Formal Paper #2- Rough Draft- Gender Wage Decrimination

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Gender Wage Discrimination in the United States of America

     Citizens of United States of America pride themselves on being part of this land of opportunity and a country built on equality.  So why are the women in this country still battling the gender pay gap?  The Paycheck Fairness Act was blocked this year by Senate Republicans.  This act would have allowed employees/ colleagues to discuss their salaries without penalties.  In addition would have employed good morale resulting in happier more productive employees. 

    

     In the last several years we have had numerous women including class action lawsuits take their gender gap labor issues all the way to the Supreme Court. 

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      There are several theories and mixed opinions about this issue.  Researchers believe the problem exists, while other people deny it’s an issue to be changed.  Moreover, numbers don’t lie and from the scientific study most recently completed in 2012 by the American Association of University Women, from data extracted directly from the 2009 U.S. Department of Educational statistics.  As of 2009 women earn 82 cents for every dollar a man earns, during the first year out of college.  With further studies and comparing “apples to apples”; when women are in identical occupations they earn 7% less than their male counterparts.  And furthermore, African American women earn only 72 cents for every dollar men earn and Latinas 60 cents for every dollar that men earn.

     In 1963 when the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act was passed into law, it was to protect the rights of workers and mandate equal pay for equal work no matter the person’s sex, color, race, religion, national origin, or disability. According to the U.S. Employment Equal opportunity Commission; The Equal Pay Act requires that men and women in the same workplace be given equal pay for equal work. The jobs need not be identical, but they must be substantially equal. Job content (not job titles) determines whether jobs are substantially equal. All forms of pay are covered by this law, including salary, overtime pay, bonuses, stock options, profit sharing and bonus plans, life insurance, vacation and holiday pay, cleaning or gasoline allowances, hotel accommodations, reimbursement for travel expenses, and benefits. If there is an inequality in wages between men and women, employers may not reduce the wages of either sex to equalize their pay.

     During the past 50 years, the ratios for women’s employment education and equal rights have hugely improved, but still far short from equal.  The gender pay gap has been thrown around by the media since women started working.  The opinion that the pay gap is largely exaggerated is simply not true.  As unfortunate as the reality is, stereotyping of men being worth more, working more efficiently, having greater competence, deserving more pay because of their head of household status or wealth status, has been happening since women began working.  These perceptions perpetuate themselves and result in men and women both valuing men’s labor at a higher pay.  Though neither men nor women would admit to these opinions of value because risk of being outside the social norm or being labeled sexist.  As a matter of fact it has been studied extensively by psychologists at universities such as Stanford, Princeton, University of California Santa Barbara, Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville and Southern Illinois University of Carbondale to name a few.

      Still there are numerous factors that create the consistent problem, such as pay expectations, which tend to be lower for women.  According to a Kent State University, women view their own worth as less than men view their worth, when they negotiate pay during the hiring process.    

     Women have been devalued for thousands of years as suggested from the Old Testament passage.

The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them, If anyone makes a special vow to dedicate persons to the Lord by giving equivalent values, set the value of male between the ages of 20 and 60 at 50 shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel; and if it is a female, set her value at 30 shekels.                                                                          -Leviticus 27:1-4

     As I look forward to completing my college education, it is clear to me that I will need to do my due diligence in researching my career’s salary data and be confident in my skills and in my pursuit to negotiate a fair salary.

The consequences of gender wage gap can be detrimental to the women and men in our society.  Many households depend on one women’s salary, whether it’s a single women, mother, wife or caregiver.  Especially with the recession, there are more men out of work then women. 

    

     Why should women have to work longer and harder to make the same wages, to earn the same Social Security, to contribute the same amount to retirement, to pay back the same amount of education debt and to support their families?