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Equal Pay for Women

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Equal Pay for Women

The gender wage gap, according to Bleiweis (2020), can be defined as the unfair wages

between females and males. As the author note, women's labor force contribution has increased

substantially since the twentieth century. Although many women work for longer hours and

pursue higher education, these efforts go unnoticed. If these struggles were appreciated, gender-

equal pay would not be a subject for debate in the 21st century. Women continue to face unequal

pay in almost all sectors. While they have protested for equal pay for a long time, such acts do

not bear fruits. This is a persuasive or argumentative paper on equal pay for women. The paper

argues in favor of equal pay for women.

Women should receive equal pay to men because they donate to rural economies.

Females perform numerous roles in rural settings, whether waged or not, and as Shaw &

Mariano (2021) note, this influence on rural economies is frequently underrated. According to

the authors, women handle natural resources, maintain biodiversity, and implement climate-

resilient farming practices. They even strive to guarantee nutrition safety along with agricultural

output. Despite all these efforts, gender parity is at stake. Besides, rural females work as

agriculturalists, businesspersons, and salary earners, besides representing a vital pool of the

agricultural labor force (Shaw & Mariano, 2021). Therefore, women deserve equal pay

since they are devolved within the informal economy and low-paying occupations with extended

working hours. These women even handle the hefty plight of domestic work together with

voluntary care.

Equal pay will also play a pivotal role in boosting the economy. As Bleiweis (2020)

argues, women sustain the United States economy since they constitute about eighty-three

percent of all American spending amongst shoppers. Thus, their unequal wage limits their
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spending power. Equal pay between women and men will play a pivotal role in passing this

advantage on to the economy, thus, influencing economic development. Therefore, a fair salary

would advantage the whole economy of the nation.

A fair wage would also foster competitiveness and innovation. If the gender pay gap is

not solved with an immediate effect, women will continue to exit the workforce, resulting in the

workforce's decline. As Astrálaga (2021) notes, this would hurt innovation and competitiveness

within the workforce since not all competent workers contribute their expertise or capability to

the labor force. Due to women's income discrimination, a vast number of females are “retiring

into hunger” (Shaw & Mariano, 2021; Bleiweis, 2020). According to the authors, the persistent

women's wage inequality persists in every country and sector since women’s effort is overlooked

despite being concentrated within varying occupations compared to men. Although the work

might need the same or more struggle and knowledge, it is waged less.

Even though millions of women have been in the labor force for decades and are making

massive gains in their educational accomplishments, they are paid seventy-nine cents for each

dollar remunerated to men (Bleiweis, 2020). However, critics argue that women willingly select

unequal pay because they disproportionately prefer stereotypically feminine careers or look for

lower-paid professions (Blundell, 2020). Nevertheless, what these critics fail to understand is

that intensifying gender equivalence is essential to end rural poverty and to meet the issue of

refining nutrition as well as food security. Shaw & Mariano (2021) assert that economies with

equal pay for women are more significant in prospects and profits; it has increased economic

progress and improved well-being. Therefore, equal pay for women will aid in lowering chronic

poverty, lead to permanent peace, and benefit whole families. When gender discrimination is
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addressed and the underlying women barriers are eradicated, the possibility for everyone,

regardless of gender, will be unlocked, thus, helping individuals to be reasonably valued.

Opponents assert that women's wage gap is inspired by women since they tend to prefer

flexible hours, and engage in part-time jobs, therefore, being left to look after kids or undertake

other caregiving jobs (Blundell, 2020). However, gender discrimination is rampant in

employment and pay despite these facts. According to Astrálaga (2021), when many women

enter a profession, their typical income goes down. However, males and females work in similar

careers; men are averagely paid high compared to women.

Many families progressively depend on women to put food on the table and foot bills in

the twenty-first century. Therefore, this practice speaks louder about why women should receive

equal pay with men since modern women are relied by their families to take care of them.

Whether married or single, women work hard to ensure their families are safe and they do not

lack anything, and this is enough reason why there should be equal pay for women. For example,

consider what will happens to those families who have a woman as a breadwinner? The truth is

that when a woman experiences a biased salary, and she is the sole breadwinner; the whole

family is affected. The wage gap negatively affects any family with a single earner, making it

challenging for the breadwinner to provide for the family. If women could receive equal pay,

working women's poverty rate would decrease by about 50%, while their general poverty rate

along with their families would improve (Pay, 2022).

Moreover, equal income for women would amplify their typical yearly wages from

$41,500 to $48,423, adding more than $540 billion in income to the American economy

(Astrálaga, 2021). The enduring impacts of salary inequalities for women lead to less long-term

incomes, lower household revenue, and increased hunger rates.

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On the other hand, according to Pay (2022), equal pay for women would increase their

working morale. Women feel comfortable when they understand that their organization does not

underestimate their skills as well as potential. When workers understand that they will be paid

equitably for their job, they will be dedicated to their tasks and do what they can to help their

colleagues (Pay, 2022). This devotion might result in improved job performance. On the

contrary, when staff members realize they will be rewarded less than their colleagues, they will

be discouraged and look for alternative jobs or companies that value their efforts. For that

reason, by paying women an equal salary as men for a similar job, the company or the boss

passes a strong message concerning gender parity. Additionally, the company positively impacts

women's personal and professional lives due to the high value placed on their worth. Equal pay

for all employees, irrespective of their gender, would prevent female workers from feeling bitter

for male colleagues who receive higher earnings despite performing similar jobs.

According to Shaw & Mariano (2021), abolishing the gender wage disparity would also

enable billions of women together with their families, more so unmarried moms, to achieve

financial security. Besides, as the authors argue, for all states as well as the whole country, an

equivalent salary could hugely boost the economy, therefore, aiding communities and

households across America. Equal wage advantages spread far past individual women since it

would enable families to depend on the women for upkeep. Therefore, although equal pay for

women would assist families across America in attaining financial security, and boosting the

United States economy, closing the gender gap would even guarantee an unbiased recuperation

from the Corona-Virus pandemic depression.

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Moreover, many families rely on women’s earnings because men are losing their jobs at

increased rates due to the worsening of the United States’ economic predicament. Therefore,

after losing their jobs, men primarily turn to women for financial aid. The joblessness rate

amongst grown-up males has increased around 3% points over the previous year compared to

grown-up females, which has increased by 1.8% points (Pay, 2022). The loss of jobs has

primarily impacted construction, manufacturing, as well as provisional help businesses, which

usually hire more men gauged with females. While men continue to lose jobs within the retail

industry, women are experiencing increased employment rates.

Additionally, men have been negatively impacted by the continued loss of jobs at vehicle

dealerships (Shaw & Mariano, 2021). For that reason, due to these reasons, it is high time that

the women are paid an equal salary as men for the same work done because they have the similar

capability of supporting their households with reasonable and equivalent salaries. Women can

even play a massive role in supporting those men, hardly hit by the deterioration of the American

economy.

There should even be equal pay for women since salary discrimination makes educated

women lose significant revenue. While numerous women have devoted equal capital and time to

higher education the same as their male peers, they frequently do not receive the equivalent

wage. Women with bachelor's degrees or above can lose more than $712,000 within forty years

of their career (Pay, 2022). Therefore, with an aggressive job marketplace, women require a

motivation to keep on capitalizing on higher learning.

Critics of equal pay for women claim that both genders do not have the same strengths

and weaknesses, and thus, they do not deserve fair pay (Blundell, 2020). According to the equal

pay to women opponents, it would not be wise to pay the same incomes to both genders in
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respective areas because men always beat women in terms of productivity. These critics fail to

understand that many families depend on women for upkeep. When they are discriminated

against by being paid a lower salary than men for the same tasks, those depending on them and

society are affected; the country's economy is also negatively impacted (Pay, 2022).

They even argue that equal pay should not be tolerated since it might make women

abandon their kids (Blundell, 2020). For example, suppose females work within the corporate

world because of equal earnings, these women would not have sufficient time for their children,

thus, suffering from neglect and serious psychological problems. However, their arguments do

not make sense since, although billions of women across the world are employed on a full-time

basis, they ensure financial safety for their children and families while even supporting jobless

men (Bleiweis, 2020). I do not see any reason that might hinder women from benefiting from

equal pay as their men counterparts because they contribute the same effort towards the

development of the economy.

How can the equal pay for women problem be solved? Different measures can be taken

to solve this issue. According to Bleiweis (2020), among the actions and measures include

building and investing in the public care economy to improve wages together with monetary

security for every woman. Companies should even undertake a salary audit since awareness will

aid them in solving the wage gap. Analyzing pay by racial background and gender will assist the

organization in ensuring that there are no gender remuneration gaps. Moreover, companies

should be open about how they determine rewards, so workers could stop guessing the aspects

influencing their salary. In addition, organizations should even guarantee that staffing and

elevations of employees are fair without favoring men or females. Auditing appraisals and

advancements frequently will make sure that companies are never systematically highly valuing
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men and advancing them fast. Executives should be trained to fathom the repercussions of

gender prejudice on their policymaking. The company must also establish consistent and explicit

principles to manage unfairness in hiring choices and presentation assessments.

The essay has argued that, the gender wage gap is the unfair wages between females and

males. Women deserve equal pay since they are devolved within the informal economy and low-

paying occupations with extended working hours. A fair wage would also foster competitiveness

and innovation. Women also deserve equal pay since many families progressively depend on

women to put food on the table and foot bills. equal pay for women would increase their working

morale. Critics argue that women willingly select unequal pay because they disproportionately

prefer stereotypically feminine careers or look for lower-paid professions. In addressing the

equal pay for women, companies should undertake a salary audit since awareness will aid them

in solving the wage gap. Analyzing pay by racial background and gender will assist the

organization in ensuring that there are no gender remuneration gaps.

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References

Astrálaga, M. (2021, June 17). “Achieving gender equality is a precondition for the eradication of

poverty.” Retrieved April 30, 2022, from

https://ideas4development.org/en/gender-equality-precondition-eradication-poverty-2/

Bleiweis, R. (2020). Quick facts about the gender wage gap. Center for American Progress, 24.

https://www.americanprogress.org/article/quick-facts-gender-wage-gap/

Blundell, J. (2020). Wage responses to gender pay gap reporting requirements. Available at SSRN

3584259.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3584259

Pay, E. (2022). Sex-Specific Workplace Discrimination. Employment Discrimination: A Concise

Review of the Legal Landscape, 153.

Shaw, E., & Mariano, H. (2021). Narrow The Gender Pay Gap, Reduce Poverty for Families: The

Economic Impact of Equal Pay by State.

https://iwpr.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Economic-Impact-of-Equal-Pay-by-State_FINAL.pdf