Despite laws enacted to promote pay equity, disparity between men and women continues to exist in the public workforce (cite). The literature describes progress that has been taken to close the “gender wage gap” and affirmative action has been touted as a measure to close that gap. I argue that affirmative action is not enough. Though I have faith in the legal system, it seems unlikely that I will see the gender wage gap close in my lifetime. This paper will broadly review the laws that provide protection for equal pay, take a look at the pros and cons of affirmative action that protect women from discrimination and suggest factors that may hinder achieving the goal of closing the “gender wage gap.” Historically,
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The President’s Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity was created in 1961 and reorganized previous antidiscrimination programs. This program put into effect “affirmative action,” requiring recruitment and outreach to the minority community (nk,229). The Equal Pay Act of 1963 required employers to pay men and women equally for doing the same work and was signed into law at a time when women were paid fifty-nine cents on the dollar compared to men(cite joint memorandum A). A year later the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was enacted which prohibited discrimination by private employers and organizations receiving federal funds. (NJ 230). “Title VII of the law addresses employment discrimination making it illegal to discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, and sex.” Jump ahead nearly fifty years to 2010 and the establishment of the National Equal Pay Task Force, created to respond to the “gender wage gap” and the fact that women are paid about seventy-seven cents for every dollar paid to men (mem A). Though this is an overly simplistic snapshot of antidiscrimination law in the past half century it is clear that discrimination against women in the workforce is …show more content…
The principle of nondiscrimination seems to be accepted by most people. Proponents of affirmative action believe that it will broaden recruitment however opponents view this preference as reverse discrimination. Policy endorsed the use of numerical goals and timetables for minority employment. Opponents referred to numerical goals as “qoutas” and argued discrimination against nonminority males as well as nonminority females (NK). My argument that affirmative action is not enough to help women achieve pay equity implies that this action has been effective. Affirmative action and women being a minority had some positive effect. A rise in minority and women employment in the federal civil service did occur after its initiation of affirmative action programs in the 1960’s described earlier in this paper (NK). We also saw evidence of more success in recruiting and hiring minorities among agencies using goals and timetables. (Kellough,
The President’s Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity was created in 1961 and reorganized previous antidiscrimination programs. This program put into effect “affirmative action,” requiring recruitment and outreach to the minority community (nk,229). The Equal Pay Act of 1963 required employers to pay men and women equally for doing the same work and was signed into law at a time when women were paid fifty-nine cents on the dollar compared to men(cite joint memorandum A). A year later the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was enacted which prohibited discrimination by private employers and organizations receiving federal funds. (NJ 230). “Title VII of the law addresses employment discrimination making it illegal to discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, and sex.” Jump ahead nearly fifty years to 2010 and the establishment of the National Equal Pay Task Force, created to respond to the “gender wage gap” and the fact that women are paid about seventy-seven cents for every dollar paid to men (mem A). Though this is an overly simplistic snapshot of antidiscrimination law in the past half century it is clear that discrimination against women in the workforce is …show more content…
The principle of nondiscrimination seems to be accepted by most people. Proponents of affirmative action believe that it will broaden recruitment however opponents view this preference as reverse discrimination. Policy endorsed the use of numerical goals and timetables for minority employment. Opponents referred to numerical goals as “qoutas” and argued discrimination against nonminority males as well as nonminority females (NK). My argument that affirmative action is not enough to help women achieve pay equity implies that this action has been effective. Affirmative action and women being a minority had some positive effect. A rise in minority and women employment in the federal civil service did occur after its initiation of affirmative action programs in the 1960’s described earlier in this paper (NK). We also saw evidence of more success in recruiting and hiring minorities among agencies using goals and timetables. (Kellough,