One of the lingering problems in the United States is the gender wage gap. According to a 2018 study by the Census Bureau, women earned only $0.82 for every $1 men made. In addition, there are only 37 women CEOs in the Fortune 500. How could this be? Well, there are many factors that can cause this including working in different industries, hours worked, and years of experience. However, there is without a doubt a wage gap between men and women when comparing specific industries. Recently, the proposed $15 minimum wage is said to reduce the income gap between men and women. This is definitely a good start, but I do not think it is enough to change the core issue.
In this figure above and to the left, it is obvious how wide the wage gap is between all races of women when compared to men. It gets even more dramatic in the figure above and to the right. The income gap over a 40 year period is staggering when added up. Hispanic and Native American women miss out on, on average, over $1 million over the course of their career.
Furthermore, there have been many pushes in the past to narrow the wage gap including the Paycheck Fairness Act. This bill was first introduced in 1997, and has been revised multiple times since. The bill enforces companies to set wages based off qualifications and not gender. It also compels companies to be transparent when reporting pay. This bill has been revised many times to try to shrink the gap, but the issue still stands to this day.
The gender wage gap issue has been around for decades. There have been countless bills passed in order to narrow the wage gap and make it illegal to pay based on gender. However, the gap still seems ridiculously wide. Companies need to be held accountable for their employees inadequate wages. The laws that have been passed just seem too vague and passive because companies are easily able to side step them. There must be a real fight for change, otherwise the gap will stay stagnant indefinitely.
This issue has surfaced over a number of novels and short stories throughout the semester. The controversy of women and how they can be treated poorly in certain countries. They may be viewed as caretakers and not able to work a “man’s job.” The United States is the most developed country in the world, and the wage gap is still this significant. It is scary to think how bad the income inequality is in some under-developed countries.
Source: https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/reports/2020/03/24/482141/quick-facts-gender-wage-gap/
Great post Kocan! I really liked your DSI showcase post. You included really great sources and graphs to further explain your point. Gender equality is something that is very important to me and it is something that we need to make people more aware of. Thanks Kocan!
Thank you for this post! I really liked how you were able to capture both the nature of the injustice and the facts/numbers behind the situation. I also really appreciated the graphic that you used because it was easy to read and very concise.
Thank you for this post! This is an issue that has been addressed a lot in recent times, but there is still clearly some work to do. There is often greater opportunity for men to take over positions with higher pay, mostly due to the make-up of hiring teams that favor men. There is a bias against women in the workplace, and that bias must be addressed time and time again in order for it to be removed.
This has been an issue for far too long and has caused a lot of arguments and yet things arent ever solved. Even in my own workplace I see this. I think that this is one of those areas that will be a constant discrimination, because women are seemed weaker and less knowledgeable.
Hi Justin, I think your post was really great. I think it really showed how intersectionality plays a role in peoples lives. Looking at the stats being a women has disadvantages compared to men but looking even more being a women and hispanic or really any BIPOC has an even worse disadvantage. It was interesting, but sad, to see the comparisons of these groups.
Hello Justin, great job on the post! The wage gap has been a big problem throughout global societies for decades now, and I believe that it is something that has to change. If a women is just as qualified for a man at the same job, they should be paid the same, no discussion necessary. Even today we can still see instances where a women is being paid less for a higher-profile job than a man who has a lower-profile job.
Hi Justin, great post! I think you did a really good job explaining this injustice and its importance. I found the graphics to be very helpful with illustrating this issue. It was interesting to consider not only the short term effects that this injustice has, but when you consider the long term effects that it has also the injustice becomes even greater.
Hey Justin! Good job on your post. It is so crazy to me how prevalent of an issue this is; especially when you have so many people who claim this “isn’t a real thing”, or that it has been resolved and pay is equal. It so obviously has not been resolved. You did a very good job using visuals to help us understand what you are explaining.