Gender Wage Gap Essay

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. Despite civil rights and affirmative action policy race and ethnicity still affects

Education and experience are considered “human capital” by economist. The knowledge and skills learned on the job make employees more productive. Historically women were less likely to go to college and graduate, however according to the U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences National Center for Education Statistics Between 1970 and 2001, women went from being the minority to the majority of the U.S. undergraduate population, increasing their representation from 42 percent to 56 percent of undergraduates. If these trends continue women will make up the larger segment of the skilled labor force. Educational attainment is particularly important in closing the wage gap. The simple fact is that employees with a college degree makes more than employees with a high school education. The gender wage gap exists at all levels of education, and women with graduate degrees experience the widest wage ratio of 73 percent, earning almost $450 less per week than

Someone has to do the work of rising children and reward for such important work should not be marginalization, suffer a loss of status, and be at an increase risk of poverty. It makes economic sense to equalize pay, especially since there are more women than men heading households and in the labor force. These women become the economic decision makers, if they receive their fair pay, it’s highly likely that those dollars will be going directly back into the