Are Women Paid Fairly In The Workplace?

1008 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Is gender discrimination the reason men are paid more than women

The question of whether or not gender inequality still exists in today’s workplace has been a frequently asked question among both men and women. This is of great importance because it directly affects all of us since we all have to work and we all desire to be treated equally. In heat of this discussion many are quick to point out the statistic stating that for every dollar a man makes a women makes 80 cents for doing similar jobs. This highlights the overwhelming inequality among today’s society among genders. In jobs with high position of power, the same is true as well since they demonstrate that women aren’t getting the proper representation and treatment since they’re often victims of unfairness and stereotypes. In the top 500 companies …show more content…

In the article Gender Pay Gap: Are Women Paid Fairly in the Workplace?, Thomas J. Billitteri analyzes this supposed wage gap problem among society. According to Billitteri some women consider the wage gap to “an insult to my dignity” and it righteously should be (Billitteri). In the workplace the amount of value and respect a employer have towards someone is usually reflected in their pay check and for that reason women are totally inclined to feel the way they do. Billitteri gave us the marvelous situation of Lilly Ledbetter a former Goodyear tire plant employ for 19 years. Ledbetter claimed to be $500 dollars less per month then the lowest earning male despite the reason she had more years of experience, had similar responsibilities and the man had just begun. This was a clear cut illustration of gender inequality but despite she lost the lawsuit against the company. Although, most cases of gender inequality aren’t as clean cut as Ledbetter there are still quite present and the differential of money can be recognizable over time. According to Billitteri, “Women do not realize the enormous price that they pay for gender wage discrimination because they do not see big bites taken out of their paychecks at any one time” and that occurs for obvious …show more content…

In fact, “Labor Department data show that for 35- to 44-year-olds, the earnings ratio of women to men rose from 58 percent in 1979 to 77 percent in 2006. For 45- to 54-year-olds, it went from 57 percent to 74 percent. Among the youngest workers, ages 16 to 24, only about 5 percentage points separated median weekly wages of men and women in 2006 (Billitteri).” The statistics don’t demonstration but it’s certainly pointing in the right direction. However, we still need to further improve these statistics by completely making the wage gap nonexistent. According to documentary Why Can't a Woman Earn as Much as a Man?, it needs to begin with women. In the documentary they conducted studies that demonstrated the women tend to undervalue themselves, are less likely to ask for a raise or aren’t confident enough to ask for a high wage even though they may manifest amazing qualities. Another way this wage gap can be eliminated is by simply creating laws that requires employers to show the average pay for both males and females. This would help both females and males get an equal pay without making one seem to demanding or lower the chance of getting a job. However, it’s important to note that the gender wages difference may also be due to an aspect mentioned in the documentary Why Can't a Woman Earn as Much as a Man?, they explained that a women’s may be tampered

Show More
Related

  • The Gender Wage Gap In The Jungle By Upton Sinclair

    1504 Words  | 4 Pages

    Though any pay disparity between women and men is a pressing issue, the “wage gap” is much more complicated than people believe because of misleading statistics, unaccounted for variables, and the different social and economic choices of men and women. The common idea that women make 77 cents on every dollar men make in the workplace is very misleading. It is true, however, this statistic ignores any factors that justify different pay. The wage gap is just the difference

    Read More

  • Wage Inequality And The Texas State Government

    1311 Words  | 3 Pages

    The reality of wage differences between men and women is that above all changes women continue to earn less than men. Countless arguments have promoted that wage inequality has changed and that everyone finally receives an equal amount of pay. “For women of color, the gap is largest of all: In 2006, black and Hispanic women earned 86 and 87 cents on the white man’s dollar, respectively,” (Mcswane 2). If a woman is lucky enough she will get an equal pay compared to a man doing the same job. But it is challenging for a woman of a minority background to achieve this. Not only are women paid less because of their sex, but also because of their race. There seems to be a mentality that because someone is a woman and a minority that they cannot do the same job as men or that women do not have the same education as the men, so employers do not have to pay them the same. “When the numbers are broken down by district, they 're pretty hard to ignore. Women in Texas are being utterly screwed financially, according to the data compiled by AAWU, with women earning anywhere from 66 percent of what men do in some districts, to the top end of things, which is about 89 percent,” (Leicht 4). The proof cannot be ignored. It i...

    Read More

  • Social Stratification Analysis Paper

    614 Words  | 2 Pages

    There is a pay gap between men and women in the U.S. The pay gap affects women of all educations levels, and backgrounds. But white men are the largest demographic in labor forces so they possibly favor each other as opposed to women. The graph didn’t specify the type of jobs, or whether they were working parts time or fulltime. But in 2016, women working full time in the U.S. were paid 80% of what men were getting paid. There are some occupations that have not reached the equity but some have like retail, banking and real

    Read More

  • Gender Payage Gap Essay

    1384 Words  | 3 Pages

    Nowadays, most women remain unaware that their employers underpay them. Women cannot argue for higher wages if they do not know they earn less than their male equivalents. Each employee sharing their salary will allow women to detect if they are earning less than their male colleagues with little difficulty. This will give women the tools needed to argue for a higher pay rate, and will help lower the wage gap. If a female worker goes to her boss with statistical evidence that she earns less than her male associates, the chances that her boss will award her a higher salary significantly increase. The law will make it almost impossible for companies to pay their male workers more than their female workers (Glynn para. 7). Furthermore, a law requiring employees to share their salaries will bring to light other forms of wage discrimination. The wage gap not only represents gender discrimination in the workplace, it also reflects the ongoing issue of racial discrimination. While white women do typically earn less than white men, they out earn the majority of female colored workers in America. The average African American female makes only 64 cents for the white man’s dollar. Additionally, Hispanic women receive only 54 cents to their white male coworker’s dollar (Hegewisch para. 9). If women of color become aware of how little they earn compared to

    Read More

  • Equal Pay

    1040 Words  | 3 Pages

    Pay equality is most prevalent for the 16 to 24 age group, in which women earn more than 90 percent of what men do; however, the gap becomes 75 percent in the 25 to 54 year old group – those at the height of their careers and life responsibilities.

    Read More

  • Gender Gap In Pay

    1584 Words  | 4 Pages

    The United States has one of the highest gender pay gaps among the developed countries. In the country, the gender pay gap is measured as the ratio of female to males yearly earning among workers in full-time, year round (FTYR) earnings. In 2009, female FTYR earned 77% (0.77) as much as the FTYR male workers (US Census Bureau, 2013). The history of Gender Gap earning reveals USA has made big strides towards reducing the gender pay gap from 1980. For instance, in 1980 the gender pay gap ratio was 0.62 while in 1990, the gap stood at 0.72. Further from 1990 to 2000, the gap reduced to 0.73 and then to 0.77 in 2009. Currently, the gender pay gap stands at 0.76 and continues to persist (US Census Bureau, 2013).

    Read More

  • Persuasive Speech: An Angry Cheeto As Our President

    588 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to the Atlantic, a woman earns 79% of a man’s wages. Companies say they demand “equal work for equal pay”, but if that was truly the case, wouldn’t we have had equal pay a long time ago? But honestly, this gap is not as bad as the earnings of people of other races. According to Time, compared to the White Man’s $21 per hour, Black men get $15, Hispanic men get $14. It is even worse for women of color, with Black women earning $13 per hour, and $12 for Hispanic Women.

    Read More

  • Do Women Deserve Equal Pay Essay

    1415 Words  | 3 Pages

    From the beginning of history and to this day women still get paid less than the average man, but why? Whoever said that women are incapable of good work performance? Whoever said that women do not have the same responsibilities to maintain? What really makes a women’s work inferior to men? The answer is nothing. Today, women are depended on just as much as men, and are capable of performing at their level. However, a full-time working woman earns only seventy-seven cents for every dollar a man makes. These days women make up half the workplace in our society; they work just as hard and for the same reasons. Women deserve to be paid at an equal rate as men because they are relied on to uphold the same responsibilities and are just as qualified to perform at a man’s level.

    Read More

  • Why Do Women Get Paid?

    799 Words  | 2 Pages

    Some companies refuse to discuss wages with their female employees, and some are even threatened like Lilly Ledbetter, a woman with firsthand experience of payment discrimination, who “was told [she would] be fired if [she] shared salary information at work,” (Ledbetter). Although women are allowed to sue their company if they know they are not being fairly paid, only 12% of those that sue their employer win their case (Cooper). Women are being denied an attempt at fair treatment and those who do not win their case are then put in danger of being demoted or even fired. These situations are what prolong the wage gap between men and women of the same occupation.

    Read More

  • Discrimination of Women in the Workplace

    723 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is very important to be concerned about the issue because it is constantly increasing throughout the United States. It upsets me that women are paid less than men because women have the same ability and work ethic as men do, but they are looked at differently. According to AAUW, women make 77 percent of what men make. This rate hasn’t changed since 2002 (Hill, 2013). Statistics show that women will never make as much as men due to the thought of never being comparable to men (Williams, 2013).

    Read More

  • Inequality In The Workplace

    783 Words  | 2 Pages

    For many decades, women have faced inequalities in the workforce. At one point, they were not allowed to work at all. Although women's rights have improved and are now able to work alongside men, they are still treated unfairly. According to the 2012 U.S. Census, women’s earnings were “76.5 percent of men’s” (1). In 2012, men, on average, earned $47,398 and women earned only $35,791. This is when comparing employees where both gender spend the same amount of time working. Not only do women encounter unfairness in work pay, they also face a “glass ceiling” on a promotional basis. This glass ceiling is a “promotion barrier that prevents woman’s upward ability” (2). For example, if a woman is able to enter a job traditionally for men, she will still not receive the same pay or experience the same increase in occupational ability. Gender typing plays a huge role in the workplace. It is the idea that women tend to hold jobs that are low paid with low status. Women are not highly considered in leadership positions because of social construction of gender. Society has given women the role of “caretakers” and sensitive individuals. Therefore, women are not depicted as authoritative figures, which is apparent with the absence of women in leadership roles in companies. Furthermore, sex segregation leads to occupations with either the emphasis of women in a certain job or men in a certain job. In 2009, occupations with the highest proportion of women included “secretary, child care worker, hair dresser, cashier, bookkeeper, etc.” (3). Male workers typically held job positions as construction workers, truck drivers, taxi drivers, etc. (3). Sex segregation represents inequality because the gender composition for these jobs depends on what ...

    Read More

  • Gender Pay Gap Essay

    725 Words  | 2 Pages

    Today in the United States, men make more than women in various sectors, including education and other trades favoring women workers. The gap gets bigger when comparing the wages earned by men to those of women in jobs favoring men workers such as construction or other physically demanding jobs. Women are less likely to work those jobs, therefor; men have the advantage of having more experience and get paid better. In addition, employers would rather hire a man instead of a woman because they believe that a man will be able to sustain the difficulty of the job and work longer hours which crate a disadvantage for women because they are unable to gain experience and become skilled in that certain field. Gender pay gap based on this information is explained as the result of the discrimination of employers toward the feminine sex in terms of pay, which discourage them to work certain jobs leading to create a bigger gap due to the lack of

    Read More

  • Why Do We Earn The Same Wages For Women

    985 Words  | 2 Pages

    All through the historical backdrop of the world, discrimination in the sum total of what structures have been a steady fight; regardless of whether it's race, sex, religion, beliefs, appearance or whatever else that makes one individual not quite the same as another, it's going on consistently. One huge discrimination issue the total populace is engaging, happens in the workplace. Women, who are as similarly prepared and taught, and with an indistinguishable afar from men are not getting equivalent pay, “The American Association of University Women is releasing a new study that shows when men and women attend the same kind of college, pick the same major and accept the same kind of job, on average, the woman will still earn 82 cents to every dollar that a man earns” (Coleman). All through the paper, will discuss why the women's wages are considerably lower than men compensation; One reason for this is

    Read More

  • Unequal Pay Essay

    469 Words  | 1 Pages

    It is seen that female employees have been earning 80 to 90 percent of what their male coworkers receive (Webb, 2016). Even though the Equal Pay Act states that “men and women in the same workplace [should] be given equal pay for equal work,” examples have been found where women are being paid less than their male coworkers, and have received compensation through the courts. As was the case for 300 women who were awarded $5 million in settlements because of pay disparities found by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) this year. This specific story was documented in a Time Magazine article by Jennifer Calfas, which spoke of the State Street Company who was guilty paying their female employees less than their male employees who held the same level positions (Calfas, 2017). Ironically, State Street had become an advocate for empowering women, and installed a new statue to prove it.

    Read More

  • Gender Inequality at a Workplace

    1117 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gender Inequality at a Workplace Historically, males and females normally assume different kinds of jobs with varying wages in the workplace. These apparent disparities are widely recognized and experienced across the globe, and the most general justification for these differences is that they are the direct outcomes of discrimination or traditional gender beliefs—that women are the caregivers and men are the earners. However, at the turn of the new century, women have revolutionized their roles in the labor market. Specifically in industrialized societies, the social and economic position of women has shifted. Despite the improving participation of women in the labor force and their ameliorating proficiency and qualifications, the labor force is still not so favorable to women.

    Read More

More about Are Women Paid Fairly In The Workplace?

Open Document