Women's Pay Gap Analysis
Introduction
The wage gap is a controversial topic. Some may believe there isn’t anything wrong and others may think something needs to be fixed. The biggest areas of concern are the differences between men and women’s pay and the differences between each races pay. Also another topic of discussion is the reasons why there is even a gap in the first place. So a few things to think about throughout this paper are: What is the real gap between men and women’s pay? What is the real gap between each race in pay? What are the major underlying reasons for these gaps in both gender and race?
Gap in Pay by Gender
According to Rebecca Leber of newrepublic.com, “Women, on average, earn 22 percent less than men or seventy-eight cents for every white …show more content…
For working women in 2014, 62 percent of Hispanics were put into two job categories, service and sales/office occupations. This percentage is compared to the 57 percent of blacks, 51 percent of whites, and 44 percent of Asians in the same jobs. In 2014, women employed in the higher-paying management and professional jobs by percentage were drastically different by race. Black women made up only 35 percent, 26 percent were Hispanic women, 48 percent were Asian women and white women made up 43 percent. The author states that some say that women of color make the choice to work the lower-paying jobs but none take into consideration that the statistics show women of color are less likely compared to white women to graduate high school or obtain a bachelor’s degree. This places them at a disadvantage from the moment they enter the workforce, which in return creates several barriers to achieve the higher income jobs (Fisher 2015.) Compared to white men earnings, Hispanic women earn 54 percent, black women earn 64 percent, and Native American earn 65 percent but these numbers would change and close when compared to men of the same race. According to the AAUW, many women of color tend to be paid less than their white peers …show more content…
According to Coukos of blog.dol.gov, a few of these myths are:
1. Some believe the wage gap is a lot smaller than what it really is. They say the 77 cents on the dollar that women earn less than men is an over exaggeration.
2. There are legitimate differences between men and women and discrimination isn’t one of them. Therefore saying the wage gap doesn’t exist at all.
3. “It’s not my problem” They say that once the jobs get to the higher levels with higher skills and education the gap just disappears. When in reality, the research shows the gap is higher in the upper educational levels of the work force.
4. Many people say that women put themselves in the position and choose to work fewer hours. The statistics show that the women being compared to men is based on women with full-time jobs. The women with part-time jobs have nothing to do with the gap.
5. The wage gap will go away on its own. The gap has slowed/ decreased overtime but there have been laws and amendments set in place for over fifty years and the wage gap still exists (Coukos 2012.)
The wage gap is a controversial topic. Some may believe there isn’t anything wrong and others may think something needs to be fixed. The biggest areas of concern are the differences between men and women’s pay and the differences between each races pay. Also another topic of discussion is the reasons why there is even a gap in the first place. So a few things to think about throughout this paper are: What is the real gap between men and women’s pay? What is the real gap between each race in pay? What are the major underlying reasons for these gaps in both gender and race?
Gap in Pay by Gender
According to Rebecca Leber of newrepublic.com, “Women, on average, earn 22 percent less than men or seventy-eight cents for every white …show more content…
For working women in 2014, 62 percent of Hispanics were put into two job categories, service and sales/office occupations. This percentage is compared to the 57 percent of blacks, 51 percent of whites, and 44 percent of Asians in the same jobs. In 2014, women employed in the higher-paying management and professional jobs by percentage were drastically different by race. Black women made up only 35 percent, 26 percent were Hispanic women, 48 percent were Asian women and white women made up 43 percent. The author states that some say that women of color make the choice to work the lower-paying jobs but none take into consideration that the statistics show women of color are less likely compared to white women to graduate high school or obtain a bachelor’s degree. This places them at a disadvantage from the moment they enter the workforce, which in return creates several barriers to achieve the higher income jobs (Fisher 2015.) Compared to white men earnings, Hispanic women earn 54 percent, black women earn 64 percent, and Native American earn 65 percent but these numbers would change and close when compared to men of the same race. According to the AAUW, many women of color tend to be paid less than their white peers …show more content…
According to Coukos of blog.dol.gov, a few of these myths are:
1. Some believe the wage gap is a lot smaller than what it really is. They say the 77 cents on the dollar that women earn less than men is an over exaggeration.
2. There are legitimate differences between men and women and discrimination isn’t one of them. Therefore saying the wage gap doesn’t exist at all.
3. “It’s not my problem” They say that once the jobs get to the higher levels with higher skills and education the gap just disappears. When in reality, the research shows the gap is higher in the upper educational levels of the work force.
4. Many people say that women put themselves in the position and choose to work fewer hours. The statistics show that the women being compared to men is based on women with full-time jobs. The women with part-time jobs have nothing to do with the gap.
5. The wage gap will go away on its own. The gap has slowed/ decreased overtime but there have been laws and amendments set in place for over fifty years and the wage gap still exists (Coukos 2012.)