According to a survey conducted by the United States Census Bureau, nationally the median annual pay for women who hold a full time, year round job is $41,000 while the median annual pay for a man who holds a year round job is $52,000.The Equal Pay act was signed on June 10, 1963, mandating that women and men receive the same pay for the same work, yet pay discrepancies between men and women still exist. The wage gap affects women from all backgrounds, at all ages, and all levels of educational achievement. Although the gap varies depending on a women's individual situation, people of color have lower median annual earnings compared with non-Hispanic white, and American Asian women (Hallman). It is driven in part by gender and workplace harassment, job segregation, and lack of workplace policies that support family caregiving, which is most often performed by women (article 4). The wage gap has caused women in the United States to lose a combined total of more than $900 billion every year. All these factors makes it harder for women to support themselves, their families and their futures.
The gender wage gap affects women in many of the job that they pursue. Many will argue and say that women choose jobs that do not pay as much, or they don’t pursue a high education. Additionally, researchers argue that “many college majors that lead to high-paying roles in tech and engineering are male dominated, while majors that lead to lower-paying roles in social sciences and liberal arts tend to be female dominated, placing men in higher-paying career pathways, on average”(Carmichael). However, the wage gap still reflects women’s and men’s choices. Women still experience wage gaps at every education level and in nearly every line of work. A good example is Lilly Ledbetter, a women who worked in a tire factory for almost 20 years, a colleague left her a note revealing that she earned thousands of dollars less than men who worked in the same position(Kim). Furthermore, Jobs traditionally associated with men tend to pay better than traditionally female-dominated jobs that require the same level of skill (Hallman). For example, a male dominated job like a janitor gets paid more than a “cleaning lady” a categorically female job, even though both professions require the same amount of work. Additionally, Women have been joining the workforce since the early 1900, with soaring numbers during World War I and World War II. The image titled “We Can Do It”, by J. Howard Miller originally served a purpose to persuade women to enlist in the workforce. This took place during World War II when women were needed to work for defense industries. After the war there was still a significant gap in the pay women and men received. According to the U.S Census Bureau data, the median annual female workers in 1950 was $1,579, while men had an average median salary of $2,702 (Loechner). Overall, the gender wage gap for doing the same or similar work has affected women for over 100 years.
The gender wage gap makes it harder for women to attain economic stability. Women lose a combined total of more than $900 billion because of the wage gap.(4) It is often thought women get paid less than men simply because they leave work to have kids. Although, research found that women experience sharp decline in women's earnings after the birth of their first child, while men had no comparable salary drop (Kliff). Having kids does not negatively impact a man after having a child, and in some cases, their salary even increases. Women usually have no choice but to leave their jobs to take care of their children. Resea2rch found that women will take unpaid maternity leave, while men do not, which is due to “gender norms”(Umoh). According to the article, A World Without Work, by Derek Thomson, Conventional wisdom has long held that under normal economic conditions, men in this age group—at the peak of their abilities and less likely than women to be primary caregivers for children—should almost all be working. This tells us that women are thought to be the ones who stay home, while men go out and work. From the article America’s Women and the Wage Gap, “In the united states women are breadwinners in half of families with children under 18.This includes half of white mothers, 53 percent of Latina mothers, 81 percent of Black mothers and 44 percent of Asian/Pacific Islander mothers(article 4).” As such, the wage gap is still larger for mothers than women overall. Additionally, Nearly 15 million family households in the United States are headed by women, 26% of those families fall below the poverty level.(Article 4) Without the wage gap this percentage would drop dramatically. The wage gap also makes it harder for women to pay for things like student loans. According to the American Association Of University Women, full time working women who graduated in college in 2007 and 2008 had paid 33% of their student loan debt, while men had paid 44%(Whaley). The wage gap also affects retirement plans. UBS Wealth Management analyzed retirement plans from both men and women. They found that women made an average of 38% less than what a man made by age 45. Economic stability for women is compromised due to the gender wage gap.
The gender wage gap affects women from all backgrounds, at all ages, and at all levels of educational achievement, but earnings do vary depending on a woman's individual situation (Hallman). Among full time workers, Latina, and African American women have lower weekly median earnings as compared to a white women (Hallman). White women, and asian women have narrowed the the wage gap with white men to a much greater degree than black and hispanic/Latina women. For example white women narrowed the gap in median hourly earning by 22 cents from 1980 to 2015, Hispanic and African American women have only narrowed the gender wage gap by 9 cents (Eileen). White men are used for comparison because they are considered the largest demographic group in the labor force today. The gender wage gap is smaller among African Americans and Hispanic men because African American, Hispanic, and Latino men typically earn less than white men. Among the states California had the narrowest wage gap among the states, women earned 89 cents for every dollar earned by a man. Louisiana had an immense gap, women earned only 69 cents for every dollar earned by a male colleagues pay (Jones).Additionally, The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the percentage of black women who are full-time minimum wage workers is higher than that of any other racial group. The wealth gap helps us understand why women are so behind both white men and white women. In 2013 the average white household had 13 times the wealth of the average black house hold. The wealth gap can be traced back to slavery, segregation, redlining and unequal access to government programs(Nelson). After all, women of color are affected even more by the wage gap.
The wage gap is unlikely to go away on its own, but there are many things that can be done to help eliminate the pay discrepancies between men and women. A possible solution to eliminating the wage gap between men and women is Fair Pay and Protections and Practices. The Paycheck fairness Act is a reasonable bill that could help stop wage discrimination. It would help eliminate loopholes in the Equal Pay day Act that cause harmful patterns of pay discrimination. The Paycheck Fairness act would protect against retaliation from discussing your paycheck(Article 14). This would make it easier for occupational segregation to be identified. The Paycheck Fairness Act would also prohibit employers from screening job applicant based on their salary history. Another solution is to help women get good solution Negotiation skills can also help women earn equal pay. Women can negotiate with their employers when it comes to their salaries. Because negotiation skills can be tricky, AAUW offers Start Smart Salary negotiation training for women joining the workforce (Hallman). Women can take to influence employers and governments. They can do this by sending letters to legislators and local papers, blogs and through social media. The last solution is Family Friendly workplace standards would also help eliminate the wage gap. Things like guaranteed sick days, paid maternity leave, paid medical leave would all help with eliminating the wage gap. This helps keep women attached to the workforce, resulting in higher wages overtime. Working families
The wage gap affects women from all backgrounds, at all ages, and all levels of educational achievement. For years the wage gap between men and women, has affected many things including a women's ability to attain economic stability, a women's ability to pay off things like bills, student loans and basic accessories women need. It's time these