Satya Nadella once said, “We must ensure not only that everyone receives equal pay for equal work, but that they have the opportunity to do equal work.” It was found that women only earn seventy-nine percent of what men make in similar jobs. The gender pay gap has been in account for over fifty years, and yet it is still an issue today. Although businesses are required to practice fairness in compensation amongst all employees regardless of gender, age, or race this is not always the case. Businesses need to instill stricter policies against unequal pay to eliminate racial discrimination, reward and recognize performance and experience, and do away with the gender gap. It is true that there are laws against racial discrimination in the …show more content…
Fay Faraday, a Toronto human right lawyer argued, “The pay gap fosters an environment in which women have less economic security and less economic power”. It is proven women are paid less than the same job performed by others. This creates women to lose their self esteem and self confidence. With unequal pay, especially for women, this causes less buying power and less savings for the future. Furthermore, “The push for increasing women’s wages started in the 1960s with the Equal Pay Act, individual lawsuits and action by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The message, then and now, is so powerful that when people hear it they begin to take action. For example, the California Fair Pay Act, authored by state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, passed with bipartisan support and gives California women the strongest fair pay protection in the nation” (Sure, Equal Pay Day is about what’s in women’s paychecks. It’s also about fairness., The Washington Post). Women’s rights have been fought in the past but now they need to be reinforced and acted upon. Women have been fighting for many years, it is now time those rights be listened to and peace can finally be restored. The Equal Pay Act was not only fought for equal paychecks but for fair pay for similar work. Unequal pay will never be solved without understanding the importance of
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
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.
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...
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).
Women have consistently received less pay than their male coworkers for the same work. the statistics released by the International Labor Organization reveal the obviously lower pay wages women receive. On average, a single women household earns around $27,000 with forty-three percent of that income coming from the government’s aid. In 2009 women made up only twenty-four percent of CEOs in the United States. Single mothers simply do not make enough money to provide a good life for their family, while living well within the poverty standard. ILO also released the world average difference in pay gap from women to men is seventeen percent. This is why Third Wave feminism can be labeled as radical in their fight for equality. To challenge todays social norms and challenge such a big gap, many would scoff. Cynthia, an active feminist in the work place, reports that “following the significant progress toward closing the gender wage gap during the 1980s and 1990s, the last decade has seen no further improvement.” No progress is being made and single working mothers are being paid less then men for the same work. Despite this injustice, progress is being made, Cynthia explains that the “Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009” allows workers to legally discuss work wages and allow women to report unfair or unequal wages (7). This is a step to gender equality and a creating a hopeful future for women. Despite
The persistence of the gender wage gap in contemporary American society is not new. However, in 2015, the issue started garnering much public attention, especially since Patrica Arquette’s Oscar speech. Arquette asserted, “It’s our time to have wage equality once and for all,” upon receiving the Best Supporting Actress award. Arquette is not the only high-profile Hollywood actress to address the issue: Diane Keaton, Meryl Streepe, Gwyneth Paltrow among many others have all shared their experiences of gender wage gap in interviews.
The fight between men and women and equal rights and pay has been going on for many years. The wage gap is contributed by many factors like sex, race discrimination, education, but manly overall how men and women have been viewed as. Men are paid more because they work “harder and are stronger” where’s woman’s jobs are “less work and not as strong” therefore, that’s why the pay and the job occupations is different. Over the past century, American women have made tremendous strides in increasing their labor market experience and their skills (The Gender Wage Gap: Extent, Trends, and Explanations). The pay gap goes beyond wages and is even greater when we look at workers’ full compensation packages. Compensation includes not just wages, but also
Pay equity programs attempt to address the undervaluation for work traditionally or historically done by women. Pay equity (also referred to as “comparable worth”) programs require a gender-neutral analysis of comparative work. A variety of very different jobs are compared based on a composite of the skill, effort and responsibility of a job and the conditions under which the job is generally done. The comparison determines the relative worth of those jobs to the achievement of a firm’s objectives, under the proposition that equal contribution merits equal compensation. Where female-dominated jobs in the workplace are found to be of equal or comparable value to male-dominated jobs but paid below the level of the male jobs or payline, then all employees in those female-dominated jobs are entitled to receive pay equity adjustments.
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
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.
“... astoundingly, 54 years after the United States passed the Equal Pay Act, women still do not have pay parity with men, especially women of color” (Burch 1). If one was to fight for the equal pay between a man and women, the significance in change would be noticeable almost immediately. Even still, with the amount of room to improve on women’s rights and gender equality, one cannot deny the remarkable amount of progress women have made in their
Throughout the ages in Western Civilization, a double standard for men and women has existed. Although in modern society women have started to level the playing field with men in terms of employment and leadership, but the gender gap in opportunities and in societal views persists. However, women can achieve true equality in society by evolving people’s actions through governmental action.
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.