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MaddisonWright
Norton
EnglishIIIBlended
May9th2016
HowhastheGenderGapinAmericanEmploymentaffectedWomen?
Throughouttime,womenhavebeenviewedastheinferiorsexwhenputtothetest
againstmenintheworkforce.Somuchsothatithascreatedagapintheirwages.Thisgaphas
leadtoalotofdiscriminationintherecentyearsandinthepast.Questionshavearisenastowhat
thegenderpaygapreallyis,howitaffectswomenofdifferentdemographics,tohowthegender
paygapcanbefixed.Womenseetheseunfairactsofbeingdeprivedofmoneyjustbecauseof
theirsex/genderidentityandthatwomenareviewedasinferiortomenandcannotgetthejob
doneaswellasamanbecausetheyareweak.
Thegenderwagegap,accordingtothearticlecalledTheSimpleTruthbyLindaD.
Hallman,CAEofAAUWor,AmericanAssociationofUniversityWomen,isthedifferencein
mensandwomensmedianearnings,usuallyreportedaseithertheearningsratiobetweenmen
andwomen(Hallman1).Womenarepaidsignificantlylessthantheirmalecoworkersthathave
thesamejob,eveniftheyhavethesamequalifications/levelofskill.In2014,Hallmanhad
discoveredthattheannualmedianpayformenandwomenwasaround$39,621forfemale
workersand$50,383forthemalecounterpart.Lookingattheratios,thatshowsthatthemale
workershada79%gainontheirfemaleworkers.Ultimately,thegenderwagegapis
unexplained.
Womenofdifferentethnicities,ages,andeducationalbackgroundsareallaffected

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differentlyaswell.Beginningtolookatthestatisticsforthewagegapforwomenofdifferent
ethnicities,itshowsthathispanicwomenonlymake58%ofawhite,male,americanman
annually,comparedtothewhite,femaleworkerthatgets78%oftheearningsoftheaverage,
collegeeducated,Americanman.Agegapsshowthatwomenfromtheageof2024earn92%of
anAmericanmanssalaryonaweeklybasis,butasagegoesup,thepercentageofearningsgo
down.Forinstance,womenages4554earnonly77%ofamanssalaryonaweeklybasis.
Educationisanothercontributingfactorthatcausesawaiverinthenumbers,statistically.
Typically,thehighertheeducation,thehigherthepaygap.Forexample,ifamanandawoman
bothhavelessthanahighschooldegree,thewomanearns80%ofthemansearnings,butifa
manandwomanbothhaveanadvanceddegree,thewomanearnsonly74%ofthemans
earnings,allagainonaweeklybasis.
Sohowcanthislargegenderpaygapbefixed?Individualemployers,thestates,andeven
thefederalgovernmentcouldcontributetoraisingmoreawarenessforthegenderpaygap,and
eventuallyerasingthegapcompletely.Beginningwithemployers,accordingtoHallman,
companiesshouldknowbynowthatpayingworkersfairlyisnecessaryforlegalandethical
reasons(Hallman19).Somebusinessesparticipateinpayequitysurveystomakesurethatall
oftheiremployeesarebeingpaidequallyandmorallyfair.Intheindividualstates,theyare
mostlyworkingtowardsequalityamongall,lettingwomenreceivethemoneytheyrightfully
deserve.Positively,California,Illinois,Minnesota,NorthDakota,Tennessee,andVermontall
haveverystrictlawsgoverningequalpayamongmenandwomen.Eventually,allstatesmayend
uppassingtheselaws,butonthedownside,accordingtoanotherarticletitled,Foronegroupof
women,thegenderwagegapkeepsgettingworsebyDaniellePaquette,shediscoveredthatif

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thegenderagegapreformkeepsmovingattheratethatitisatrightnow,womenandmenwill
notreceiveequalpayuntil2058.Thefederalgovernmentcouldplayaroleinthisreform,as
well,butsofarithaspassedonlyafewlawsregardingthegenderpaygap.Thefirstwasin
1963,andiritwascalledtheEqualPayAct,whichrequiresemployerstogivetheiremployees
equalpayforequalwork..In1964,theCivilRightsActwaspassedanditfellintoorderin
regardstoanytypeofinequalityinemploymentonanybasis,whetheritberace,color,religion,
orsex.Hererecently,however,PresidentBarackObamapassedtheLillyLedbetterFairPayAct
of2009,whichdoesprovideadditionalprotectionagainstdiscrimination,butisbynomeans
sufficientenoughtofixthewagegapbetweenmenandwomen.
Maybeoneday,thisgapwillbemendedandmenandwomenwillgettheequalpaythey
deserve.Althoughthegapiscurrentlyunexplained,itstillaffectswomeninwaysthatittruly
shouldnt.Itsunfairandunjustformentoreceivemorepaythanwomenforanyreasonatall.
Allshouldbepaidequally,representedequally,andseentogetherasone.

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WorksCited
Halman,LindaD.
ASimpleTruth
.N.p.:RedBear,2014.
AAUW
.Web.12May2016.
Paquette,Danielle."ForOneGroupofWomen,theGenderWageGapKeepsGettingWorse."
WashingtonPost
.TheWashingtonPost,n.d.Web.12May2016.