Gender Wage Gap

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What is the gender wage gap? How does it affect you? The gender wage gap is the difference between women’s and men’s earnings. This pay gap has been in existence since before the 1960s. Although the gender wage gap still persists, it has narrowed immensely over the years. The wage gap affects women, men, and families. The wage gap should not exist anymore; it is time for equal pay for both men and women. Even though women are more likely to leave jobs to raise their children than men, the wage gap is unfair and needs to be eliminated by creating laws based on equal gender pay because the wage gap devalues women's work and women are paid less for the same work as men.
Women and men attend the same colleges and receive the same level of education …show more content…

The first thing that can be done to solve this problem is put in place stricter laws to eliminate the gender wage gap. With stricter laws, the gender wage gap will practically diminish. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 was set in place to end gender discrimination in the work place by John F. Kennedy (Equal Pay Act 1). Since this act was signed about 55 years ago, the wage gap has decreased by about 20 cents (Equal Pay Act 1). However, this change is not big enough because women are still being paid 18 cents less than men (Equal Pay Act 1). This means that women are still being paid less than men even with this act in place. Stricter laws need to be put in place which will punish employers who do not pay men and women equally (Carter 1). There are too many loopholes within all the equal pay acts created that allow employers to pay women less than men without facing consequences. As employers continue to pay unequally, the epidemic continues. Without stricter laws the wage gap will continue affecting everyone (Closing the Gender Wage Gap 1). The wage gap does not only affect women, but also families. The wage gap costs a woman and her family lost wages, reduced pensions and reduced Social Security benefits (Equal Pay Act 1). American families are relying now, more than ever, on the wages of women. The gender wage gap will continue to affect everyone unless stricter laws, policies, and acts are put in …show more content…

Women are often paid less than men because women are more likely to temporarily leave their jobs because of childbirth (Mayer 1). Women take necessary time off work for unpaid maternity leave or to raise children which causes an immediate loss of wages. Along with the immediate loss of wages, there are also long-term losses of retirement or pension contributions. Women take more time off work than men, often switching from full time to part time in order to raise their family (Miller 1). Time taken off work by women causes a wage gap between men and women because women are often the caretakers of the home. After the first child, women’s gross earnings quickly drop about 30 percent, and never fully recover (Friedmann 1). In the long term, mothers earn about 20 percent less (Friedmann 1). Women’s time off work to have a family and raise their children creates the issue that they have been out of the workforce for years and have less experience than men. These two factors cause women to not be paid the same as men. Overall, there are reasons why the wage gap exists and why it could possibly

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