Link: http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/13/news/economy/equal-pay-day-2015/
Date: April 14, 2015
Summary- The gender pay gap affects women of all ages, races, and education levels. As of now, full- time women, on average, earn 78 cents to a man's dollar. Arguments have arisen that the type of professions a woman chooses in contrast to a man's, play a role in the pay gap. Even when controlling for hours, education, race and age, the gap persists for identical jobs. For example, women account for 70% of middle school and elementary school teachers. Even with the dominance of the women in that teaching profession, male teachers earn around $1,096 per week compared to a women's weekly salary of $956. Although these weekly salary differences don't look like much, when they are added up over the course of the year, there is a prominent distinction between 5- and 6-figure incomes. This accumulation over time is what affects women the most. Since women tend to make up the lowest paying jobs, there has been a push to raise the minimum wage, believing it could make a significant difference. The discrimination continues with African American women only earning 64 cents and Latinas earning 56 cents for every dollar made by a Caucasian man. On top of it all, what most refer to as the "motherhood penalty", mothers make far less then women who don't have children. The gender wage gap in these past few years hasn't seen much improvement and the change relies on companies individuals and policy makers.
Questions- Do you believe the gender pay gap is important (requires much attention)? How serious do you believe the country is about tackling income equality? Companies now have to publish their C.E.O. pay gap, should they be required to publish the gender pay gap?
Deep & personal issue. My wife has experienced the difficulties of dealing with our relatively generous leave times for newborns (relatively good in Cali compared to most states, relatively horrible compared to Europe) & how time away from work can affect career progression. Not sure we can "Lean Forward" all the way to ending this problem.
ReplyDeleteThe gender pay gap is definitely important. According to the 14th amendment, all citizens, regardless of sex or race, should be treated equally. Moreover, it is a sexist injustice for women, who can do the same job, to be paid significantly less than their male counterpart. I believe the country is progressing slowly. However, I don't believe it is the fault of the government for this merely slight progress. The real change must come from the individuals that make up society. The desire for change must originate from the people and gain more support to make lasting change. Companies should temporarily publish their gender pay gap in order to encourage fair pay for now. But, after a while it should be more biographical, listing credentials, rather than simply separating workers by sex. It would just serve to divide over time.
ReplyDeleteI find that the gender pay gap is very important and somewhat overlooked. People who are American Citizens are sworn to equality for all, no matter what race, gender, or ethnicity. All people should have equal opportunities. It is beyond me that men could get higher pay even when a women is doing the same exact job. It is not right to women because they have to work twice as hard. Although gender equality has improved steadily, it has not come to exact equality yet and may never will. I don't think the country is taking this issue as seriously as they should. They need to do something about it as soon as they can because it will overall make for a better society. I also believe that companies should publish the gender pay gap because it will prove exactly that men are being treated better and that we need to act now.
ReplyDeleteI find that the gender pay gap is very important and somewhat overlooked. People who are American Citizens are sworn to equality for all, no matter what race, gender, or ethnicity. All people should have equal opportunities. It is beyond me that men could get higher pay even when a women is doing the same exact job. It is not right to women because they have to work twice as hard. Although gender equality has improved steadily, it has not come to exact equality yet and may never will. I don't think the country is taking this issue as seriously as they should. They need to do something about it as soon as they can because it will overall make for a better society. I also believe that companies should publish the gender pay gap because it will prove exactly that men are being treated better and that we need to act now.
ReplyDeleteI think that the gender pay gap is extremely important for everyone to know and realize is an uprising issue. Everyone in the United States is supposed to be equal, but it seems that they are looking more down upon women based on their lower pay. Women who can do the same job as a man is still payed less and I believe that is completely wrong and unjust. Although women's rights has gotten better as the years go on, I still think that it can improve a lot more and their needs to be more action taken to accomplish this. I also think that it is a good idea that CEOs have to publish their pay gap, in order for people to notice that men are paid more than women and maybe it will help stop it.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the gender pay gap issue in our country is extremely important, yet it is not receiving the attention it should have. The United States is known as a country where everyone is equal and are allowed equal rights, yet women are not being paid the same as men for the equivalent amount of work. The country however is not really standing up and admitting that this is a current issue in our workplace. All companies should have the much needed discussion about how they are going to tackle this issue, and what new rules need to be put into place in order for this unequal gender pay issue to come to an end.
ReplyDeleteI think the gender pay gap issue is very important, and should deserve more attention than it gets. The Equal Rights Amendment states that "equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." That being said, women should not be denied the right to equal pay. I believe our country wants to tackle income inequality, but they are not making it a priority. Our country needs to be better informed of the issue at hand, so CEOs publishing their wage gap is a good start. I believe that we should require companies to post their gender wage gap because it will give people general evidence that this is a real issue. It will force people to recognize that the gender wage gap is a real problem in the US that needs to be addressed, and that women are not being treated equally in this situation.
ReplyDeleteThe gender pay gap is a major issue. It affects a massive group of people, it is pretty evident that America is roughly half women, yet they do not get paid nearly as much as their male counterparts. The average for women is around a quarter less than men, and those quarters really add up. The article mentioned that around 40% of women are breadwinners for their families, and I am sure that many more families depend on both the mother and father's pay. In this way, the pay gap also has an impact on families and how the future generations of America are raised. Yet this pay gap has remained relatively static with little change. Obviously not enough is being done. perhaps if companies publicly posted the gender pay gaps at their companies, more women would apply for companies with smaller or no gap, pressuring others to do the same.
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ReplyDeleteLike all other rights, people should fight to preserve them. Just because women and minorities have gained more rights over the years does not mean that it stops here. In the Declaration of Independence it says all men are created equal. Many people may interpret this differently, however, I see it that men is referring to humans, and humans are everyone. Therefore, everyone is equal, or at least should be equal. I understand that no one is perfect and our nation, like others, are far from it, but we definitely need to take this cause more seriously. I think that there are other ways we could promote equality and justice regarding pay rather than having the C.E.O posting the pay gap. Although that can be embarrassing for them it may not affect how they pay. There should instead be laws made making it illegal to pay women and men differently when working the same job. Because by doing this they are automatically deeming men better than women. This is a major issue that needs solving.
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ReplyDeleteI believe that the gender pay gap is extremely important, especially after the many laws and acts that were passed to eliminate this gap were pushed aside. While the government has tried to tackle this problem on many occasions, they were not as eager to enforce the laws they passed on the matter. I think that companies should be required to post their gender wage gap. In fact, the fact that they would have a wage gap to post is already a huge problem. Posting the wage gap could raise awareness of the situation, as people could then clearly see the inequality in numbers in front of them.
ReplyDeleteIn America, we take pride in the fact that we that are a free nation and that "all men are created equal". However, we do not follow this at all in my opinion and I think plenty would agree. The gender pay gap is a big issue in America due to the fact that many woman have to support their children and some have to do this single handedly, and to not receive they pay that she has earned, is completely unfair. This isn't just affecting women either, it is affecting everyone because the families that need the money are suffering due to the lack of equality, which this government was built on. As of right now, the government seem to be more preoccupied with many other "important" matters but hopefully in the future our new president will see this as a main priory and get it solved
ReplyDeleteIn America, we take pride in the fact that we that are a free nation and that "all men are created equal". However, we do not follow this at all in my opinion and I think plenty would agree. The gender pay gap is a big issue in America due to the fact that many woman have to support their children and some have to do this single handedly, and to not receive they pay that she has earned, is completely unfair. This isn't just affecting women either, it is affecting everyone because the families that need the money are suffering due to the lack of equality, which this government was built on. As of right now, the government seem to be more preoccupied with many other "important" matters but hopefully in the future our new president will see this as a main priory and get it solved
ReplyDeleteI believe that the gender wage gap is one of the most important issues right now, and as a country we should be working towards figuring out a reasonable solution to the problem. Not only is it not fair that women do comparable work and are paid less, but there are women out there who are single mother trying to provide for their families on 78 cents to the dollar. I feel as though America is realizing that we as a country need to fix this problem, but doesn't have much initiative. They should have to post a gender wage gap, because women deserve to know how much less they are getting paid then men. Companies should acknowledge that they aren't given equal opportunities and try to fix it.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that the gender gap is important and requires immediate attention. The united states needs to focus more on the attention of the pay gap between men and women additionally the race or ethnicity of every employee. Big corporations feel that they can save money by screwing women out of an equal pay, which is completely unfair to women who work just as hard and are just as effective as men. Companies will begin losing employees if they don't start working on these issues.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that the gender gap is important and requires immediate attention. The united states needs to focus more on the attention of the pay gap between men and women additionally the race or ethnicity of every employee. Big corporations feel that they can save money by screwing women out of an equal pay, which is completely unfair to women who work just as hard and are just as effective as men. Companies will begin losing employees if they don't start working on these issues.
ReplyDeleteThe gender pay gap is indeed an important issue currently going on in America. The problem I see arising is the lack of support from big influential political leaders and more of the states. The gov't may be the one supporting these companies to keep the wage low, in order to make as much revenue as possible. However, this is negatively impacting the people. Leaving more in poverty and less fortunate, once again increasing the gap between rich and poor. Women and people with racial discrimination problems are the ones suffering from this, and in no way is that equal or in the best interest of the United States.
ReplyDeleteThe gender pay gap is indeed an important issue currently going on in America. The problem I see arising is the lack of support from big influential political leaders and more of the states. The gov't may be the one supporting these companies to keep the wage low, in order to make as much revenue as possible. However, this is negatively impacting the people. Leaving more in poverty and less fortunate, once again increasing the gap between rich and poor. Women and people with racial discrimination problems are the ones suffering from this, and in no way is that equal or in the best interest of the United States.
ReplyDeleteThe gender pay gap is definitely an important issue, and it is true that our economy is not equal for all genders. It has been proven that women can be equally qualified at doing the same job, yet receive less pay. I am also certain that most people would agree that women deserve to be paid the same amount of money as men. I think the traditional idea of women being inferior to men has slowly being eliminated, however we are still far away from equality. The government honestly hasn't done much to address this issue. I think companies should release their gender pay gap, because the reason more people don't talk about this issue is because many people probably aren't aware of it.
ReplyDeleteI certainly do believe that the gender pay gap is important and requires a lot of attention. At the moment, unfortunately, I think the gender wage gap is one of the last thing on people's which as I said above is unfortunate. This is a serious issue and should have been taken care of long ago. Everyone of all races and sexes deserves to have equal rights which means everyone doing the same jobs should have equal pay. And I do believe that C.E.O.'s should be required to publish the gender pay gap. I think it is messed up that as a society we preach that we have come so far, when in fact we are still on square one with what should be an easy problem to solve.
ReplyDeleteI think wage gap is still a fairly major issue in today's society. It seems that despite all the accomplishment women have made over the years, others still believe that they can take advantage of them. I can't say the U.S. is tackling this problem very well. While several groups do work to make this issue known, the government isn't doing much about it. It is obvious that they should make a requirement for companies to display gender gap in wages. After all, if they claim they have nothing to hide, then they should show the public.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the gender wage gap is very important and should be talked about more. As children, girls are told to reach for the stars and that we can do anything boys can do yet when we grow older we realize that yes this is true but we will not get paid as much. I believe that the country often puts on a front about how seriously they are dealing with the wage gap. Everyone wants to believe that the government and companies are doing everything in their power to diminish these problems, but because they are still a persistent problem it is clear that not much has be done. I do believe that companies should be forced to publish their gender pay gap because that could cause companies to become embarrassed about their gap and do something about it.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the gender pay gap is very important. It is a clear defiance to the 14th Amendment, which states no race or sex should be treated differently. Although there has started to be more talk about the gender wage gap in news and politics I still feel as if the government ins't taking it as seriously as they should be. I believe that companies should post their gender wage gap and maybe that might become and incentive for them to change.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the gender gap is only important to the ones it applies to. For example, most men are most likely not worried that their female counter parts are getting less money for the same - or even better - work. I think our country is doing its best to get on top of the gender gap dilemma but it still needs much work. I believe the greatest problem is recognition. Most people know there is a gender gap but aren't aware of the actual details. I think the best way to get changed is to get all genders involved and get the problem more recognition.
ReplyDeleteIt is important to remember that people follow different paths in life and gender has a great influence on these paths. If someone has a child a woman has to take time away from her professional life, giving birth takes a huge toll on the body, a man does not. Additionally, women are more statistically likely to take time off to care for children than men. Both of these things slow a woman's professional progress and can lead to a difference in wage.
ReplyDeleteI believe the gender pay gap is a very prominent issue in modern society. Feminism has begun to bring some of these inequalities to the forefront of social justice. I think the country is not being particularly effective at tackling the problem of pay gap, from my personal experience. It seems that women are still not afforded the same occupational provisions as their male counterparts. I think it would be a good step in the right direction to have all wages published.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the gender wage gap is the next big social/economic thing that needs to be fixed. For the past century, women's rights have come a long way but I believe that women would be more or less equal to men once the gender wage gap has closed. I think it would be a good idea to publish the gender wage gap because it would allow people to gain awareness which is always the first step in any issue.
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