Closing the Gender Wage Gap

On Tuesday, April 10^thAmericans recognized Equal Pay Day, which is intended to raise awareness about the gender wage gap and symbolizes how far into the year women must work to earn the same that men earned the previous year. Equal Pay in America has a long history, beginning with the Equal Pay Act of 1963. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 was the first legislation that requires men and women to be paid equal amounts for equal work in the same establishment. “Equal work” does not mean that they must have the same job title, but rather the same job content in order to be deemed equal. Unless pay differentials are proven to reasonable and earned then the company must correct the pay differential by raising the wage of the lower paid employee. Lawmakers continued to work towards closing the gender wage gap when they passed Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, stating that employers are prohibited from discriminating against employees based off of their sex, race, or religion. Despite these efforts to work towards equal pay, unfortunately we still see a huge wage gap between men and women today.

As of 2018, women in the United States are still only being paid eighty cents to every dollar that men earn, and although so much progress has been made since the passing of the Equal Pay Act in 1963, the battle is still far from over. Currently, the fight is focused on passing the Paycheck Fairness Act, which seeks to tackle and eliminate any loopholes in the Equal Pay Act. The Paycheck Fairness Act would ensure protection against retaliation for discussing salaries with colleagues, require employers to prove that pay differences exist for legitimate reasons, give the same remedies for sex-based wage discrimination claims as the ones that are available for race- or ethnicity-based wage claims, and create negotiation skills training programs for women. The Paycheck Fairness Act would make extraordinary differences in the gender wage gap; however, the bill has been unable to pass time and time again.

As women’s success in the workforce continues to grow, topics like equal pay are coming to the forefront of our political conversation. Women and men alike are demanding attention be paid to discrepancies that hinder a woman’s path to success, such as the wage pay gap. An inability to pass the Paycheck Farness Act is threatening the political equality that is so fundamental to the success of our democracy. If everyone does not have fair and equal access to necessities like wages that are crucial to a woman’s life then political equality is threatened, ultimately undermining popular sovereignty and the success of this democracy

https://nwlc.org/resources/how-the-paycheck-fairness-act-will-strengthen-the-equal-pay-act/

https://www.aauw.org/what-we-do/legal-resources/know-your-rights-at-work/title-vii/

http://www.nationalpartnership.org/research-library/workplace-fairness/fair-pay/the-paycheck-fairness-act.pdf

Image: https://www.statista.com/chart/3958/gender-pay-gap-by-ethnicity/

9 Responses to "Closing the Gender Wage Gap"

Gwynna Ryan says:

April 18, 2018 at 11:22 pm

Hannah,

This post brings up a few interesting points. I appreciate your discussion about the wage gap. By far the most troubling element of gender wage disparity is the gap between men and women of color, and even between white women and women of color. This is a reflection of the continued, pervasive role that race and ethnicity plays in American society. Women of color are paid significantly less than their counterparts in the workforce as your graphic demonstrates. This disparity reflects largely America’s attitudes towards these women of color. Even the feminist movement, sometimes whitewashes history or forgets the contributions of women of color or fails to advocate for these women. It would also be worthwhile to examine any disparity between wages for men of color and white men. Is this problem simply one that exists among women or does it also affect men? Given a large part of American history, it is probably safe to assume that men of color make less than their white counterparts which in and of itself is also a problem.
James Hulbert says:

April 19, 2018 at 7:29 pm

Hannah,

Thank you for your post, it raised a lot of good points. It is interesting to look at this problem on a global scale as well. According to CNN, the U.S. ranks 62nd among 142 of the most civilized countries. Iceland is the only place in the world where a gender gap does not exist, and if it does, it is extremely small. What I find so interesting yet relevant about Iceland is that they have already had a female president. The First Lady in America typically concerns herself with education and does little work with gender equality. Although the gender gap is closing and should close within the next 200 years, I wonder how the gap may have shrunk had Hillary Clinton won the 2016 election. Although accused during her campaign of paying men for than women by a significant amount, I have confidence that she was going to address this issue head on. Clinton vowed in 2015 to close the pay gap at once for all American women. She stated that she felt like it would actually improve the economy which is something very interesting and quite possible. For equal pay to be a reality, more men need to stand up and fight for women. Until then, men will continue to hold the executive positions at major companies and be grossly overpaid compared to their female counterparts.
Elizabeth Curland says:

April 20, 2018 at 4:46 pm

Hannah,

I agree that the topic of equal pay is one of the clear threats our nation’s popular sovereignty faces today. I read an article recently about the U.S. poverty line, and it stated that women were 35 percent more likely than men to live in poverty throughout 2017. Amongst this 35 percent, women of racial minorities had particularly higher percentages. Some argue the wage gap is due to the types of education women pursue over men. However, I feel that these percentages could in fact reveal what is simply the result of both gender and racial discrimination.

The article didn’t mention further whether these percentages were tied to the gender discrimination, but many would argue there’s a correlation. If women are 35 percent more likely to be in poverty than men, that means they are 35 percent more likely to have less access to political resources that are essential in establishing a political voice. It is far more difficult for women to have access to key political resources – such as education, and availability of news media – when such a large percentage experience wage discrimination. The unfair distribution of pay, especially for jobs that have the same requirements as men, gives male citizens an advantage over others in our nation’s political system.
Chloe Blond says:

April 22, 2018 at 4:40 pm

Hi Hannah,

Thank you for your post. I appreciate your mentioning of the wage gap that exists today between men and women because it is an issue that is extremely relevant. What frustrates me the most about the wage gap is that nothing explains it besides discrimination. Today in class, Professor McGowen showed us a graph and statistics that demonstrated the fact that although women have the same exact education, experience, testing scores, etc. as men, they still get paid less than men do. When asking ourselves what is causing this disparity to exist and what is this disparity behind, we are forced to recognize that the answer is discrimination.

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 says that men and women are to be paid in equal amounts for equal work in the same establishment. So how come, today, men and women are not being paid the same amount? I did some research and investigated potential loopholes in the act. I found that the act allows for men to be paid higher wage than their female counterparts on the basis of seniority, merit, productivity, and a “differential based on any other factor other than sex.” It this language that makes it hard for women to prove they were paid less than a male counterpart because of their gender. I also found that the EPA barely punishes employers found to be in violation of the law. It is clear then, that in order to tackle the wage gap, these loopholes must be eliminated.

https://www.bustle.com/articles/154078-why-didnt-the-equal-pay-act-close-the-gender-pay-gap-50-years-later-america-still
Madeleine Stone says:

April 22, 2018 at 7:09 pm

Hi Hannah,

Thanks for a great post! I think you make some really interesting points in your argument about closing the gender wage gap. I think it would be interesting to relate this idea to the idea of affirmative action. We defined affirmative action in class as the programs of private and public institutions favoring minorities and women in hiring and in admissions to colleges and universities in an attempt to compensate for past discrimination, we can see how this has been evident in our society over the past few years. However, I agree that this idea has definitely cause a ton of controversy. Whether or not this action has been taken too far is difficult to judge. I think it goes on a case by case basis as to whether the action was taken too far in that situation. This will change with each persons beliefs of course when assessing the situation. I find it interesting that President Trump is attempting to sue higher education universities for the discrimination of white males. The 2018-2019 application year for the University of Richmond was the hardest year for females to be accepted. So I think in the case of our own University, we can say that white males are not being discriminated against with acceptance rates. This can be related to attempting to close the wage gap because it is based on a case by case basis. If a women is being paid less than a man and they both work in the same position there is an obvious disconnect here. But if a women is being paid less than a man and they work in different departments and different positions it is hard to tell the gap. Overall I agree with your statement that we have a long way to go as a country to eliminate the wage gap and that is very apparent. The millennial generation is one that is passionate about these issues so I think that they will continue to push hard to close these gaps.
Madeleine Stone says:

April 22, 2018 at 7:09 pm

Hi Hannah,

Thanks for a great post! I think you make some really interesting points in your argument about closing the gender wage gap. I think it would be interesting to relate this idea to the idea of affirmative action. We defined affirmative action in class as the programs of private and public institutions favoring minorities and women in hiring and in admissions to colleges and universities in an attempt to compensate for past discrimination, we can see how this has been evident in our society over the past few years. However, I agree that this idea has definitely cause a ton of controversy. Whether or not this action has been taken too far is difficult to judge. I think it goes on a case by case basis as to whether the action was taken too far in that situation. This will change with each persons beliefs of course when assessing the situation. I find it interesting that President Trump is attempting to sue higher education universities for the discrimination of white males. The 2018-2019 application year for the University of Richmond was the hardest year for females to be accepted. So I think in the case of our own University, we can say that white males are not being discriminated against with acceptance rates. This can be related to attempting to close the wage gap because it is based on a case by case basis. If a women is being paid less than a man and they both work in the same position there is an obvious disconnect here. But if a women is being paid less than a man and they work in different departments and different positions it is hard to tell the gap. Overall I agree with your statement that we have a long way to go as a country to eliminate the wage gap and that is very apparent. The millennial generation is one that is passionate about these issues so I think that they will continue to push hard to close these gaps.
Abigail Belcher says:

April 22, 2018 at 8:22 pm

Hannah,
This is a really interesting topic to write about and a topic that is especially frustrating to me because I work in an environment like this. I work in a greenhouse, and not only are the men paid higher wages than the women, it is considered unnatural at my job for a woman to be working outside with the plants. For the most part, women who are hired to work there work with the indoor plants or work inside as a cashier. I have worked there for six years and as time passed I began to notice that the guys outside, even guys in high school that just started, were making more than me. When I asked my boss (male) about the difference, he stated that the men working outside have a more strenuous job, when in reality I could do almost everything they are doing. To be successful as this job, you have to know plants, which anyone can learn. I do not think that it is a coincidence that the person who hires is male and that males are making more than females. The corporate office is also a very male-dominated culture, and I have no doubt women at corporate make significantly less than the men. I have to wonder if my boss has this idea of men being more important than women in this job because that is how the corporate office (and his boss) behaves.
Carlin O'Neill says:

April 22, 2018 at 8:38 pm

Thanks for your post, Hannah. I agree that this is an issue that needs to be solved soon because this is a reality that I may come across as I join the workforce in coming years. I also think that this can be a residual effect of women making up such a small portion of the legislative body and not having their voices heard and represented adequately. Only about twenty percent of Congress is female, but about fifty percent of the total American population is made up of women. This discrepancy can definitely be a reason as to why issues regarding gender equality such as the wage gap are difficult to remedy. Women’s concerns aren’t given as many advocates, and perhaps this leads to the perpetuation of these problems.
Austin Marsilia says:

April 22, 2018 at 11:26 pm

Hannah,
The gender wage gap is a common topic in American political discussion today. However, many people are misinformed about the topic. We see a wage gap manifest itself between men and women simply because there are less women in the workforce than men. Until WWI, women were expected to stay at home while the men worked. However, when all the men went to war, women entered the workforce to continue providing for their families. To this day, there are less women working than men. According to a Forbes article, a woman and a man working the same job will be paid the same amount. Where the 80 cents on the dollar argument comes from is in the average income earned by men and women. This average is over the entire population of each gender in the workforce, not individuals in specific positions.
Your blog is well written and discusses a popular topic in American politics today. You do a good job of discussing the argument presenting the wage gap but I would have liked to see examples of men and women in the same positions being paid differently to bolster your argument.
Article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/karinagness/2016/04/12/dont-buy-into-the-gender-pay-gap-myth/#2c7424ed2596

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