The Problem Of Gender Wage Gap In The United States
The wage gap between men and women has been an ongoing issue for sometime now. This global pay gap that men and women have “will take 202 years to close.” Research has shown that on average women across the world are being paid approximately 63% of what men earn. Looking at the global aspect, there isn’t a single country where women are being paid the same as men. I believe that going more in depth on this issue will allow me to get more information and to inform my readers on it as well. Throughout the years of this going on, there have only been six countries that have closed the wage gap significantly. My country of origin is the United States of America (U. S). Comparing my country of origin to Norway and Finland has a significant difference in their pay. Personally, I feel that this issue needs to be talked about. As a country we preach the whole “we are the best country… we have equal rights”. When you step back and look at what's going on, what we preach isn’t happening. It’s like our words are so big that our actions can't even line up to it. Our actions as a human society needs to change and I believe that for us all to have a great life, our women should have the same opportunities that our men have. It isn’t right to have one gender to be looked at on a higher level than the other.
Women are a part of our country’s economy and have always had a big role. Our economy is not just what is outside of our homes, it is bigger than that. It is what goes on inside of the house, bringing in your salary to make sure your family is well taken care of. Women are a major adset to every country and their ways of life. In a sense women help the world go round. Societies build these stereotypes that enables women to get that respect. “It is possible that differential character traits disparately affect productivity. If stereotypically masculine traits are rewarded, then men should earn more than women, straight men more than gay and bi-men, gay women more than bi-women, and bi-women more than straight women” (Sayers, 2017). Its easy to say we need to change our ways and our views but it is not that easy. At this point we need to be enlightened on the issue and in the process we can modify or actions so there can be equal living amongst every society.
For centuries gender inequality has been a huge tirant towards the development among humans in the U. S and others around the world. My country of origin, the United States ranks 51st. The gender gap index has them rated at 0. 71 Looking at the aspect of the wage gap has been an eye opening experience. The Human Development Index had been made to publish the average wages among males and females. Throughout the data females have not had the same success as males nor the same opportunities. This all began during the 1970 's. Women had started working full time to bring in some more cash towards their families household but they were only making 59 cents for every dollar a man was earning. In the U. S today we have a population of 327. 2 million people (a little over half are female) on average a woman who is working full time earns 81 cents for every dollar a man (working full time) earns. A women's median annual earnings (after taxes) are $9, 909 less than men's. The gender pay gap in the United States is a ratio of female-to-male average yearly earnings among full-time workers. In the U. S an average woman's unadjusted annual salary is 78% to 82% of that of the average man. According to data from “US Census Bureau”, the average gender wage gap in the U. S is around 19%. The gap may be bigger or smaller, depending on the city or state someone lives. For example, California has the smallest gap at 10. 9%. While in Louisiana, their gender gap is 31. 2%, which is the biggest gap in the nation. As I dug deeper, I found that the gap mainly results from the ethnicity of the genders. Latin and Black women are most affected by this. Mainly when compared to white men(who make up the largest demographic segment of a working society. According to data from “US Census Bureau”, they had a survey which asked for the salary of women and compared them to a white male’s salary. On average a white male makes $53. 6K. Black women on average make 67% ($36K) of what white males make. As for Latin women, they make 58% ($31. 4K.) Asian women aren’t as affect. They face the smallest gap. On average they earn 97% of what white men earn. Which then results in a wage gap of just 3%. Over the course of a lifetime, the gap trend gets bigger. When men and women are between the ages 18-21 the gap is very narrow but once they reach 30 the gap begins to enlarge. At the age of 30, on average a woman makes $40k while men make $50K. The biggest gap occurs when both parties reach the age of 63. The gap increases to $15K. When looking at this issue, the large discrepancy between white men and immigrant women’s earnings I believe is part of the fact that women of color suffer the most because society still lives in the past and still have a bias view of women on the workforce.
Looking at Finland, they are in the top ten Finland is in the top 10 and is ranked third out of 144 countries for overall gender equality in 2016 according to the Global Gender Gap Index. “The Global Gender Index” was first brought up by the World Economic in 2006. This is a framework that is capturing the magnitude of gender based disparities that track progress over time. Finland is following behind Iceland and Norway. Finland ranks as the number two on the list because of the country’s overall equality as far as gender goes and gives equal opportunities to their people. It’s still not as high as Iceland is but It comes very close to it. The reason that it is not number one is because they fall short in certain areas but at the same time, it’s not too low in those specific areas. Some of the areas that they are extremely good in are Education, Health and is not far behind in the Political Empowerment areas. It has been said for years that Finland has been known as a country that promotes gender equality. They are the best in all walks of life, mainly in the domain of high. Finland has closed its gender gap about 85 percent overall. This is great progress that can get them to that number one spot and potentially closing the gap for good. When the Global Gender Gap began, Finland was ranked in the 10th spot. Back then they were ranked 18th in Educational Attainment, 8th in Economic Participation and First in Health. That was over thirteen years ago. Today Finland is top 10 in many categories and have made many strides. Finland is ranked 16 in Economic Participation and Opportunity, 1 in Educational attainment, 1 in Health and 2 in Political Empowerment. Overall, Finland has mostly stayed in the top 10 percent since the Global Gender Gap Report started in 2006. Although it has stayed the same over ten years, it dropped this year in Economic Participation and Opportunity.
Now as for Norway, they are without a doubt the greatest place for women to have a living. It has great opportunities for a woman and even work. Their childcare is magnificent and is cheap and all of the newborns are offered a nursery. This allows less stress on women in many ways. Looking at it, it is very mangable for women in Norway to get things done at work and also have the ability to enjoy her time with the family. The gender inequality global issue really doesn’t affect Norway. It has been a goal for them to eliminate for years and their methods and views continue to be great. The gender pay gap is decreasing cent by cent and shows improvement. According to the Gender Gap index Norway is ranked second in 2017. What has worked well for them has been the voices and the equality among workplaces. The equality from the hospitals to the trade unions are beyond superior. Previously Norway was ranked 6th and had to make many improvements. They had an inequality value of 0. 068. There are well over one hundred countries in the Gender Gap index and Norway really sets a standard. The closer the gender inequality value is closer to one the better. As of today, Norway has great scores. In four areas they are ranked with 0. 858. Their ways of getting things done shouldn’t go unnoticed. They only have a 16. 5% wage gap that is close to being gone. They can potentially end it within the next decade or so.
In conclusion, overall this inequality has been around since the 1900’s and is continuing to grow. I feel that Europe has methods and ideas that many countries should talk into consideration, especially the United States. Europe’s institutions pay great attention to their women to have equal opportunities as their men. Women in Europe earn only 15% less than men. We as a society need to take notice to that. Many have stated that this started when the men were at war and the women had to work so they could keep their families from going hungry. Since this first began, the discrimination in today’s society has branched off towords race. There is a huge discrepancy between the women and men that belong to their respective races. This particularly is the biggest eye opener. There is still a wage difference in the U. S and it will continue to be around for some time. We have made some strides but we need to keep on pushing for better. In 2016 the average working women make 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. This shows that the gap has raised but women are still making less. In iceland, their gap in 2016 was 80 cents for every dollar a man made. Which make them the only country with the smallest wage gap in the world. For example, “women working full time in the United States were paid just 80% of what men were paid’. They need to be alert that your education level in a way that does not make a difference. Workplaces and their basic understanding of values, morals and hard work is what matters. It has just been a continuous cycle that is hard to break. America’s public education must emphasize and bring these issues to light so that the upcoming generation can make a stand. Wage gaps are growing nonstop due to discrimination. The contrast in pay between minorities are seen by education and experience as well as the fact that low-income workers are more noticed to be seen in urban areas. Although differences in pay are smaller among women than men minorities face large disadvantage associated with differences in racial wage gaps. Racial inequality does not only discriminate against race or itself, but as well as gender. This debunks the idea of our society that the reason why women are getting paid less is because they do not have the same level of education as men but as you see that in that example women had a higher level of education but was still paid less. A lot of people think the gender gap is myth and women are just complaining and are trying to get more money but it is not about that it is about equal pay for equal work. that The Equal Pay Act of 1963 was passed to make women have “equal pay” it was supposed to prohibit sex based wage discrimination between a man and woman if they both work the same job and both are equally skilled. Obama’s stance on the gender wage stance it that he has two daughters and he does not want them to get paid less more being more qualified. When will the wage gap final varnish may studies have shown that at the slow rate we are heading at right now the wage gap will close in 2152. We still have along way to go but the end result would be completely worth the wait. One day we'll all be seen as equal and not judged upon how we are different and make the world a better place.
