Gender Wage Gap in the Unites States

Running Head: GENDER WAGE GAP IN US 1

GENDER WAGE GAP IN US 2

Alexis Strickland

Purdue Global

05/19/20

Gender Wage Gap in the Unites States

Equal pay to men as well as women is essential since it improves the corporate social responsibility of the organization thus creating a positive public image of the organization to its stakeholders and publics. Nonetheless, equal pay facilitates fairer society since it advocates for equal payment to employees for equal work done. Moreover, it helps the organization to attain a higher competitive advantage than its rivals since its employees can attain their potential. In some occasions in organizations, men and women may be paid differently due to reasons such as seniority as well as experience. You may get that organizations pay compensation to older workers and not the junior workers. Nonetheless, work expertise is an essential tool used in offering payment to employees. The issue of unequal pay between men and women has been a hot topic for debate (Blight et al., 2018). The following essay will offer a comprehensive as well as a well articulated research on how men and women are not equally paid by offering in-depth explanations on the causes and solutions to the prevailing issue in the United States.

Looking at the US, women who work on a full-time basis are usually laid only 80 cents for each dollar that is paid to a man. For women of color, the identified wage gap is wiser. Women of all races at all the education levels are unequally paid as compared to men counterparts. The women wage is considered a harsh reality in the US as women must cope with discriminatory workforce on wages and salaries. It occurs despite the women’s work experience as well as education levels.

The causes to unequal pay for men and women in the US can be classified as supply-side based and demand-side based reasons. For the supply side-based causes these are the factors that are associated with the differences in the identified human capital associated investment of the workers and entail variances in aspects like education along with race and the choice regarding an occupation. These factors are well illustrated by the large US census Bureau surveys as they are easily observable in nature. A variety of studies state that these elements have led to gender wage distinctions between the years 1980 and 2010 thus acting as the contributing factors to the prevailing situation of gender wage inequality. The demand-side types of reasons are those that put into consideration societal as well as structural forces which are beyond the control of women. These are usually associated with gender norms as well as discrimination and stereotypes (World Bank et al., 2013). These elements can be internalized by women thus make them to make educational as well as occupational decisions which in turn reveal themselves as supply-side elements. These elements can lead to a reduction in the earnings of women by shaping the way people value women, their work and various characteristics related with women like care work associated occupations.

To effectively mitigate the issue of unequal pay for women and men in the US, there is need for a variety of measures to be implemented. First and foremost, effective legislation should be put in place. The existing legislation act dealing with women and men in the workplace sector should be analysed and updated where necessary to enhance equal pay for both genders. Policies are essential in this case as they facilitate effective changes on the issue by acting as a form of regulation. Nonetheless, another solution is education. Women should be encouraged to pursue education on higher fields of study so that they can be able to attain a higher competitive advantage than men in the workplace (Merino et al., 2014). Education has been used by many employers as a key reason as to why they do not pay their men and women equally thus if women furthered their education they would be less issues and cases of the gender gap pay. For the women of color as well as race, policies that are best suited at fighting for their rights in workplaces should be implemented so that their voice can be heard in places they are incapable of doing so themselves. Policies are suitable in handling wage inequalities and racial Discrimination.

The Equal Pay Act had been in effect for a variety of years. However, there is immediate need to update this law to enhance a better society as well as workplace that values women. Policy changes can assist in the achievement of equal pay for both men and women. The society can also take a part in eradication of the issue of unequal pay by shrinking the wage gap for the low-wage women and by encouraging women to indulge themselves in high paying careers (Emmert & In Emmert, 2013). For the solutions proposed to be effective, there is need to have thorough and effective collection of data on wage inequality by gender to make an assessment on what is happening and to have an effective way forward.

Annotated Bibliography

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Blight, D. W. (2018). A people and a nation: A history of the United States. Retrieved from; https://www.worldcat.org/title/people-and-a-nation-a-history-of-the-united-states/oclc/1124506392 

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Emmert, F., & In Emmert, F. (2013). Collected Courses of the Academy of European Law. Retrieved from; https://www.worldcat.org/title/collected-courses-of-the-academy-of-european-law/oclc/1058867845

Merino, N. (2014). The wage gap. Retrieved from; https://www.worldcat.org/title/wage-gap/oclc/1102232192

World Bank. (2013). Women, business and the law 2014: Removing restrictions to enhance gender equality. Retrieved from; https://www.worldcat.org/title/women-business-and-the-law-2014-removing-restrictions-to-enhance-gender-equality/oclc/1058678512