Today, many women are head of household and with the help of legislation like the Paycheck Fairness Act and the recognition by society that the gap is real, they would be able to better their lives as well as the lives of their families. The difference between pay adds up and women in the workforce lose a lot more than they think, “When women, who make up nearly half of the workforce, bring home less money each day, it means they have less for everyday needs of their families, and over a lifetime of work, for less savings for retirement” (Curtis). This gap hinders women from fully providing for their families. As stated in the article “Closing Gender Wage Gap Would Add Billions to Economy,” by Dan Cook, when women are being paid less than men, it causes money to be distributed unevenly and leads women to work at lower paying and less productive jobs than they otherwise would, which causes a hold on …show more content…
The economy is a cause of worry for many women because they are the sole breadwinners for their families, “About 12 percent of women over age 18 were the heads of their households” (United States Dept. of Health and Human services). This means that only one income is being brought into a home to provide for children and children play a critical role in the creation of the gap. In their article “The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap,” The American Association of University Women (AAUW) states that “among full-time workers one year after college graduation — nearly all of whom were childless — women were paid just 82 percent of what their male counterparts were paid”. Nevertheless, once women begin to have children the gap worsens. In her article “Breaking through the Maternal Wall: the Time is Now,” Kristin Rowe- Finkbeiner calls this effect the maternal wall. This maternal wall is what in many cases causes women to miss out on full
Exhilarated screams and contagious laughter pierce the air. The squeaking and screeching of the rusty old gate travel throughout the playground, as I tower towards it. Sprinting down the crumbly old path, leading to the sand court. There are crowds and clusters of children everywhere. The wind twisting and gusting throughout the awkward side bangs and awful bob haircuts. Recess was by far the most exciting and adventurous part of my second-grade life. Spotting my best friend, Lydia, out of the mass of children, I frantically run up to her and ask her to play Newcomb with me. Newcomb was the best recess game to me, simply because it always had the cutest boys. Lydia immediately replies with complete agreement.
The wage gap is a major issue that is constantly brought up in the work place. Numerous people use the term “wage gap” to state how gender can affect somebody 's income. There has always been an understanding that men typically made more money than women. For a long time, women were not allowed to work; therefore men were in charge of “bringing home the bacon”. However, times have changed and there are various situations where a household is centered off a women’s’ income. Females can become single mothers who have a responsibility to care for a child(s). Responsibilities can include monthly payments of water and electric bills and even weekly payments towards groceries. Women have to acquire enough money so that they are able
Under the Equal Pay Act of 1863, the gender wage gap supposedly no longer exists, but the facts are that “as of 2012 women in the U.S. earn 77 cents to a man's dollar” (ProQuest Staff). Men try to justify this unjust statistic by saying that “wage gap isn't necessarily the result of discrimination” (ProQuest Staff). Although, there is no logical reasoning behind it. When women are actually given the same jobs as men they may be paid the same but typically, they are not able to reach the higher positions in the company that men do. Even with their 77 cents to a man’s dollar, “women still tend to bear a larger responsibility for child care and other household matters within families” (Mazorelle). Women are not given the opportunity to earn as much as men and then they still have to take on a majority of the responsib...
Income inequality is a big ongoing problem in the United States. It has a big effect on what America was all about, the American dream. The American dream that everyone is equal and has equal opportunities. Although a big part of what goes on in the Untied States that just doesn’t fit the American dream; women are unequal in the work place. They are put under what is known as the “Glass Ceiling”. Women do not get promoted in the work place and aren’t getting equal pay as men. This also leads to wag gap between the men and women. Both create income inequality for women and affect their American Dream. There is a long history of women having to deal with the “Glass Ceiling”. Over time woman have made progress but more progress is needed to make things equal. Women suffer from income inequality because of the “Glass Ceiling” and wag gap, thus going against the American Dream.
Women still get paid 77 cents to every dollar that a man makes. This not only perpetuates sexism in an extremely obvious way, it is also one of the most harmful. While being catcalled, or subtly put down can be a detriment to women’s psyche, the wage gap is harmful to a women’s physical and emotional well being. Most people say that in order to make a big career change, the person changing jobs should have enough money saved to live on for a full year. This is a pretty logical idea, however, this is something that is much easier for men to accomplish, given that they are paid a higher wage. They have the ability to put money away, whereas it is more likely that a women is going to have to spend all her wages just on living. She won’t be able to leave a job, even if she hates it, simply because she can not afford to. A man with her same qualifications may not have to worry about this due to the fact that he has on average 23 more cents per every dollar, than she does. This to me seems like the root of sexism, and one of the first things we as a society needs to fix in order to help woman feel more equal in the world.
The average women will lose $523,000 in her lifetime due to unequal pay due to gender discrimination. Although women are more likely to have college degrees, women still receive only seventy-six percent of men’s pay. Among African American men and women, earning college degrees is the widest among all other races due to institutionalized racism and the drive to keep black men out of college. Another key point addressed in the book is when women choose to have children they lose income, jobs, experience, and retirement
Gender discrimination is not a new topic, but it is oftentimes a controversial one. The differing political groups in the United States is a good example of how certain groups of people do not think the issue of a gender pay gap needs to be addressed. People on both sides of the political divide have dodged questions on whether or not the gender pay gap is a real issue and if it should be addressed. While some politicians may be divided, most scholars believe that having a gender gap does hamper the countries economy. For example, closing the gender pay gap in the United States should boost the economy by three to four percentage points (Bassett 2014), as this would introduce a group of people who will have more earning and spending potential
When President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act of 1963 into law, he hoped that it would allow working women to finally earn the same amount of money as men; however, more than half a century later, men continue to out earn women in almost every field of work (Lipman para. 4). Male dominated fields tend to pay more than female dominated fields at similar skill levels. In 2012, women earned an average of $691 per week while men earned an average of $854 per week. Furthermore, the majority of women remain unaware that they are earning less than their male colleagues (Hegewisch para. 1). The gender wage gap not only harms a woman’s ability to provide for herself, it also harms many children and families. Women are now the primary caregivers
Women are more than half the work force and are graduating at higher rates then men and continue to earn considerably less then men. There are several contributing factors to the gender wage gap. Women experience gender discrimination in the work force even though it’s been illegal since the Equal Pay Act in 1963. One of the challenges for women is uncovering discrimination. There is a lack of transparency in earnings because employees are either contractually prohibited or it’s strongly discouraged from being discussed. Discrimination also occurs in the restricting of women’s access to jobs with the highest commission payments, or access to lucrative clients.
For many years in United States, equal salary pay for women has been a major issue that women have been fighting for decades. This began back in World War II, when the National Labor Board urged equalize the salary rates for women with the same rates that males were getting of the same professions. (Rowen) Although, traditionally most women do not work to provide for there family and there are not so many independent women during World War II. After World War II more women lost their jobs to veterans returning to the workforce. Women in the workforce after the war have been discriminated ever since. The idea of women as weak and cannot perform there jobs
Many people do not realize how important the salary of a woman is, or how much one family may depend on it. Many may think that all men are head of all households. However that is not always the case. More than fifteen point one million family households are headed by women. Of these households, thirty-two percent or 4,826,159 families have an income that falls below the federal poverty line. That’s almost five million homes and families who are considered poor all because of the unfair gender pay gap we have today (National Partnerships).
Closing the wage gap between men and women is a continuing struggle today in nations all over the world. In many occupations women are paid less overall than their male counterparts. One nation, however, is making strides to bring this disparity in wages into the light. British law will soon require large companies to publish information about the salaries paid to their male and female employees. While this is a great step forward in recognizing the gender pay gap, many women also face many other obstacles to getting equal pay such as the “Mommy Tax” that reporter Ann Crittenden talks about in her piece of the same name (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 337). Another obstacle for women in the work place that ties into the “Mommy Tax” is how women are generally
Are you aware that in 2015, women who were working full time in the United States were only paid 80 percent of what men were paid, at a 20 percent gap? This number is only up a measly one percentage from 2014, and the change isn’t of any major significance. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the earnings ratio hasn’t had significant annual change since 2007. This gender wage gap has only narrowed since the 1970s and due largely to women’s progress in education and workforce participation and to men’s wages rising at a slower rate. Still, the pay gap does not appear likely to go away on its own. At the rate of change between 1960 and 2015, women are expected to reach pay equity with men in 2059. But even that slow progress has stalled in recent years. These
In today’s society, Women perform similar jobs to men. Whether it’s blue or white collar jobs, women are always present and thriving for success balancing a life of business and family. In the job market, some are graduates of the best schools and have interned at the best firms, but are still not compensated as equally as men. Following the recent comments by the CEO of Microsoft concerning women asking for raises and how they should trust the system to install equality, the issue seems to be still present, and women’s work is not rewarded similarly to men’s.
The wage gap between men and women is widely recognized, however there also exists a gap between mothers and women without children. While full-time working women without children earn 7 percent less than their male colleagues, mothers earn 23 percent less (Nelson 20). Even after controlling factors such as education, work commitment, and timing of return to the workforce after giving birth, working mothers earn 3% to 5% less than women without children (Miner et al. 60).