Gender pay gap exists in almost all occupations. According to Nyhus and Pon’s (2012) study, although the recent increase in participation of women’s labor in the workplace and the implementation of anti-discrimination policies, women's average income is still lower than men. Research shows that in recent decades if the development of narrowing the gender wage gap continued at the current pace, by 2058 women and men are unlikely to achieve equal pay (Costello, 2016). This paper illustrates the basic facts of the gender wage gap and summarizes data on the differences in income between men and women concerning race, ethnicity, education and occupation. Then it discusses the causes of the gender wage gap, the consequences for women and their families, and how policies can help to close it.
Significant progress made at the end of the gender pay gap between the 1980s and 1990s, but no further improvements showed in the past ten years (Costello, 2016). In 2014, Costello illustrated that women who work full-time throughout the year earn only 79 percent of the income of all career what men earned. One of the reasons for the narrowing of the gender wage gap between the 1980s and 1990s was the substantial stagnation of male incomes, while women's income continued to grow from a lower base. However, in the past ten years, women's income has not increased (Nyhus & Pon 2012).
According to Nyhus and Pon’s (2012) research, Hispanic and black women earn much less than whites and Asian women. In 2014, Nyhus and Pon stated that the biggest difference in the average wage per week is Hispanic women, earning $548 a week, just Sixty-one percent of white men's income (about $897). The authors continue to point that the salary gap for African American women is also considerable, with an average weekly income of $611, sixty-eight percent of white male earnings. Asian and white women and the male wage gap is smaller (ninety-four percent) (eighty-two percent) because of its high average weekly earnings of $841 (for Asian women) and $734 (white women; Hege Vecchi, Ellis, and Hartmann, 2015).
Differences in race and ethnic income partly reflect higher education levels of Asian and white women than African Americans and Hispanic women. However, higher education does not eliminate income differences between women. In 2013, the average weekly income of Asian women with a bachelor's degree was $1157, compared with $980 for white women, $900 for African American women, and $865 for Hispanic women (Hege, Vecchi, Ellis, and Hartmann, 2015).
Female incomes were close to male counterparts at the beginning of their career, but wage differentials increased over time
(Hege, Vecchi, Ellis, and Hartmann, 2015).
From 25 to 34, women's weekly income (full-time workers) is about ninety percent of male income (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015). The gap substantially broadens as women age increase.
From the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed
that the age between 35 to 44 years old female’ income is the 81 percent of the wage of male; the ages between 45 and 54 years old female’s income accounted for about 77 percent of their male counterpart; 55-64 years old women’s income only 76.4 percent of the men (2015). The biggest responsibilities for this widening income gap are the family care childcare duty.
The United State Department of Labor has for many years been trying to close the wage gap that exists between the male and the female gender in their workplaces. The gender pay gap reflects the enduring prejudice and inequalities in the labor market that, in most cases, largely affect the women. Its causes are interrelated and complex. The constant gender wage gap between working men and women in the US Department of Labor presents an obstruction to the success of women. The underpaying and undervalue of women makes it harder for them to pay off their student loans, take care of their families and make savings for retirement.
Some ways may decrease the gender wage gap, establishing strengthen equal pay laws is an important way to reduce the gender pay gap. Also, organizations should provide more choice to women enter the high-income position. Moreover, raising the minimum wage is a useful method to closing the pay gap. Furthermore,the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests thatUnionization of working women would also help to narrow the pay gap. Setting up a strengthen work-family policies is also a significant method to closing the gender wage gap, including paid family and medical leave, earned sick days.
There are abundant factors, which cause the gender wage gap. It involved discrimination, occupational segregation, and social responsibilities as caregivers. For example, woman underestimates their capabilities at work. It causes the women search small payment jobs or the low minimum wages. In the past few decades, the most population who work out is males. Just a few female jobs in the workplace are filled with men. On the average, those female occupations earn less money that the male occupation. However, some careers have less requirement to man. For example, the most female who work in the workplaces, which dominate men, have to have at least bachelors’ degrees. Compared to the same position in a field, the requirement for the male to enter this area has less than the requirement for female. The other example is the wage of different salaries. For instance, the payment of school teachers whose majority population is a woman was lower than the civil engineer whose majority population is male. Because of treatment inequality, it causes the gender wage gap.
In nowadays, female have more social responsibilities as caregivers than male have. Because of social responsibilities, mothers spend more twice the time on their offspring than the fathers do.
Nyhus and Pon (2012)have the same opinion.
They mention that one of the fifth caregivers is females. Some female’s participants claim that because they need to take care of children, parents and disability family members, they suffer financial losses. Some of them lost the opportunity on promotions. Some of them even lost their jobs. They even show the evidence. The evidence reveals that the more time does female take care of family, the more wage disparity between men and women the United States face.
The wage gap has a significant impact on the economic security of women and families. The pay gap can create problems in these areas, which are poverty, lost earnings over a lifetime, retirement income gap, impact on two-earner households, and single mother households(Hege, Vecchi, Ellis, and Hartmann, 2015).
The gender wage gap is the main reason that causes women’s poverty rate higher than men’s. There are 16% of women were living in poverty, but just 13% of people living in poverty(Costello 2016). Besides, women’s lifetime earnings were affected by the gender wage gap with a cumulative way. On the one hand, because of the gender wage gap, women’s lifetime earnings are lower than men’s. On the contrary, because of many kinds of reasons, women couldn’t work full time like people, the gap between the lifetime earnings between women and men is expanded. Furthermore, the gender wage gap also causes gender retirement income gap, the retirement income women who are 65 or older is $10418, but men’s is $13234(Costello 2016). Moreover, the gender wage gap has a severe impact on single mother households, because of the gender wage gap, making it even harder for single parents themselves and their families to provide economic security,and more single parent households were living in poverty.
References:
Costello, B.C. (2016).
The Gender Wage Gap and Public Policy. Briefing Paper, IWPR #C507. Washington DC: Institute for Women’s Policy Research.
Hegewisch, Ariane, Emily Ellis, and Heidi Hartmann. 2015. “The Gender Wage Gap: 2014; Earnings Differences by Race and Ethnicity.”Fact Sheet, IWPR #C430. Washington DC: Institute for Women’s Policy Research. <http://www.iwpr.org/publications/pubs/the-gender-wage-gap-2014-earnings- differences-by-race-and-ethnicity>
Nyhus, K. E., & Pons, E. (2012). Personality and the gender wage gap,Applied Economics, 44:1, 105-118.
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