average hours worked, and average
Even though in some cases this may reflect personal choices, traditions, and stereotypes still carry much weight for example, this is evident in the choice of educational path and professional careers young women choose. According to renowned economist Francine Blau and Lawrence Khan “about half of the gender wage gap in the economy is due to job segregation.” (Blau, Khan, Furthermore, women experience greater difficulties than men when it comes to leveling the field of work and private life. This
These stereotypes have been defining what men and women should do and how they should behave. They were also determining the characteristics that each gender is considered to have, in the society’s eyes. The major problem why these stereotypes and hierarchies are still holding on, is the fact that people, men and women, do not have their actual beliefs and expectations and they just accept the way that the society formed and teaches them to believe about genders and this creates an even more intense discrimination. If people were forming their own beliefs and judgements about genders and accept females and males, both as equal, there would be less discrimination (The Guardian, 2013). Gender inequality at the workplace can be easily noticed through examples of events that happen when it comes to employability or even at work time.
America is the land of opportunities...so they say. Throughout history, gender inequalities in the United States have always been prevalent. Surprisingly, many of these inequalities are still experienced today. Out of 144 countries, the World Economic Forum ranks America 45th on their Global Gender Gap Index. Since America greatly lags, it’s safe to say workforce injustices largely contribute to the gender gap.
The gender pay gap is a significant issue in the United States because it promotes institutional and internal sexism and the unfair treatment of human beings. An infamous statistic about the wage gap has been the 77 cent statistic, stating that for every dollar a man earns, a woman earns 77 cents. The statistic is calculated by, “...dividing the median earnings of full-time, year-round, working women by the median earnings of full-time, year-round, working men, all rounded to the nearest $100” (Glynn 2). This, however, represents males and females from all occupations, causing opponents to argue that, because it does not represent the gap between people who have the same job, a wage gap does not exist. Nonetheless, multiple studies have proven that a gender pay gap does exist within the United States.
There are currently a number of various social inequalities that face our society today. Most of today 's issues have to deal with racial inequality. One issue we have faced in our nation for several decades is gender inequality, more specifically the gender pay gap. In an article released by American Enterprise Institute (AEI), There really is no “gender wage gap.’ There’s a ‘gender earnings gap’ but ‘paying women well’ won’t close that gap, by Mark Perry argues why the gender pay gap doesn’t matter. In another article by CQ Researcher, Women and Work, written by Michelle Johnson disagrees with Perry and that women need to be paid the same as men.