Wage Gap in America
On a broader aspect, it says men and women are equal. Though at a bottom level, women are still struggling to occupy the same status as men in the outer world. Stratification between the two genders is seen everywhere including the household or the workplace. Even today, women still earns less as compared to men involved in the same profession. Like a male physician makes $140,000, while a female in the same profession makes $88,000. Statisticians at the US census bureau looked at almost 821 occupations. After adjusting for workers’ ages, education and work experience, they found a substantial gender gap in the earnings of the workers. Scholars at the Census Bureau studied several characteristics and after taking into
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Traditional gender roles (men performing instrumental tasks and women performing expressive tasks) are viewed as important not only for the individual but also for the economic and social order of society. Failure to maintain the traditional division of labor is believed to lead to destruction of family life as well as higher rates of crime, violence, and drug abuse. Human capital theorists claim that sex differences in promotion rates are due to sex differences in commitment, education, and experience; women are believed to have less to offer employers. Even if these differences exist, this position ignores the fact that women are in a system of inequality, where social expectations prevent them from having qualifications that are similar to men. The conflict perspective emphasizes men’s control over scarce resources. The gendered division of labor within families and in the workplace results from male control of and dominance over women and resources. Differentials between men and women may exist in terms of economic, political, physical, and/or interpersonal power. Men remain the head of household and control the property. Also, men gain power through their predominance in the most highly paid and prestigious occupations and the highest elected offices. Liberal/Equal Rights Feminists – seek equal access for females within the current social system; focus is on equality of opportunity (e.g., civil rights and occupational equality). Radical/Transformative Feminists –
In American society today there is an imbalance in the gender income gap between men and women in the work force. Many factors such as discrimination, productivity, educational background and disproportional hours worked contribute to this ongoing challenge. While many are skeptical, others remain to have strong beliefs that women and men are treated equally. In most professions according to Glynn “women only earn seventy seven cents for every dollar earned by men” (2014). Although, the seventy seven cents figure does not accurately reflect gender discrimination, it does capture some discrimination,
The gender pay gap is the difference between male and female earnings averaged in percentages. This difference in pay due to gender seems like it would be an obsolete practice in the twenty-first century, but it is real and is affecting millions of women and households in the country. In 2014, women working full time in the United States were paid 79 percent on average of what men were being paid, which is a gap of approximately 21 percent. This means that in the United States, females earned 94 cents on average to every dollar earned by males. According to one study by the Department of Labor’s Chief Economist, a typical 25-year-old woman working full time would earn $5,000 less over the course of her working career than a typical 25-year old man working in the same career. The reason why this pay gap exists does expand into other factors such as education, experience, the work being performed, qualifications, age, and ethnicity which are taken into account. The studies being conducted on the pay gap has economists verifying that discrimination is the best overall explanation and factor of the difference in pay between males and females.
In 1920, Women first acquired to right to vote after years and years of fighting to achieve it. This would be the first measure toward equality for women. During WWII while all the men were fighting in the war, women built the weapons for them. We later entered the workforce after the war. It currently shown now that there is a 20 percent wage gap for women. But did anyone know that in 2015 there was a 21 cent wage gap between men and women? Which means that the only difference between the wage gap issue as of last year and now is a 1 cent difference. So tell me, what do you think that wage gap is caused by, or better yet what is it? Well there are many different opinions, to some the wage gap is merely a percentage that
The U.S.A is widely perceived to be a nation of freedom by other countries but it seems very restrictive on some issues it has been battling since it was founded. America’s population needs to change many things before it can truly be name the “Land of the free”. The definition of freedom is flexible but it’s doubtful that discrimination and intolerance is in any of them.
First off, women in America can’t make as much money as the average white male, as stated before. This is an issue for women across the states, and while most people could simply assume that women just tend to pick lower paying jobs, which is only slightly true, women still tend to make less money in ALL jobs and fields compared to men. However, 21% is simply the average wage gap throughout the nation. In certain states, such as Louisiana, the gap is even higher at 35%. Equally important, this gap can increase even more based on their race as well. Compared to white men, black women make 63% of their annual wage. For Pacific Islanders, 62%. For Hispanic women, it’s as low as 54%. On a bigger scale, this means that for every $100 that the average white male makes, the average Spanish woman can only make $54.
Democracy does not require equality of income and wealth. The wealth of does, however, change how much equality and representation is technically given to different groups of people. In America, majority rule will sometimes allow a majority to use its power to take the rights of other groups of people. Therefore, allowing a country and its government to become less egalitarian.
Many people believe that men have advantages over women when comes to a topic such as occupation. Although this may be true, in some cases it is in fact exactly the opposite. Today?s society is so concerned with political correctness and equal rights to women that it has almost completely forgotten about equal
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).
A single woman, 2 kids under the age of 18, a high stress work environment, and she still isn’t paid an equal amount as a man with the same job. Millions of women from across the United States have been fighting for equality since the dawn of time. and the results so far have not been outstanding. “If the Gap Were Closed, California Women Could Afford Food for More Than One Year, Four More Months of Mortgage and Utilities, or More Than Six Additional Months of Rent Annually” (California). The ever present pay gap in America is degrading to women in the workforce and should be closed because the gap doesn’t affect just white, single women; it affects all ethnicities, working mothers, and households across the country, although many people will
When a woman buys a cup of coffee at the coffee shop did it ever occur that she is spending more of her money than the man next to her? It's not because the coffee shop is sexist, or she bought something more expensive. It is because of a thing called wage inequality, and this thing happens most between men and women, even when society tries to stop it. Wage inequality negatively affects women in America. This changes how people perceive the ideas of women's living. For example the way confidence affects the way women get jobs, or the whether or not she lives with children, or if she is married. Even if this illegal there is still this kind of segregation between genders in America.
In America, Noreen Farrell, director of the anti-sex discrimination law firm Equal Rights Advocate says, “We have an executive order that essentially forces women to pay to keep companies in business that discriminate against them, with their own tax dollars,” said Farrell. “It’s an outrage."
Social status and structures have definitely shaped the construction and experience of gender inequality. Men and women are constantly analyzed, compared, and grouped together in society. The result of this yields discrepancies in how sexes are viewed by society. Throughout my examination and explanation of gender inequality, I concluded both men and women are victims to gender inequality.
The economics of intimate partner relationships play a role in patriarchy and the reinforcement of women abuse. Martin (1981) states that meritocracy is a discourse that everyone has equal opportunity in the workforce. It fails to recognize the barriers that prevent people from having the same opportunities as others. For instance, women face many social pressures that prevent them from working in the public sphere such as discrimination, sexism, being pushed down to apply for certain jobs because it dominated by males and may not have the physical requirement like body mass. Martin (1981) argues that capitalism supports patriarchal families and the idea that a woman's place is considered to be in the private sphere, the home, while a man is to be in the public sphere. Martin (1981) states that capitalism is about competition and succeeds when barring disadvantage or vulnerable populations including women from advancing to the top of the hierarchy so that people, predominantly white males, would remain in power. One strategy to prevent women from advancing in their career is to receive minimum wage and less income than men which therefore makes them easily replaceable in the work force. This defines women as temporary workers (p. 41). This leaves women economically dependent on men and gives a reason
The concept of gender denotes the distinction between culturally driven and created roles of masculinity and femininity. These specific and normalized attitudes and behaviors transcend and effect how differently men and women live their lives. Based on society’s continual re-enforcement of such gender stereotypes, we see an on-going dilemma of gender inequality. Though some may argue that men experience gender inequality, this seems to exist on a much more invasive level for women. As of recently, the awareness of gender inequality in the workplace has increased. With the fight for equal pay and equal respect, society is already making strides towards the equality of women. With that being said, one aspect of gender inequality that seems
Female and male equality has been a topic of conversation dating back to the mid to late 1800’s. Women have been fighting for their right to vote, to obtain birth control and the right to equal employment opportunities and wages. Even though now women have the right to vote and are now able to not only obtain birth control but also a safe and legal abortion women are still fighting for fair wages and employment. Women are not only wanted to be seen as equals in the workplace and wages, but also in the household.