Gender Inequality In Pay Essay

625 Words2 Pages

Despite legislation such as the Equal Pay Act (1970) and the Sex Discrimination Act (1975), gender inequality is still evident in contemporary society, especially throughout pay in employment. Figures to support this claim have recently become more visible over the years, for example, the UK commission of employment and skills chart (Nov 2015) conveys the unequal pay of men and women, the largest gap prevailing in the financial and insurance sector, where men earn on average approx. £24 an hour compared to women’s approximate £15 an hour. This gap is substantial and further reveals the disadvantage in paid employment that women still face even with recent legislation being introduced (The Equality Act, 2010). Also, “WOMEN are earning 19% LESS per hour than men on average” (Mel Semple). Furthermore, there are many explanations for this persistent disadvantage in paid employment such as …show more content…

Main body – 1500 words
Para 1- 375 words
Firstly, a reason for why gender inequality in paid employment is persisting is the way women's competences are valued compared to men's in the workplace. Parsons claimed that women were more suited to ‘expensive roles’, those emphasising caring and emotions, while men were the ideal candidates for ‘instrumental roles’, those that required qualities of competition, aggression and achievement. This view implies that men are physically more suited to paid employment and women are more suited to domesticity. The implications of Parsons’ view is that women will be less motivated and overall less suited to the labour market than men. Therefore, it is not surprising that they will, on average, be paid less. Some economists have gone on to suggest that the pay gap between men and women because it reflects the fact that men have more ‘human capital’ because of their greater orientation to paid work. Human capital refers to education and

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