Gender Wage Pay Gap

This essay expresses the opinion of Tara Siegel Bernard on behalf of the existence of the gender pay gap and focuses on it being a primary issue in the workplaces of major companies. The essay goes on to discuss how our society expects women and men to both behave in particular ways and how that idea has contributed to the ever present pay gap, such as how “. . . the imbalance often traces back to women being hired at a lower salary than their male peers” and “. . . women are less inclined to ask for raises. . .” Pointing out the possible reasons for the gender pay gap helps to establish the need for companies and our country’s leaders to find solutions.

Canadian women earned 87 cents to every dollar made by men in 2015, according to Statistics Canada in a statement released on International Women’s Day. This statement was released to show how today’s wage gap has improved compared to the 77 cents women made to every man’s dollar in 1981 (CBC News). It’s meant to represent an improvement and is supposed to be a good thing, yet it is not. Why? Because this statistic should not even exist in the first place.

Todays women are more educated, more confident, more motivated, so they could have same career’s position like men in society, even though equal payment still has not reached in many countries even in a developed county such as Canada. There are some factors that related to unfair wages for different gender. According to the National Household survey shows while women made up 48 per cent of the workforce in 2011, they were most likely to be employed in sales and service jobs (27 per cent), followed by business, finance and administration (24.6 per cent) then education, law and community and government services (16.8 per cent). Among the 20 most common jobs for women, women accounted for more than nine out of 10 workers in: administrative assistant;

The long gender inequalities in society women had much greater opportunity than men did and women had their occupational structure to become more open to mobility to better well-paid jobs on graduation. Today woman is having less of an education than men. Woman today is

Although the Equal Pay Act of 1963, where men and women must get paid the same amount for the equal amount of work they did, it is still visible that the pay gap is still there (“Understand the Basics” 1). It is shown that women make seventy-seven cents for every dollar that men make (“Understand the Basics” 1). Statistics show that women are continuously paid as little as 77% of what men are paid for the exact same work, and this holds true to some extent in nearly every profession. If women were to receive pay equal to that of their male counterparts, as they should, the United States economy would produce $447.6 billion of additional income. Over the past years, women have been taking over the jobs only men once used to do.

There has been a lot of economic and social researches concerning this problem. The results did not differ noticeably and most of them discovered some important factors of disparities in men’s and women’s wage such as different career and education choices, occupation, experience and working hours (Wagner, 2015). As it is seen, all of the mentioned elements are more related to personal choices rather than the situation of the society. As these factors have a significant impact to the pay gap, it is important to analyse them

“We hold the truths to be self-evident that all men and women are created equal,” Elizabeth Stanton once said (Hillinger). The document “Declaration of Sentiments” by Elizabeth Cady Stanton was written for the women’s rights convention at Seneca Falls in 1848. This document was signed by 68 women and 32 men; this was the beginning of the women’s rights movement. This document explains how women aren’t treated as equals like men were. It lists accusations towards men and how women had few legal rights and no career opportunities.

The gender pay gap is a significant issue in the United States because it promotes institutional and internal sexism and the unfair treatment of human beings. An infamous statistic about the wage gap has been the 77 cent statistic, stating that for every dollar a man earns, a woman earns 77 cents. The statistic is calculated by, “...dividing the median earnings of full-time, year-round, working women by the median earnings of full-time, year-round, working men, all rounded to the nearest $100” (Glynn 2). This, however, represents males and females from all occupations, causing opponents to argue that, because it does not represent the gap between people who have the same job, a wage gap does not exist. Nonetheless, multiple studies have proven that a gender pay gap does exist within the United States.

The gender wage gap can be explained by the statistic; the female-to-male wage ratio of 2010 was 77% (Ferris & Stein, 2014 pg 255). This means that in 2010, the average female made 23% less in yearly earnings compared to men. Ethnicity can also be included to explain the wage gap. This can be explained by the statistic; Asian males make the most money compared to all other racial groups (Median, 2012). The symbolic interactionism view on gender can be explained as “Gender is learned through the process of socialization; gender inequalities are reproduced through interactions with family, peers, schools, and the media” (Ferris & Stein, 2014 pg 247).

The consequences of the wage gap on society are various and don 't just influence women. Gender segregation at work confines financial development, builds poverty and negatively affects the riches and prosperity of families. Over the years measures have been taken to close the Gender Wage Gap but it

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.

In a more recent history, the changing economy alongside the rise of feminism and the breakthrough of birth control, resulted in the swap over of gendered household duties. Consequently, this has also impacted fathers’ roles in the household. Another factor which resulted in the shift of gendered roles was the absence of male workers who became soldiers during the Second World War, which required women to fill the traditional manufacture jobs previously held by men. The war industry also created many new manufacturing opportunities which has continued long after the end of the war and has not declined. Studies indicate that between 1948 and 2001, the percentage of employed women, or women seeking work nearly doubled.

It is proven that gender does contribute to a difference in wages in society and there for another cause of wealth inequality. The U.N. has found that gender discrimination is still a significant factor in holding many women and children around the world in poverty. In many countries, there is a gender income gap in the labor market. For example, in America, statistics show that “The median full-time salary for women is 78 percent of that of men”; despite the fact women make up half the workforce. One of the reasons women earn less income/money in their lifetime is usually because they are single mums and/or have more people/family to support on their

Women now go to college and have full time jobs but they still are not as equal to men as we’d like to think they are. Men and women are still being treated differently in many places during life. Wage Gaps between Genders

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,