wage gap argumentative essay

Report | Wages, Incomes, and Wealth

“Women’s work” and the gender pay gap : How discrimination, societal norms, and other forces affect women’s occupational choices—and their pay

Report • By Jessica Schieder and Elise Gould • July 20, 2016

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What this report finds: Women are paid 79 cents for every dollar paid to men—despite the fact that over the last several decades millions more women have joined the workforce and made huge gains in their educational attainment. Too often it is assumed that this pay gap is not evidence of discrimination, but is instead a statistical artifact of failing to adjust for factors that could drive earnings differences between men and women. However, these factors—particularly occupational differences between women and men—are themselves often affected by gender bias. For example, by the time a woman earns her first dollar, her occupational choice is the culmination of years of education, guidance by mentors, expectations set by those who raised her, hiring practices of firms, and widespread norms and expectations about work–family balance held by employers, co-workers, and society. In other words, even though women disproportionately enter lower-paid, female-dominated occupations, this decision is shaped by discrimination, societal norms, and other forces beyond women’s control.

Why it matters, and how to fix it: The gender wage gap is real—and hurts women across the board by suppressing their earnings and making it harder to balance work and family. Serious attempts to understand the gender wage gap should not include shifting the blame to women for not earning more. Rather, these attempts should examine where our economy provides unequal opportunities for women at every point of their education, training, and career choices.

Introduction and key findings

Women are paid 79 cents for every dollar paid to men (Hegewisch and DuMonthier 2016). This is despite the fact that over the last several decades millions more women have joined the workforce and made huge gains in their educational attainment.

Critics of this widely cited statistic claim it is not solid evidence of economic discrimination against women because it is unadjusted for characteristics other than gender that can affect earnings, such as years of education, work experience, and location. Many of these skeptics contend that the gender wage gap is driven not by discrimination, but instead by voluntary choices made by men and women—particularly the choice of occupation in which they work. And occupational differences certainly do matter—occupation and industry account for about half of the overall gender wage gap (Blau and Kahn 2016).

To isolate the impact of overt gender discrimination—such as a woman being paid less than her male coworker for doing the exact same job—it is typical to adjust for such characteristics. But these adjusted statistics can radically understate the potential for gender discrimination to suppress women’s earnings. This is because gender discrimination does not occur only in employers’ pay-setting practices. It can happen at every stage leading to women’s labor market outcomes.

Take one key example: occupation of employment. While controlling for occupation does indeed reduce the measured gender wage gap, the sorting of genders into different occupations can itself be driven (at least in part) by discrimination. By the time a woman earns her first dollar, her occupational choice is the culmination of years of education, guidance by mentors, expectations set by those who raised her, hiring practices of firms, and widespread norms and expectations about work–family balance held by employers, co-workers, and society. In other words, even though women disproportionately enter lower-paid, female-dominated occupations, this decision is shaped by discrimination, societal norms, and other forces beyond women’s control.

This paper explains why gender occupational sorting is itself part of the discrimination women face, examines how this sorting is shaped by societal and economic forces, and explains that gender pay gaps are present even  within  occupations.

Key points include:

• Gender pay gaps within occupations persist, even after accounting for years of experience, hours worked, and education.
• Decisions women make about their occupation and career do not happen in a vacuum—they are also shaped by society.
• The long hours required by the highest-paid occupations can make it difficult for women to succeed, since women tend to shoulder the majority of family caretaking duties.
• Many professions dominated by women are low paid, and professions that have become female-dominated have become lower paid.

This report examines wages on an hourly basis. Technically, this is an adjusted gender wage gap measure. As opposed to weekly or annual earnings, hourly earnings ignore the fact that men work more hours on average throughout a week or year. Thus, the hourly gender wage gap is a bit smaller than the 79 percent figure cited earlier. This minor adjustment allows for a comparison of women’s and men’s wages without assuming that women, who still shoulder a disproportionate amount of responsibilities at home, would be able or willing to work as many hours as their male counterparts. Examining the hourly gender wage gap allows for a more thorough conversation about how many factors create the wage gap women experience when they cash their paychecks.

Within-occupation gender wage gaps are large—and persist after controlling for education and other factors

Those keen on downplaying the gender wage gap often claim women voluntarily choose lower pay by disproportionately going into stereotypically female professions or by seeking out lower-paid positions. But even when men and women work in the same occupation—whether as hairdressers, cosmetologists, nurses, teachers, computer engineers, mechanical engineers, or construction workers—men make more, on average, than women (CPS microdata 2011–2015).

As a thought experiment, imagine if women’s occupational distribution mirrored men’s. For example, if 2 percent of men are carpenters, suppose 2 percent of women become carpenters. What would this do to the wage gap? After controlling for differences in education and preferences for full-time work, Goldin (2014) finds that 32 percent of the gender pay gap would be closed.

However, leaving women in their current occupations and just closing the gaps between women and their male counterparts within occupations (e.g., if male and female civil engineers made the same per hour) would close 68 percent of the gap. This means examining why waiters and waitresses, for example, with the same education and work experience do not make the same amount per hour. To quote Goldin:

Another way to measure the effect of occupation is to ask what would happen to the aggregate gender gap if one equalized earnings by gender within each occupation or, instead, evened their proportions for each occupation. The answer is that equalizing earnings within each occupation matters far more than equalizing the proportions by each occupation. (Goldin 2014)

This phenomenon is not limited to low-skilled occupations, and women cannot educate themselves out of the gender wage gap (at least in terms of broad formal credentials). Indeed, women’s educational attainment outpaces men’s; 37.0 percent of women have a college or advanced degree, as compared with 32.5 percent of men (CPS ORG 2015). Furthermore, women earn less per hour at every education level, on average. As shown in Figure A , men with a college degree make more per hour than women with an advanced degree. Likewise, men with a high school degree make more per hour than women who attended college but did not graduate. Even straight out of college, women make $4 less per hour than men—a gap that has grown since 2000 (Kroeger, Cooke, and Gould 2016).

Women earn less than men at every education level : Average hourly wages, by gender and education, 2015

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The data underlying the figure.

Source :  EPI analysis of Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Group microdata

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Steering women to certain educational and professional career paths—as well as outright discrimination—can lead to different occupational outcomes

The gender pay gap is driven at least in part by the cumulative impact of many instances over the course of women’s lives when they are treated differently than their male peers. Girls can be steered toward gender-normative careers from a very early age. At a time when parental influence is key, parents are often more likely to expect their sons, rather than their daughters, to work in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) fields, even when their daughters perform at the same level in mathematics (OECD 2015).

Expectations can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. A 2005 study found third-grade girls rated their math competency scores much lower than boys’, even when these girls’ performance did not lag behind that of their male counterparts (Herbert and Stipek 2005). Similarly, in states where people were more likely to say that “women [are] better suited for home” and “math is for boys,” girls were more likely to have lower math scores and higher reading scores (Pope and Sydnor 2010). While this only establishes a correlation, there is no reason to believe gender aptitude in reading and math would otherwise be related to geography. Parental expectations can impact performance by influencing their children’s self-confidence because self-confidence is associated with higher test scores (OECD 2015).

By the time young women graduate from high school and enter college, they already evaluate their career opportunities differently than young men do. Figure B shows college freshmen’s intended majors by gender. While women have increasingly gone into medical school and continue to dominate the nursing field, women are significantly less likely to arrive at college interested in engineering, computer science, or physics, as compared with their male counterparts.

Women arrive at college less interested in STEM fields as compared with their male counterparts : Intent of first-year college students to major in select STEM fields, by gender, 2014

Source:  EPI adaptation of Corbett and Hill (2015) analysis of Eagan et al. (2014)

These decisions to allow doors to lucrative job opportunities to close do not take place in a vacuum. Many factors might make it difficult for a young woman to see herself working in computer science or a similarly remunerative field. A particularly depressing example is the well-publicized evidence of sexism in the tech industry (Hewlett et al. 2008). Unfortunately, tech isn’t the only STEM field with this problem.

Young women may be discouraged from certain career paths because of industry culture. Even for women who go against the grain and pursue STEM careers, if employers in the industry foster an environment hostile to women’s participation, the share of women in these occupations will be limited. One 2008 study found that “52 percent of highly qualified females working for SET [science, technology, and engineering] companies quit their jobs, driven out by hostile work environments and extreme job pressures” (Hewlett et al. 2008). Extreme job pressures are defined as working more than 100 hours per week, needing to be available 24/7, working with or managing colleagues in multiple time zones, and feeling pressure to put in extensive face time (Hewlett et al. 2008). As compared with men, more than twice as many women engage in housework on a daily basis, and women spend twice as much time caring for other household members (BLS 2015). Because of these cultural norms, women are less likely to be able to handle these extreme work pressures. In addition, 63 percent of women in SET workplaces experience sexual harassment (Hewlett et al. 2008). To make matters worse, 51 percent abandon their SET training when they quit their job. All of these factors play a role in steering women away from highly paid occupations, particularly in STEM fields.

The long hours required for some of the highest-paid occupations are incompatible with historically gendered family responsibilities

Those seeking to downplay the gender wage gap often suggest that women who work hard enough and reach the apex of their field will see the full fruits of their labor. In reality, however, the gender wage gap is wider for those with higher earnings. Women in the top 95th percentile of the wage distribution experience a much larger gender pay gap than lower-paid women.

Again, this large gender pay gap between the highest earners is partially driven by gender bias. Harvard economist Claudia Goldin (2014) posits that high-wage firms have adopted pay-setting practices that disproportionately reward individuals who work very long and very particular hours. This means that even if men and women are equally productive per hour, individuals—disproportionately men—who are more likely to work excessive hours and be available at particular off-hours are paid more highly (Hersch and Stratton 2002; Goldin 2014; Landers, Rebitzer, and Taylor 1996).

It is clear why this disadvantages women. Social norms and expectations exert pressure on women to bear a disproportionate share of domestic work—particularly caring for children and elderly parents. This can make it particularly difficult for them (relative to their male peers) to be available at the drop of a hat on a Sunday evening after working a 60-hour week. To the extent that availability to work long and particular hours makes the difference between getting a promotion or seeing one’s career stagnate, women are disadvantaged.

And this disadvantage is reinforced in a vicious circle. Imagine a household where both members of a male–female couple have similarly demanding jobs. One partner’s career is likely to be prioritized if a grandparent is hospitalized or a child’s babysitter is sick. If the past history of employer pay-setting practices that disadvantage women has led to an already-existing gender wage gap for this couple, it can be seen as “rational” for this couple to prioritize the male’s career. This perpetuates the expectation that it always makes sense for women to shoulder the majority of domestic work, and further exacerbates the gender wage gap.

Female-dominated professions pay less, but it’s a chicken-and-egg phenomenon

Many women do go into low-paying female-dominated industries. Home health aides, for example, are much more likely to be women. But research suggests that women are making a logical choice, given existing constraints . This is because they will likely not see a significant pay boost if they try to buck convention and enter male-dominated occupations. Exceptions certainly exist, particularly in the civil service or in unionized workplaces (Anderson, Hegewisch, and Hayes 2015). However, if women in female-dominated occupations were to go into male-dominated occupations, they would often have similar or lower expected wages as compared with their female counterparts in female-dominated occupations (Pitts 2002). Thus, many women going into female-dominated occupations are actually situating themselves to earn higher wages. These choices thereby maximize their wages (Pitts 2002). This holds true for all categories of women except for the most educated, who are more likely to earn more in a male profession than a female profession. There is also evidence that if it becomes more lucrative for women to move into male-dominated professions, women will do exactly this (Pitts 2002). In short, occupational choice is heavily influenced by existing constraints based on gender and pay-setting across occupations.

To make matters worse, when women increasingly enter a field, the average pay in that field tends to decline, relative to other fields. Levanon, England, and Allison (2009) found that when more women entered an industry, the relative pay of that industry 10 years later was lower. Specifically, they found evidence of devaluation—meaning the proportion of women in an occupation impacts the pay for that industry because work done by women is devalued.

Computer programming is an example of a field that has shifted from being a very mixed profession, often associated with secretarial work in the past, to being a lucrative, male-dominated profession (Miller 2016; Oldenziel 1999). While computer programming has evolved into a more technically demanding occupation in recent decades, there is no skills-based reason why the field needed to become such a male-dominated profession. When men flooded the field, pay went up. In contrast, when women became park rangers, pay in that field went down (Miller 2016).

Further compounding this problem is that many professions where pay is set too low by market forces, but which clearly provide enormous social benefits when done well, are female-dominated. Key examples range from home health workers who care for seniors, to teachers and child care workers who educate today’s children. If closing gender pay differences can help boost pay and professionalism in these key sectors, it would be a huge win for the economy and society.

The gender wage gap is real—and hurts women across the board. Too often it is assumed that this gap is not evidence of discrimination, but is instead a statistical artifact of failing to adjust for factors that could drive earnings differences between men and women. However, these factors—particularly occupational differences between women and men—are themselves affected by gender bias. Serious attempts to understand the gender wage gap should not include shifting the blame to women for not earning more. Rather, these attempts should examine where our economy provides unequal opportunities for women at every point of their education, training, and career choices.

— This paper was made possible by a grant from the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. The statements made and views expressed are solely the responsibility of the authors.

— The authors wish to thank Josh Bivens, Barbara Gault, and Heidi Hartman for their helpful comments.

About the authors

Jessica Schieder joined EPI in 2015. As a research assistant, she supports the research of EPI’s economists on topics such as the labor market, wage trends, executive compensation, and inequality. Prior to joining EPI, Jessica worked at the Center for Effective Government (formerly OMB Watch) as a revenue and spending policies analyst, where she examined how budget and tax policy decisions impact working families. She holds a bachelor’s degree in international political economy from Georgetown University.

Elise Gould , senior economist, joined EPI in 2003. Her research areas include wages, poverty, economic mobility, and health care. She is a co-author of The State of Working America, 12th Edition . In the past, she has authored a chapter on health in The State of Working America 2008/09; co-authored a book on health insurance coverage in retirement; published in venues such as The Chronicle of Higher Education ,  Challenge Magazine , and Tax Notes; and written for academic journals including Health Economics , Health Affairs, Journal of Aging and Social Policy, Risk Management & Insurance Review, Environmental Health Perspectives , and International Journal of Health Services . She holds a master’s in public affairs from the University of Texas at Austin and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Anderson, Julie, Ariane Hegewisch, and Jeff Hayes 2015. The Union Advantage for Women . Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

Blau, Francine D., and Lawrence M. Kahn 2016. The Gender Wage Gap: Extent, Trends, and Explanations . National Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper No. 21913.

Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). 2015. American Time Use Survey public data series. U.S. Census Bureau.

Corbett, Christianne, and Catherine Hill. 2015. Solving the Equation: The Variables for Women’s Success in Engineering and Computing . American Association of University Women (AAUW).

Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Group microdata (CPS ORG). 2011–2015. Survey conducted by the Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics [ machine-readable microdata file ]. U.S. Census Bureau.

Goldin, Claudia. 2014. “ A Grand Gender Convergence: Its Last Chapter .” American Economic Review, vol. 104, no. 4, 1091–1119.

Hegewisch, Ariane, and Asha DuMonthier. 2016. The Gender Wage Gap: 2015; Earnings Differences by Race and Ethnicity . Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

Herbert, Jennifer, and Deborah Stipek. 2005. “The Emergence of Gender Difference in Children’s Perceptions of Their Academic Competence.” Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology , vol. 26, no. 3, 276–295.

Hersch, Joni, and Leslie S. Stratton. 2002. “ Housework and Wages .” The Journal of Human Resources , vol. 37, no. 1, 217–229.

Hewlett, Sylvia Ann, Carolyn Buck Luce, Lisa J. Servon, Laura Sherbin, Peggy Shiller, Eytan Sosnovich, and Karen Sumberg. 2008. The Athena Factor: Reversing the Brain Drain in Science, Engineering, and Technology . Harvard Business Review.

Kroeger, Teresa, Tanyell Cooke, and Elise Gould. 2016.  The Class of 2016: The Labor Market Is Still Far from Ideal for Young Graduates . Economic Policy Institute.

Landers, Renee M., James B. Rebitzer, and Lowell J. Taylor. 1996. “ Rat Race Redux: Adverse Selection in the Determination of Work Hours in Law Firms .” American Economic Review , vol. 86, no. 3, 329–348.

Levanon, Asaf, Paula England, and Paul Allison. 2009. “Occupational Feminization and Pay: Assessing Causal Dynamics Using 1950-2000 U.S. Census Data.” Social Forces, vol. 88, no. 2, 865–892.

Miller, Claire Cain. 2016. “As Women Take Over a Male-Dominated Field, the Pay Drops.” New York Times , March 18.

Oldenziel, Ruth. 1999. Making Technology Masculine: Men, Women, and Modern Machines in America, 1870-1945 . Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). 2015. The ABC of Gender Equality in Education: Aptitude, Behavior, Confidence .

Pitts, Melissa M. 2002. Why Choose Women’s Work If It Pays Less? A Structural Model of Occupational Choice. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Working Paper 2002-30.

Pope, Devin G., and Justin R. Sydnor. 2010. “ Geographic Variation in the Gender Differences in Test Scores .” Journal of Economic Perspectives , vol. 24, no. 2, 95–108.

See related work on Wages, Incomes, and Wealth | Women

See more work by Jessica Schieder and Elise Gould

How to Counter Nine Arguments About The Gender Pay Gap

Tuesday, April 4 is Equal Pay Day, a day which symbolizes how far into the current year women must work in order to make the same amount of income that men made last year. As special attention is given to the gender wage gap today, you may hear many frustrating arguments about the pay gap that exists between men and women. In order to help navigate these arguments, the following is a guide debunking some of the most common erroneous assumptions about Equal Pay Day and the gender wage gap.

This year's Equal Pay Day demonstrates that, on average, in order to make the same salary as men made the previous year, women must work 44 days into the following year. This reflects an overall wage disparity of American women making, on average, 79 cents for every dollar that the average American man makes . Equal Pay Day is designed to draw attention to this disparity as well as to inspire others to take concrete action to remedy the issue.

However, while this day is meant as one of collective action and advocacy, it is also often punctuated with arguments from skeptics about why unequal pay is not discriminatory or why it exists in the first place. These arguments are certainly frustrating to encounter, particularly on a day meant to highlight inequitable treatment, and thus it is helpful to have counterpoints ready in case you do encounter them, today and everyday.

1. Women Don't Negotiate Their Pay

Some argue that the gender wage gap exists simply because women supposedly do not negotiate their salaries as well or as frequently as men. According to The Guardian, this notion is patently inaccurate. Women recognize the importance of negotiation and do indeed negotiate for higher salaries — they are just less likely to receive them , which is evidence of pay discrimination.

Furthermore, women actually run a much higher risk than men of being socially or professionally penalized for negotiating for more income. According to MONEY reporting on a Harvard Business Review article, "In repeated studies, the social cost of negotiating for higher pay has been found to be greater for women than it is for men... Ask your boss for more money and risk being seen as ungrateful and pushy; don't ask for more and you'll be paid less for the rest of your career."

Thus, discrimination in negotiation practices constitutes evidence of the equal pay gap and why it exists — and not an argument against it.

2. Women "Choose" Lower-Paying Jobs

Those who question the discriminatory component of the gender wage gap often say that women simply choose lower-paying jobs, which is why the gap exists. In fact, quite the opposite of this notion is true. Evidence demonstrates that when women choose jobs, the pay tends to decrease . This is demonstrated both in the average salaries for female-dominated professions as well as in overall sector salary decreases when more women choose to enter a profession that was previously dominated by men.

A sociology study cited in The Guardian was enlightening in regard to this issue and noted, "...When women enter an occupation in large numbers, that job begins to pay less , even after controlling for a range of factors like skill, race and geography... [Furthermore], their analysis found...that a higher proportion of women in an occupation leads to lower pay because of the discounting of work performed by women."

Thus, sadly, jobs that women choose often end up paying them less simply because of their gender, not because they chose a profession that was inherently low-paying.

3. Women Leave The Workforce To Have Children

Another oft-cited argument regarding the gender pay gap is that women voluntarily leave the workforce to have children and then are simply paid less because they have been out of the workforce for years and are resultantly less experienced.

However, this argument is again inaccurate for a variety of reasons. According to a study done by The Guardian, sex discrimination still constitutes the biggest reason behind the gender pay gap, even after taking into account factors like "age, tenure, time out of the workforce, occupation, industry, part-time work and sector." Furthermore, women are seemingly penalized for having children once they do return to work.

According to the Telegraph, women can earn up to a third less than men when they return to work after childbirth, while men actually earn up to 6 percent more after having a child, according to Business Insider.

Thus, a woman temporarily exiting the workforce to care for her children does not account for the gender pay gap.

4. Men Work Harder Than Women

While this seems like a ridiculous argument to have to debunk in 2017, unfortunately arguments regarding the wage gap sometimes do reflect the (erroneous) belief that men work harder than women and therefore should be paid more. According to MONEY , critics often say that men "put in more hours, don't take as much time off, and don't leave temporarily to have children." However, these statements are sweeping generalizations and are also inaccurate.

According to the New York Times, it is actually women who do more at work, but simply benefit less from it in terms of recognition. The article cited several studies that found that women are more likely to stay late at work as well as to engage in "office housework," or administrative tasks that are helpful but do not "pay off," professionally-speaking. According to the article, " women help more [at work] but benefit less from it." Furthermore, when women return home in the evenings, they are also still largely responsible for household tasks , limiting their options to continue their professional work into evening hours.

Thus, the notion that women not working as hard as men contributes to the gender pay gap constitutes a highly inaccurate argument that does not reflect reality.

5. Women Are Less Educated Than Men

Another argument seeking to debunk the discrimination aspect of the gender wage gap is the notion that men are supposedly more highly educated than women. In fact, reality reflects quite the opposite. According to MONEY , in the United States, women are actually more highly educated than men and are graduating from college and graduate school at a higher rate.

However, frustratingly, women's educational degrees are seemingly worth less than men's. MONEY cited a study from Georgetown University that showed that "men with some college but no degree earn about the same as women with a Bachelor’s degree ...and that women have to have a Ph.D. to make as much as men with a B.A."

Thus, the gender pay gap exists because women's education and experience is valued much less than men's—not because women are less qualified than men.

6. Women Are Not Primary Wage Earners

Critics of the gender wage gap sometimes assert that women are not primary wage earners in their households and that gender disparities in pay reflect this notion. However, this is, again, misguided criticism for many reasons. First, according to FiveThirtyEight, among heterosexual married American couples, almost 40 percent of women are the primary breadwinners . Furthermore, according to the New York Times, more than 75 percent of single mothers are the sole breadwinner for their household.

Beyond the fact that women are now financially contributing to their households more than ever before, the primary wage earner argument also does not hold up simply because it should not excuse disparities in pay for equal work.

If men and women are working the same job for the same amount of hours, they should paid equally, regardless of whether or not they are the primary breadwinners in their households.

7. Women Engage In More Part-Time Work

Another argument that seeks to diminish the significance of the gender pay gap is the notion that women engage in more part time work and therefore earn less than men. However, according to The Guardian, the issue of part-time versus full-time work is having increasingly less impact on the gender wage gap.

In 2016, The Guardian measured the impact of part-time work on the wage gap and found that its impact had declined from 14 to only 4 percent , mostly because of more flexible telework options and the emergence of more higher paying part-time jobs overall.

Moreover, the newspaper also pointed out that responsibilities that women are still expected to disproportionately fulfill at home (like chores and childcare) often contribute to their decision to engage in part-time work, calling into question whether not working full-time actually reflects a choice women make or an expectation for their roles in society and their households.

8. Equal Pay Requirements Are Unjust Or Anti-Capitalist

Critics of equal pay legislation have also argued that making equal pay legally mandatory amounts to what they believe is "socialism" and does not allow space for merit-based pay. Indeed, in 2015 Donald Trump echoed this sentiment, saying, "If you start getting involved with government on ‘this one gets this pay and this one gets that pay,’ and then you say — ‘Where does it all start?’ ...if you sort of say, ‘everybody gets equal pay,’ you get away from the whole American Dream. You get away from capitalism in a sense."

Of course, believing that equal pay for equal work equates to socialism and inhibits merit-based pay is essentially implying that women are inherently worse at their jobs than men, otherwise the gender pay gap would be closed. This is obviously completely untrue, for all of the reasons described above.

Furthermore, saying that equal pay legislation is anti-capitalistic implies a complete lack of belief in the existence of a discriminatory gender pay gap, which has been repeatedly confirmed through many studies and analyses .

9. The Wage Gap Is Inaccurate Or Doesn't Exist

Finally, many critics also argue that the gender wage gap does not reflect reality and cannot take into account all of the factors that might contribute to a disparity in pay between men and women. However, beyond just calculating an average gender wage gap, many "like-for-like" studies have been conducted comparing male and female compensation in the same roles and ultimately demonstrate that women are paid less. Furthermore, the aforementioned Guardian study also demonstrated that even when taking into account a myriad of factors that could affect the wage gap, such as time off, industry, part-time vs. full time work, etc, it was still found that the primary cause for the gender wage disparity was sex discrimination.

Overall, there exists a variety of evidence to debunk some of the most common arguments people use to discredit the gender pay gap. Hopefully Equal Pay Day can serve as an opportunity to educate people about the inaccuracy of these arguments and help garner even more support for wage equality.

5 Powerful Essays Advocating for Gender Equality

Gender equality – which becomes reality when all genders are treated fairly and allowed equal opportunities –  is a complicated human rights issue for every country in the world. Recent statistics are sobering. According to the World Economic Forum, it will take 108 years to achieve gender parity . The biggest gaps are found in political empowerment and economics. Also, there are currently just six countries that give women and men equal legal work rights. Generally, women are only given ¾ of the rights given to men. To learn more about how gender equality is measured, how it affects both women and men, and what can be done, here are five essays making a fair point.

Take a free course on Gender Equality offered by top universities!

“Countries With Less Gender Equity Have More Women In STEM — Huh?” – Adam Mastroianni and Dakota McCoy

This essay from two Harvard PhD candidates (Mastroianni in psychology and McCoy in biology) takes a closer look at a recent study that showed that in countries with lower gender equity, more women are in STEM. The study’s researchers suggested that this is because women are actually especially interested in STEM fields, and because they are given more choice in Western countries, they go with different careers. Mastroianni and McCoy disagree.

They argue the research actually shows that cultural attitudes and discrimination are impacting women’s interests, and that bias and discrimination is present even in countries with better gender equality. The problem may lie in the Gender Gap Index (GGI), which tracks factors like wage disparity and government representation. To learn why there’s more women in STEM from countries with less gender equality, a more nuanced and complex approach is needed.

“Men’s health is better, too, in countries with more gender equality” – Liz Plank

When it comes to discussions about gender equality, it isn’t uncommon for someone in the room to say, “What about the men?” Achieving gender equality has been difficult because of the underlying belief that giving women more rights and freedom somehow takes rights away from men. The reality, however, is that gender equality is good for everyone. In Liz Plank’s essay, which is an adaption from her book For the Love of Men: A Vision for Mindful Masculinity, she explores how in Iceland, the #1 ranked country for gender equality, men live longer. Plank lays out the research for why this is, revealing that men who hold “traditional” ideas about masculinity are more likely to die by suicide and suffer worse health. Anxiety about being the only financial provider plays a big role in this, so in countries where women are allowed education and equal earning power, men don’t shoulder the burden alone.

Liz Plank is an author and award-winning journalist with Vox, where she works as a senior producer and political correspondent. In 2015, Forbes named her one of their “30 Under 30” in the Media category. She’s focused on feminist issues throughout her career.

“China’s #MeToo Moment” –  Jiayang Fan

Some of the most visible examples of gender inequality and discrimination comes from “Me Too” stories. Women are coming forward in huge numbers relating how they’ve been harassed and abused by men who have power over them. Most of the time, established systems protect these men from accountability. In this article from Jiayang Fan, a New Yorker staff writer, we get a look at what’s happening in China.

The essay opens with a story from a PhD student inspired by the United States’ Me Too movement to open up about her experience with an academic adviser. Her story led to more accusations against the adviser, and he was eventually dismissed. This is a rare victory, because as Fan says, China employs a more rigid system of patriarchy and hierarchy. There aren’t clear definitions or laws surrounding sexual harassment. Activists are charting unfamiliar territory, which this essay explores.

“Men built this system. No wonder gender equality remains as far off as ever.” – Ellie Mae O’Hagan

Freelance journalist Ellie Mae O’Hagan (whose book The New Normal is scheduled for a May 2020 release) is discouraged that gender equality is so many years away. She argues that it’s because the global system of power at its core is broken.  Even when women are in power, which is proportionally rare on a global scale, they deal with a system built by the patriarchy. O’Hagan’s essay lays out ideas for how to fix what’s fundamentally flawed, so gender equality can become a reality.

Ideas include investing in welfare; reducing gender-based violence (which is mostly men committing violence against women); and strengthening trade unions and improving work conditions. With a system that’s not designed to put women down, the world can finally achieve gender equality.

“Invisibility of Race in Gender Pay Gap Discussions” – Bonnie Chu

The gender pay gap has been a pressing issue for many years in the United States, but most discussions miss the factor of race. In this concise essay, Senior Contributor Bonnie Chu examines the reality, writing that within the gender pay gap, there’s other gaps when it comes to black, Native American, and Latina women. Asian-American women, on the other hand, are paid 85 cents for every dollar. This data is extremely important and should be present in discussions about the gender pay gap. It reminds us that when it comes to gender equality, there’s other factors at play, like racism.

Bonnie Chu is a gender equality advocate and a Forbes 30 Under 30 social entrepreneur. She’s the founder and CEO of Lensational, which empowers women through photography, and the Managing Director of The Social Investment Consultancy.

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About the author, emmaline soken-huberty.

Emmaline Soken-Huberty is a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon. She started to become interested in human rights while attending college, eventually getting a concentration in human rights and humanitarianism. LGBTQ+ rights, women’s rights, and climate change are of special concern to her. In her spare time, she can be found reading or enjoying Oregon’s natural beauty with her husband and dog.

Gender Pay Gap

1 exploring the gender pay gap: causes, consequences, and solutions.

Introduction to the Gender Pay Gap: Understanding its basis and significance Pay inequality in the workplace, or what is also known as the gender pay gap, is generally the comparative measure of looking at the position of a woman in the workforce in terms of what she earns for a particular job. There has been […]

2 Unraveling the Complex Roots of the Gender Pay Gap in Modern Society

In the 1920s, women earned the right to vote. In the 1960s, women entered the workforce. In the 1970s, women had Roe vs. Wade passed. It’s 2017, and yet women still don’t get paid the same amount as men. The gender wage gap is a blatant act of sexism in which women get paid 80 […]

3 Tackling the Gender Pay Gap: A Fight for Equality and Fairness

Currently, female employees make 18% less per hour and 36% less per week than their comparable male colleagues, and, astoundingly, in many companies, there is also a bonus pattern that favors men. This is simply not acceptable. Women have the right to be paid equally to their male colleagues. The fact that there is a […]

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4 Unraveling the Mysteries of the Gender Pay Gap in the Modern Workforce

The gender wage gap has been, and still is, a persisting problem in the workforce. At this point in society, it is common knowledge that, on average, men have higher earnings than their women counterparts. A few studies are dissected and explained in this paper, showing why and how the wage gap even exists. The […]

5 The Illusory Gender Pay Gap in Political Knowledge

The Gender Pay Gap Debate: Why Women Prefer “Don’t Know” The Public’s general assumption is that most people don’t know much about politics. Much of prior research concludes that men know more about politics than women. Is the gender gap real? The two assigned articles are essentially the same: they wanted to find out if […]

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‘Women’s Work’ Can No Longer Be Taken for Granted

New Zealand is pursuing a century-old idea to close the gender pay gap: not equal pay for equal work, but equal pay for work of equal value.

By Anna Louie Sussman

Ms. Sussman is a journalist.

Last week, as Americans were obsessing over the results of the presidential election, a New Zealand law aimed at eliminating pay discrimination against women in female-dominated occupations went into effect . The bill, which takes an approach known as “pay equity,” provides a road map for addressing the seemingly intractable gender pay gap .

Unlike “equal pay” — the concept most often used to address gender pay disparities in the United States — the concept of “pay equity” doesn’t just demand equal pay for women doing the same work as men, in the same positions. Such efforts, while worthwhile, ignore the role of occupational segregation in keeping women’s pay down: There are some jobs done mostly by women and others that are still largely the province of men. The latter are typically better paid.

But if the coronavirus has taught us anything, it is that what has traditionally been women’s work — caring, cleaning, the provision of food — can no longer be taken for granted. “It’s not the bankers and the hedge fund managers and the highest paid people” upon whose services we’ve come to rely, said Amy Ross, former national organizer for New Zealand ’s Public Service Association union. “It’s our supermarket workers, it’s our cleaners, it’s our nurses — and they’re all women!”

It has also taught us how poorly these jobs are compensated. Over half of workers designated essential in the United States are women; their jobs are typically paid well below the median hourly wage of a little over $19 an hour. ( Median hourly pay for cashiers is just $11.37; for child care workers it’s $11.65; health support workers such as home health aides and orderlies make $12.68.)

Instead of “equal pay for equal work,” supporters of pay equity call for “equal pay for work of equal value,” or “comparable worth.” They ask us to consider whether a female-dominated occupation such as nursing home aide, for instance, is really so different from a male-dominated one, such as corrections officer, when both are physically exhausting, emotionally demanding, and stressful — and if not, why is the nursing home aide paid so much less? In the words of New Zealand’s law, the pay scale for women should be “determined by reference to what men would be paid to do the same work abstracting from skills, responsibility, conditions and degrees of effort.”

What is at stake is not just a simple pay raise but a societywide reckoning with the value of “women’s work.” How much do we really think this work is worth? But also: How do we decide?

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Home — Essay Samples — Social Issues — Gender Discrimination — Gender Pay Gap

Gender Pay Gap

• Categories: Gender Discrimination Income Inequality

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Words: 663 |

Published: Jan 29, 2024

Words: 663 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

Table of contents

Understanding the gender pay gap, causes of the gender pay gap, consequences of the gender pay gap, efforts to address the gender pay gap, current state and future prospects.

• Blau, F. D., & Kahn, L. M. (2017). The gender wage gap: Extent, trends, and explanations. Journal of Economic Literature, 55(3), 789-865.
• United States Census Bureau. (2021). Income and poverty in the United States : 2020. https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2021/demo/p60-272.html
• U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (2021). Equal pay and the gender pay gap. https://www.eeoc.gov/equal-pay-and-gender-pay-gap

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Hilary Lips Gender Pay Gap

When debating about gender equality in the US, there is one statistical data always pop-up “women earn 77 cents for every dollar men make.” To emphasize the point of the argument, women do not make less than men do, they earn less than men do. The diction in this argument stresses the important of what to look for statistically. Although the article, “The Gender Wage Gap: Debunking the Rationalizations”, by Hilary Lips successfully emphasizes the adversities, difficulties, and controversies in assessing the gender wage gap, Lips could further emphasize where gender pay gap originate. Hilary Lip's article addresses many question when it comes to the wage gap. According to Lips (2009) while higher education increases women's earning, there is no evidence that higher levels of education have any impact on gender wage gap. Although the strong statement will influence the reader's perception of the situation, Lips should have supported her statement with actual statistical data. It is one thing to say it, but another when there is hard evidence on the table. When education level could no longer be used to justify the gender wage gap, studies started focusing on the field of degree earning. According to the report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers (2014), women are earning less than men are when entering the workforce after completing a college degree. Although “men and women with professional degrees have similar earning in their 20s, …show more content…

More importantly, this is not just a women’s issue and it is not a zero-sum game. The labor-market conditions that will generate convergence in pay between genders – the technological and institutional changes that reduce the cost of temporal flexibility – will make life better for almost

Analysis Of Under The Bus By Caroline Fredrickson

The most well-known limit placed upon women in a work setting is the wage gap, or the difference between a man’s salary and a woman’s salary. Authors dive into the subject of the current wage gap because of its presence in modern society, and one author who does speak out about the topic is Caroline Fredrickson. Fredrickson, president of the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy, writes in her book Under the Bus: How Working Women Are Being Run Over about how the gap between a man and woman’s salaries does exist in today’s progressive society. To argue her case, Fredrickson reveals, “In the past decade, women have not made any progress at all, with the wage gap overall remaining stubbornly at 77 percent…” (44). This gap of seventy seven percent implies that the majority of women are paid only seventy seven percent of what a man is paid in any given position.

Women 's Civil Rights During World War II

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.

Gender Pay Gap: Should Women Be Paid?

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

Women 's Equal Pay Act Of 1963

For the first time in history women had surpassed men in the paid labor force. Yet, instead of provoking an equality among the sexes, the figures play no statistical significance, as women still try to bridge the gap between their inequality among their male counterparts. One apparent setback for women in the workplace is their unequal payment, “Women workers are still paid less than men, currently about-three quarters of mens income if they work full time and year round”(Institute for Womens’s Policy Research, 2010). Although there women are beginning to integrate into vastly male populated jobs throughout the labor force “… women in America today earn 78 cents to a man’s dollar, according to the U.S Census Bureau, and have struggled for decades to achieve pay for equal work” (Riley 2). Not only has this pay gap significantly effected the nature of women throughout the county, it has also violated the bill that Congress passed called the Equal Pay Act of 1963. The Equal Pay Act was signed in order to establish a more sound and equal treatment among the sexes. It noted that an employer was unable to discriminate employees on grounds of gender, yet as figures denote today, this bill seems to not possess enough jurisdiction over the wage gap. The wage gap has contributed to various problems within the United States, especially among single mothers who do not have a supporting male figure within their household.

Gender Wage Gap in 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.

The Gender Pay Gap

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).

Gender Pay Gap Summary & Response Essay

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

Gender Wage Gap

Throughout history, even in today's world, women’s achievements are not valued as high as men’s achievements. This has been happening ever since rulers and social classes back in ancient rome. Even in today’s world, women are still discriminated against by females are paid only 84 cents per dollar paid to men on average. Others may say, the statistic that men are paid more per hour account to how females take more time of work, or that women just take jobs that pay less. Anti-wage gap people say that no one is stopping the women of America to go into higher paying jobs, females choose the lower paying jobs to go into by themselves. Nevertheless, the wage gap is not for these reasons, it is purely a statistic

The gender wage gap in the U.S. has been a topic of debate in politics through most of the 21st century. In 2015, women were paid 80 percent of what men were paid (SIMPLE TRUTH). This number is considerably smaller than that of the 1960’s because of women’s progress in education and participation in the workforce (SIMPLE TRUTH). The wage gap can have adverse lifelong effects on a woman’s life. Because women are paid less than men, a woman will receive less social security, pensions, and other resources when they retire than a man would (Fischer & Hayes, 2013). There is a common stigma that women do not get paid as much as men because they do not ask for higher wages but not everything can be “explained

Persuasive Essay On Gender Pay Gap

In our constitution we are all equal, but why are we not paid equally? The gender wage gap movement will result in social change because it is bringing awareness to women in the workplace getting paid lower than her male counterpart. On the other hand, many other people may argue that the gap is not because of gender, it is because men work longer hours compared to women since they have children to take care of. I believe that this movement could improve by making people more aware of the through more examples such as the Women’s U.S.A. Soccer Team wanting more pay and equal pay.

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.

The Gender Wage Gap Essay

In the 21st Century the number of women enrolling in higher education institutions is surpassing the numbers of men enrolled. The graduation rates of women from high school and higher education are most often higher than for men. The number of women graduates from most professional occupations, including higher paying medicine, law and business, will exceed the number of men graduates in the near future. In numerous occupational areas with a majority of women graduates, salaries already surpass salaries in occupational areas with a majority of men graduates.

Gender Wage Gap And Gender Inequality Essay

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.

Equal Women, Equal Pay Essays

According to the US Census Bureau, in 2010 the median earnings for women were $36,931 compared to $47,715 for men. [3] The majority of college degrees earned in the US are by women, and yet a study according to the American Association of University Women found that these educated graduated women are starting out with earning 5 percent less than their male peers. This was after several factors were taken into account, such as experience, training, and what school women earned their degrees from. Their study summarizes that, “In this analysis the portion of the pay gap that remains unexplained after all other factors are taken into account is 5 percent one year after graduation and 12 percent ten years after graduation.” – Behind the Pay Gap, American Association of University Women, Dey, Judy Goldberg

Pay Gap Among Women

The wicked problem of the gender wage gap’s presence in the United States workforce is highly debated. Because the issue is often intangible and so complex in nature, the causes of the wage gap are often difficult to pinpoint and wholly address. In nearly almost every occupation women earn less than their male counterparts. Over their lifetimes men will be paid more than women (Institute for Women’s Policy Research, 2017). There are various contributions to income gap seen between women and men these include: discrimination in payment, hiring, or promotions. Furthermore, there are other factors that must be considered in explaining the wage gap between women and men. Other conditions include: statistically, women-dominated careers are lower

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Argumentative Essay On Gender Pay Gap

Show More Whether it is religion, sexuality, race, or even music taste, people are constantly finding ways to discriminate by differentiating people from each other. One element is gender pay gap--ever since the fall of Adam and Eve, women were always proven to be insignificant compared to men. Gender pay gap plays a negative role--socially, economically, and politically. Although the gender pay gap is a widespread problem that cannot be completely eradicated, society should be giving more of an effort into taking small steps to solving the problem so the future generations could benefit from knowing what is right -- by solving one of the most unfair stigmatized elements in society. Over the course of history, women were affected from gender pay gap; …show more content… Families with women who don’t earn enough money Although men and women are usually well-educated for work, women’s chances of acquiring a job same as men are slim. Wagner claimed, “There is little to no difference in education when it comes to males and females, so that rules out the possibility of educational level being a cause of the gender pay gap. However, there is a noticeable difference in the fields pursued by males and females. Women are less likely to obtain degrees in engineering, science, math, and technology, a fact which leads to lower pay than men.” Wendland points out that women actually gain more than people think; the need for change, changes taken, and the establishment of new rules for women has already taken place. However, it doesn’t mean that men are not affected from the inequalities of gender roles. Males are also affected when the females of their families are affected from gender gap income. They are affected when their wives, grandmothers, sisters, mothers, and other females in the family get fired, don’t get enough income, and don’t have access to benefits. This means that if a woman loses approximately $523,000 in her lifetime, the male or males in her family lose this portion as well (5-6). With the heavy weight of unequal distribution of wealth between the sexes, women lose hope into becoming what they want to be in the

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Argumentative Essay On The Gender Pay Gap

The Gender Wage Gap Did you know that women would have to stay at least ten more years in the workforce to earn the same amount as men? All through history, discrimination has been a constant blight on human existence; whether it is race, gender, or religion. Unfortunately, when both genders have the same experience, are equally trained, and possess the same degree the pay is not equal. Women and men are not treated equally in the workplace, even though it is the twenty-first century. 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. “At …show more content…

In Lauren Dixon’s article, “5 Ways to Fix the Gender Pay Gap” she provides her readers with solutions on mitigating the gender pay gap. Dixon mentions March 8 “A Day Without A Woman ” and she discusses the enormous value that women of all backgrounds add to the American economic system (Dixon). Flexible work, paid leave, on-site childcare, pay transparency, and improved feedback on performance reviews are the suggestions that Lauren Dixon offers to close the wage gap (Dixon). Another public awareness day to show the gap between men and women’s earning is Equal Pay Day. This day in April symbolizes how far into the year women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year. The American Association of University Women suggests to raise the Federal minimum wage, offer affordable child care, wage transparency, and they encourage women to develop negotiating skills

Summary Of Equal Pay Day By Dana Ford

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.

Separate And Unequal Analysis

In the United States, women have been fighting for their equality since the beginning. First, it was the women’s suffrage movement that was catching everyone’s eye. Recently, the fight against the gender wage gap has come to many people’s attention and is finally making an

Overview Of The Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act

In 2009 President Obama signed into law the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (The Whitehouse, n.d.). The major provisions of this Act prohibits wage discrimination based on sex, race, or national origin among employees for work in equivalent jobs. According to National Committee on Pay Equity (n.d.), the Act defines “equivalent jobs are those who’s composite of skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions are equivalent in value, even if the jobs are dissimilar.” Today women earn roughly seventy-nine cents for every dollar earned by men. Atchinson, Belcher, and Thornsen (2013) state that women have entered the workforce not only because of increased educational opportunities but also because of the need for two paychecks in many families

Equal Pay Act Of 1963

Research shows wage gaps are solely a product of the choices of the second party. Woman have chosen what level of education they wish to pursue, the fields they wish to be in, and where they work. When looking back at a censuses of the early-to-mid 1900’s the majority of working women worked at small enterprises rather than booming companies: large Firms pay at higher rates, their payout going predominantly to males of the working class (Rubenstien, Michael Harvey). When taken under the scope, large enterprises rejected woman workers, and if they did hire, the lady’s income would be significantly smaller. Consequently, companies would deny the reason being that they were of a different sex, and rather blame it on how little education the skill the person had, “Frequently, even when given raises, their new pay still comes short of that of their male coworkers.

Women And Pay Gap Essay

Today, women work in various jobs taking impactful roles in countries and established businesses worldwide. Even though the wage gap doesn't yield a perfect 1:1 ratio, the gap is steadily decreasing with the constant efforts led by

The Struggle For Women In The 1920's

Women's across the country and in every corner of our economy continue to experience unequal pay. Today, women who are full time year round workers in the work force are still typically paid less than men who work full time ( NWLC

19th Amendment Essay Thesis

Did they win their fight, or are they fighting for no reason? Equal pay was always a struggle for women. When men and women in the same workplace got paid different amounts for the same amount of work it angered women. “The persistence of gender-based wage disparities — commonly referred to as the pay or wage gap — has been the subject of extensive debate and commentary.

Persuasive Essay On Equal Pay

With equal pay, poverty would decrease by more than a half. Supporting evidence from the President and CEO of the IFWPR, Dr. Heidi Hartmann, is “ Providing equal pay to women would have a dramatic impact on their families. The poverty rate for all working women would be cut in half, falling to 3.9 percent from 8.1 percent. The very high poverty rate for working single mothers would fall by nearly half, from 28.7 percent to 15.0 percent, and two-thirds would receive a pay increase.” (Clark, Hartmann, & Hayes, 2014, p.1) It is important to notice here that how much of humankind living in indigence would gain from this.

Corning Glass Works V Brennan Summary

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.

Persuasive Essay On Pay 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.

Gender Pay Gap Thesis Statement

Gender equality: the pinnacle concept that American society is not-so desperately trying to achieve. Many Americans have convinced themselves that gender equality was remedied by the Nineteenth Amendment and the Second Feminist Movement, and have not considered the thousands of steps that are left on the journey. In recent years, a matter of public interest has been the gender wage gap, stating that women are earning significantly less money than men for doing an equivalent amount of work. Critics of the effort to “break the glass ceiling” claim that a pay gap does not exist, and that if it does, it is because women either do not work as hard, have to tend to their families, or hold lower paying jobs. However, the gender pay gap has been proven to exist in a variety of different forms,

Argumentative Essay On Gender Pay Gap

It may be 2018, but the gender pay gap is still here, why is that? Women have been and still are getting a lower pay than men to do the same job. Women are doing equal if not more work, but somehow make less. The following paragraphs will explain what is happening today like the fact that over time men 's pay increases more than women 's does. Besides that I will also mention that not just white women make less than men other cultures make even less than them, and I also will share real people speaking up about them being paid less than men.

Argumentative Essay: Equal Pay For Women

Women should request a twenty percent pay increase to even up the gender pay gap. In most jobs women earn eighty cents for every dollar a man earns for the exact same job. Employers should pay good, qualified women, who can competently perform their job duties, the same wages they pay men for the same work. Earning twenty percent less is a significant amount and it adds up over time. Throughout the years the pay gap has narrowed but it’s still not equal pay for equal work.

Gender Pay Gap Essay

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.

Essay On Gender Equality In The Workplace

The United States is currently facing an economical problem that involves males and female differences within the workplace. Males are given bigger and sometimes even better rewards for doing equal amounts of work as their female counterparts. Females are frequently not receiving the same wage even if they can complete the same job of a male. Also, females are less likely to get promoted within their job if they are competing against a male. A source states, “Women are now more likely to have college degrees than men, yet they still face a pay gap in every single education level,

More about Argumentative Essay On The Gender Pay Gap

Related topics.

• Discrimination
• Gender role

Home / Essay Samples / Social Issues / Gender Wage Gap / Breaking the Gender Barrier in Sports: Addressing the Pay Gap

Breaking the Gender Barrier in Sports: Addressing the Pay Gap

• Category: Social Issues
• Topic: Gender Discrimination , Gender Wage Gap

Pages: 7 (3123 words)

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• Jessica Hills, 2019. An in-depth look at the gender wage gap issue in sports. Chicago, Illinois: peak. Retrieved from: https://the-peak.ca/2019/02/an-in-depth-look-at-the-gender-wage-gap-issue-in-sports/
• Kristen Crowdy, 2019. The Fight for Equal Pay in Women’s Sports. New York, NY: Womens Sports Foundation. Retrieved from: https://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/education/fight-equal-pay-womens-sports/
• Andrew Das. 2019. Jill Ellis Will Step Down As U.S. Women’s Coach. New York, NY: NY Times. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/30/sports/soccer/jill-ellis-uswnt.html
• ESPN Associated Press. 2019. Fans Fete USWNT in NYC, join equal pay crusade. NY, NY: ESPN Retrieved from: https://www.espn.com/soccer/fifa-womens-world-cup/story/3897845/fans-fete-uswnt-in-nycjoin-equal-pay-crusade
• Mark Dodds. 2019. Women: Equal Pay. Washington DC, Washington: NY Times. Retrieved from: https://search-credoreference-com.proxy195.nclive.org/content/entry/mbmsports/women_equal_pay/0
• Kim Kelly. 2019. Pay Discrimination in Women’s Sports Is a Labor Issue. New York, NY: Teen Vogue. Retrieved from: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/pay-discrimination-women-sports-labor-issue
• Daniel Moritz-Rabson. 2019. Gender Pay Gap in Sports is More of an Issue After Women’s World Cup Win. New York, NY: Newsweek Retrieved from: https://www.newsweek.com/gender-pay-gap-sports-more-issue-after-womens-world-cup-win-1451335

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