On average, women who work full-time make 78 cents of every dollar a man earns, this gap in wage deprives women of the income needed to support herself and her family. This is very prevalent when half of the workforce today are women, and yet still bring home less money each day.To demonstrate, a recent study by the Institute for Women's Policy Research for the AFL-CIO shows the cost of the gender-gap when “The average family loses $4,000 each year in unequal women’s wages” (Goodman, Ellen. "Pay-equity Issue Is Back On National Agenda, And Not A Decade Too Soon." Tribunedigital-sunsentinel. N.p., 20 Mar. 1999. Web.). This study shows how getting paid 22 cents less can have a very devastating impact on women. In an article on unequal pay the …show more content…
The fact that women who work full time make 77 percent of what men do is discrimination in its own right, when Bryce Covert writes an article on discrimination on working women when he states “A more recent study by economists Francine Blau and Lawrence Kahn found that while experience, occupation, and industry explain much of the gap, there is still more than 40 percent of it that remains unexplained, the part that could be chalked up to discrimination” (Covert, Bryce. "Here’s Why We Know The Gender Wage Gap Really Does Exist." Think Progress Here's Why We Know The Gender Wage Gap Really Does Exist Comments. Center For American Progress Action Fund, 08 Apr. 2014. Web.). In addition Covert talks about women being discriminated when he states, “We can also look to the real world to see instances where it’s clear that outright discrimination is still at play… where female employees across the and with substantial experience say they were still paid less than less qualified men”(Covert, Bryce. "Here’s Why We Know The Gender Wage Gap Really Does Exist." Think Progress Here's Why We Know The Gender Wage Gap Really Does Exist Comments. Center For American Progress Action Fund, 08 Apr. 2014. Web.). This is also seen when a PEW Research Center article discusses the gender gap and how “women are about twice as likely as men to say they had been discriminated against at work because of their gender (18% vs. 10%)”(Patten, Eileen. "On Equal Pay Day, Key Facts about the Gender Pay Gap." Pew Research Center RSS. N.p., 14 Apr. 2015. Web.). To this extent, discrimination towards women in the workforce is one of the main reasons women don’t get paid as much as they should which could better the harsh circumstances which women live in
The main purpose of the article, “Equal Pay Day: When, where and why women earn less than men” by Dana Ford, is to inform the audience about the pay gap between genders that still exists in the United States today. To emphasize on the subject of gender pay gap, Ford shows the reader how race, age, and even the state the woman lives in could affect how big or small the pay gap is. While the speaker, Dana Ford, may use a negative tone toward the issue, this newdesk editor is also aware of the progress in equality in the past 50 years. Ford states that “The good news is that the gender pay gap is getting smaller. In 1964, women on average were paid 59% of what men were paid.
Sometimes, women are not given the chance to make more money because employers think that men are stronger, smarter, or more experienced or skilled (Gender Differences 84). This obviously means that women do not get a fair chance to get higher paying jobs in some cases. However, women know how to fight and try to make things right. An example of this is in the article “Understanding the ‘‘Family Gap’’ in Pay for Women with Children”. Jane Waldfogel states that if women had “not increased their investments in education and experience, the gender pay gap would have widened in the 1980s simply due to the changes in the overall wage structure” (140).
In some cases these are true but there are quite a few cases are due to gender discrimination. Women and men should be paid the same amount for doing the same amount of work. Women today are breaking down social standards. There are more working full time jobs. Women are actually earning more degrees than men, (Perry).
Women have been discriminated against for centuries and have always been underpaid for doing the exact same jobs men do. Why is there a gap then you may ask. Well, it is due to the basic fact that women are not men, thus do not need to be treated equally to their male counterparts. Enough
“Honestly, I don’t understand what there is to argue about,” Matthew stated, shrugging. He acted as if his opinion was the only one that mattered. “Matthew, there is a lot to argue about. You say the gender pay gap doesn’t exist, but it obviously does! Did you know that a woman only earns 77 cents for every dollar that a man does?
The year the Equal Pay Act was passed into law (1963) the wage gap between a man and women working full time was 41 cents with women making 59 cents for every dollar a man earned. Since then, the income disparity has decreased by almost 50 percent. In 2014, the wage gap was 21 cents with women making 79 cents for every dollar a man earned (The Wage Gap Over Time). This 20 cent decrease in the wage gap since 1963 shows how significant of a difference the Equal Pay Act and its enforcement through Corning Glass Works v Brennan, along with other court cases, have been. The current 21 cent wage gap today shows that the issue of unequal pay based on sex still exists, and that more needs to be done to close this gap.
Shining some much-needed sunlight on the gender wage gap will make a difference for every one of us, men and women, right now.” (www.nytimes.com, 16). “It’s the twenty-first century, and the gender wage gap affects the daily life of women throughout the country, at every economic level, from cashier to CEO. Is it fair? No.
Analyzing the wage gap, it is seen that the gap does not boil down to rampant sexism, however, it is because of a combination of economic, social, and educational factors. According to studies, the fields that attract women tend to pay less. Education and healthcare industries attract about a third of female employees; the median weekly income of those sectors is $841, roughly the same amount of men work in computer and engineering fields, that earn a median of $1,120. However, Even within female-dominated sectors, men still make more money, comparatively. In 1999 a woman working in a majority female workplace earned 25.9 percent less than a woman working in a male-driven sector; a man in the same employment scenario earned only 12.5 percent less (Boraas and Rodgers III,
The Gender Pay Gap in the United States For centuries, women have been subject to many different types of inequalities. Consequently, they are subjects of disadvantages every day. From politics, economics, education, and even health care, gender inequality exists everywhere. One of the biggest problems this causes is a distribution of wealth between men and women. Even though this has been a persistent issue to date, there has been little talk of change.
One can discern that discrimination in the workplace does not cause the gender wage gap, but the choices women make, such as working less hours (Jarosek). For instance, both male and female pharmacists make approximately the same wage per hour; however, women work fewer hours than men, hence the extensive gap regarding their wages (Devani). If an individual works more hours and possibly overtime, this implies that their income per hour would increase, resulting in a larger income compared to others that work less hours. Although, this “choice” many argue women make simply does not explain why women that work the same amount of hours as men with the same educational level get paid significantly
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.
Annotated Bibliography Quast, L. (2015, November 22). The Gender Pay Gap Issue Is Fixable -- But May Require Bolder Actions To Overcome. Retrieved from Forbes.com: http://www.forbes.com/sites/lisaquast/2015/11/22/the-gender-pay-gap-issue-is-fixable-but-may-require-bolder-actions-to-overcome/2/ It is reported by the Economic Policy Institute that although women had made tremendous records entering into workforce and gain great successes in education, but their wage is 83% comparing to men. The world forum also released a report in 2015 that women now make as much as men earned a decade ago.
Women working full-time, year-round earn a median salary of $41,554 compared to men 's median salary of $51,640 (Semega). The disparity is $10,086 per year and when calculating over the course of their career the difference is almost half a million dollars. This reduces women’s lifetime earnings and affects their pension, retirement, and social security. Although the wage gap has existed since the 1800’s, the increased participation of women in the labor force correlates with the decrease of the wage gap. The wage gap has dwindled over the years; however, the progress has slowed down in the past two decades.
The statistics vary, but the average female worker is said to earn $0.77 cents for every dollar a man earns doing the same job. Likewise, Yale University conducted a study where they gave identical job resumes to potential employers labeling one with the name John and the other Jennifer, and John was offered, on average, $4,000 more in annual income. Both “John” and “Jennifer” had the same qualifications and the same amount of education, though for some unknown reason, the male candidate was viewed as more valuable. This kind of gender discrimination displays how women have an unfair disadvantage in the American workplace.
Why do we allow society to determine our level of success? Today inequality is the highest it has been since 1928(Desilver). There is a wide income gap between rich and poor(Desilver). Success is thought to be earning a high income, being married, or based on your demographics. We as individuals are treated better or worse based off of how people characterize or categorize others.