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Natalie Hernandez

SOCI 346

Professor Lindleaf

8 May 2022

The Need for Policy: Closing the Wage Gap

For centuries, women all over the world have constantly struggled for equality. Before

the ratification of the 19th amendment in 1920 regarding a woman’s right to vote, women were

widely considered second-class citizens. Although it can be said that there have been drastic

improvements since those days, there is still a long journey ahead to achieve equality for women

in society. One of the prominent issues that women are facing today, is what is best known as the

wage gap. It has become clear that many employers’ unjust views towards women are being

reflected in the disparities between their employee’s wages. This issue has led to a palpable gap

between the incomes of men and women; in many cases, for the same job and qualifications. The

federal government not only needs to address these issues, but they must also act and pass

legislation to minimize the wage discrimination which currently affects the livelihoods of the

majority of its constituents. Gender parity should no longer be an aspirational ideal. Instead, it

should be a reality achieved in our lifetime.

In 1963, Congress passed the Equal Pay Act; this legislation requires employers to pay

men and women equally for substantially equal work. Soon thereafter followed the Civil Rights

Act of 1964, which also aided in preventing wage discrimination based on gender. Although

these legislative actions have proven to be a step in the right direction, it is evident that it is not

enough. According to the National Partnership for Women and Families, “…women in the

United States are paid 82 cents for every dollar paid to men, amounting to an annual gender
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wage gap of $10,194” (“America’s Women” 1). However, these figures vary between different

factors such as the states they live in and the race of the individuals. In the same study, it was

revealed that the gap for Latinas is significantly wider, at a staggering 54 cents for every dollar a

non-Hispanic man makes (“America’s Women” 1). This equates to a wage loss of 700 thousand

to 1.1 million dollars over the course of a Hispanic woman’s lifetime. It has also been noted that

the gap increases even more if a woman has received advanced education or a professional

degree, therefore leading to a wage loss of up to 2 million dollars over the course of her lifetime

(“Wage Gap Over Time”). It is important to view this data and remember that real women and

their families in our country are being affected by this issue daily. It is a struggle that women

have been trying to fight for generations and will continue to try to do so until the government

decides to listen and implements the extra and necessary measures needed to reach equal pay.

One of the most notable campaigns for equal pay this year was by the U.S. Women’s

National Soccer Team (USWNT). Prior to their fourth consecutive World Cup win, they decided

they would no longer accept the unjust wages they had been receiving for years, compared to

that of their male counterparts whose performances were significantly less successful. Their

unyielding advocacy for equal pay led to the mobilization of their fans to stand behind them and

demand change from the U.S. Soccer Federation. According to an article in Newsweek

magazine, “As FIFA President Gianni Infantino stepped onto the field to bestow championship

medals on the U.S. players after beating the Netherlands in the final match, the crowd chanted

‘equal pay’” (Mortiz-Rabson). There has yet to be a settlement agreement reached between the

USWNT players and the U.S. Soccer Federation, however, their actions of advocating for equal

pay has increased the focus on gender pay disparity in professional sports. Although, some

people may argue that the wage gap does not exist altogether. In regard to sports, their argument
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is that men bring in more revenue than the females, therefore, that is the reasoning as to why men

are paid more than women. However, it is no secret that companies allot more money for the

advertising and marketing for men’s sports than for the female counterparts, which brings down

the revenue a woman’s team can make for the company. This same article highlighted the fact

that a woman is rarely listed in Forbes magazine as the “highest paid” athletes; it is visibly male

dominated. The only women listed are the top global earners in Tennis. (Mortiz-Rabson). There

is an exponential difference when public-figures use their platforms and spread awareness on the

issues that affect the average person. Not only does it encourage and inspire others to speak up

too, but it also forces the government to respond.

Currently, in the U.S., there are no measures in place to punish employers who are

actively practicing wage discrimination. Unless a woman exposes them by filing a lawsuit for

unjust wages, many of these companies continue these practices unnoticed. The federal

government needs to implement legislation that will bridge the wage gap at a faster pace. A

report from the World Economic Forum states that at the current rate, it will take the United

States 208 years to reach equal pay. While some countries such as Iceland and France are

expected to close their gender pay gap in as little as 22-23 years. (Zahidi). This means it would

take a little over two more centuries and four more generations of women to suffer these

injustices until our country’s government can reach gender pay parity. This is unacceptable. It

also makes the average person wonder, what are these other countries doing differently? A study

by the University of Copenhagen reports, “Several nations now require companies to make their

wage data public in an effort to encourage them to pay men and women equally. … When this

policy is enacted, the gender pay gap shrinks” (“Study Finds Gender”). A report from PayScale

states, “In France, companies with more than 50 employees are now required to install software
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directly connected into their payroll systems to monitor unjustified pay gap; if a company fails to

erase a pay gap detected by the software over three years, they could face a penalty” (“Gender

Pay Gap” 2). These studies show that legislation as simple as requiring companies to report their

payroll data could have significant effects on our wage gap. A system needs to be put in place to

hold companies accountable for any wage discrimination practices they are partaking in. Too

much time has been spent looking the other way; it is time for action.

In January of this year, the House of Representatives proposed and passed a bill known as

the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R.7). This bill would address loopholes found in the Equal Pay Act

of 1963 and therefore bring our country closer to closing the wage gap. According to an article of

the American Association of University Women (AAUW), the bill would prohibit employers

from using salary history, protect against retaliation for discussing pay with colleagues, and

ensure equal pay for equal work (Hickey). This bill was first proposed in 2014 and it has since

failed 3 times. On March 27, 2019, the House of Representatives passed the proposed bill and

sent it over to the Senate for their review and decision. This proposed bill was placed on

Calendar Senate on April 3, 2019 but there has yet to be a decision made by the Senate (“H.R.7 –

Paycheck Fairness”). Unlike the federal government, some states have successfully passed

legislation to battle wage discrimination. For example, on January 1, 2018, a law came into

effect for the state of California which prohibits employers from relying or seeking on the

applicant’s salary history for employment. This law would help minimize gender pay disparity

by restricting employers from using salary history to underpay an employee, thus it is a step

towards breaking the cycle of wage discrimination.

It is evident that there is still a long journey ahead for our country and the women’s battle

against the wage gap. For centuries, women have been silenced and oppressed and although there
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have been huge strides accomplished since then, we can no longer allow for these injustices to

continue taking place. For our future generations and for ourselves, we must take control. It is

imperative that we use our voices and demand the necessary change.
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Works Cited

“America's Women and the Wage Gap.” National Partnership for Women & Families, Sept.
2019, www.nationalpartnership.org/our-work/resources/economic-justice/fair-pay/
americas-women-and-the-wage-gap.pdf.

“The Wage Gap Over Time: In Real Dollars, Women See a Continuing Gap.” National
Committee on Pay Equity, www.pay-equity.org/info-time.html.

Moritz-Rabson, Daniel. “Americans Think Gender Pay Gap in Sports Is More of an Issue After
Women's World Cup Win.” Newsweek, Newsweek, 26 July 2019,
www.newsweek.com/gender-pay-gap-sports-more-issue-after-womens-world-cup-win-
1451335.

Zahidi, Saadia. “Accelerating Gender Parity in Globalization 4.0.” World Economic Forum,
World Economic Forum, 18 June 2019, www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/06/accelerating-
gender-gap-parity-equality-globalization-4/.

“Study Finds Gender Gap Shrinks when Companies are Required to Report Wage
Data”. BruCon Publishing Company, Bartonsville, 2019. ProQuest,
https://libproxy.elac.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest.com.libproxy.elac.edu/
docview/2190792765?accountid=37269

“The State of the Gender Pay Gap In 2018.” PayScale, PayScale, Inc., 2018,
www.payscale.com/data/gender-pay-gap-2018.

Hickey, Mary. “Fact Sheet: The Paycheck Fairness Act of 2019.” AAUW, AAUW, 24 Jan. 2019,
www.aauw.org/article/pfa_factsheet2019/.

“Text - H.R.7 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): Paycheck Fairness Act.” Congress.gov, 2019,
www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/7/text.