How Does Pay Gap Affect Women

Decent Essays
In addition to societal views and “The Glass Ceiling,” the wage gap difference tremendously affect women based on the amount of education each gender has acquired. The gender gap exists because society believes that a man’s work is more valuable than a woman’s (Kulow 385+). The wage will continue to exist because employers believe women to appear as the weaker sex (Finn n.pag.). Individuals argue that the wage gap is stark evidence of women not achieving equality (“Women’s Rights” n.pag.). The wage gap has not changed since a decade. Finn confirms, “women earn on average 80 percent of what men earn” (n.pag.). Women earn around seventy-seven cents for every dollar a man makes; therefore, earning twenty-three cents less than men, women will lose …show more content…
Women who go into stereotypical fields are the reason why the wage gap still exists (Johnson n.pag.). Roughly ninety-five percent of beginning salaries are based on male and female college graduates’ majors (Browne 769+). Female students that recently graduated college will normally receive a lower income than male students (Write n.pag.). The American Association of University Women avows, “Women are paid less than men are even when they do the same work and major in the same field” (qtd in “Women’s Rights” n.pag.). Although the wage gap has declined for years, the only way to fully close the gap is for the government to take action. Kulow proposes, “Mandatory wage disclosure laws are a logical next step in the long effort to close the gender wage gap in the United States” (385+). If the progress rate of the wage gap continues, as it does now, then women’s earnings will not catch up to men’s until 2056 (Johnson n.pag.). Nadler and Stockdale observe that the wage gap has declined throughout the year, but the gap still exists between men and women of similar careers and experiences (281+). While more education is an effective tool for increasing earnings, it is not an effective tool against the wage …show more content…
Types of discrimination in the workforce can form in withholding promotions, sexual harassment, and giving different job titles to a woman (Finn n.pag.). A woman is also being discriminated against when she has the same title as a man but has a lower income than the man (Finn n.pag.). Some women also experience care-giving discrimination (Finn n.pag.). The government established federal laws to ensure protection of women who are harassed in the workforce. In 1994, President Clinton signed the Violence Against Women Act to protect women from any type of harassment in the workplace (“Women’s Right” n.pag.). However, the act turned out as an enormous failure in providing protection to women because domestic violence is still moderately high in the United States (Women’s Rights” n.pag.). Workforce sexual harassment will continue to occur because many women are afraid of ruining their career to report such

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