This paper addresses the issue of wage gap in employment related to gender, with research evidence of its existence, regardless the argument to the contrary. Hirsch & Schnabel (2012) reveals that in most nations, not only the US, on average, female workers have maintained less wages or pay compared to male workers for the same kind and level of work. Gender pay gap has been defined by the authors as the difference in pay or earning between male and female workers expressed as the proportion of earning by men, based on the definition given by the OECD. Also, known as wage discrimination, being women, the workers receive lower pay compared to men, regardless the fact that they have similar qualification and experience.
Amaram (51) argues that over the last three decades, women have made considerable achievements in the workplace and in income equity, making it a significant gain from the problem of gender-based discrimination in the workplace. Major changes and achievements have been made by women in the US over the past few decades (see figure 1).
Figure 1
*Only occupations with data for all years and with at least 50,000 respondents for each sex are shown.Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics by Nathan Yau
While such major changes have taken place over the last two decades or so, the argument that the gap in earning between men and women has been reducing or closing is a misrepresentation of the reality. This problem is far from being successfully solved. Despite the successes that have been achieved, according to the data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2010) there is still major problem of disparity between men and women in terms of payment or compensation for similar jobs. While there appears to be an upward trend in terms of compensation for women in closing this wage gap, the problem persists as the gap has remained adamantly open. Lee & Lee (148) add that, besides absolute discrimination, there is no other explanation or reason as to why women should continue earning less than men despite doing the same jobs.
Progress in making the situation better for women has remained sluggish. This is an issue that can be traced far back to the history of gender discrimination in the United States. In 1970, female workers in the US were paid $.59 for each dollar the men earned in the same job. By the year 2010, female workers movements fought, protested and made major efforts to improve their situations. They achieved in making an increase in their compensation only by 18 dollars to $.77 made by men in the same job, by 2012 (U.S. Labor Statistics Bureau, 2010). The improvement made between 2003 and 2013 only serves to prove that the problem would become successfully addressed in an additional 124 years.
In most research and statistics provided by different experts and agencies, it is revealed that women make between 77 and 82 cents to each dollar that the men make. By the year, as stated by Amaram (53), the average income of full-time, year-round workers in the country was $42,800 for men, compared to $34,700 for women. The ratio of woman to man earning was 0.81, which was only a minor increase from the statistics provided in 2008. This ration of 0.81 simply shows that, in 2009, women full-time, year-round workers earned 19% less than men full-time, year-round workers. Nonetheless, the statistics did not put into consideration the diversity in skills, education, experience, occupation, or hours worked, as long as it qualified as full-time employment. However, in 2010, as an economist to the US Congress Joint Economic Committee that researches revealed, “always find that some portion of the wage gap is unexplained” (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2010) even after controlling measurable factors that are presumed to affect earnings are put into consideration.
There are various factors that should be understood if the problem of pay discrimination will be successfully addressed. Any gap in pay between the two genders can be separated into and accounted for underlying the disparities in various elements including working hours, job experience, level of education as well as other occupational factors which is essentially explained under gender discrimination. This is the perspective that the US Economic Committee of the Congress shows that gender pay gap is manifested in the structural pay inequalities (Hirsch & Schnabel, 433) Policy makers as well as economists from Cornell University argues that given the general gap in wage has reduced to some degree, the ratio that can be explained continued to rise by variables of human capital (Amaram, 55).
Building on the underlying tools of demographic surveys, statistics beginning in 1979 to late 90s, economic variables such as personal characteristics, experience, education, parental status, government employment, industry, as well as occupation it emerges that 27% of the wage gap in each year has these different characteristics as explained (DeNavas-Walt, Proctor & Smith, 2010).
Research shows that the traditional discrimination of women at the workplace plays a critical role in explaining the problem of wage gap. As opposed to the research that the United States Department of Labor commissioned, another survey carried out by the American Association of University Women concentrated on the compensation of female employees graduating from college a year following the graduation. The study showed that, partly, the percentage of the unexplained wage gap was caused by gender discrimination against women. Hirsch & Schnabel (418) supports this claim, suggesting cultural gender norms has having a significant role to play in explaining the differences in the choice made by men and women concerning wages.
In summary, gender discrimination has traditionally made it possible for the privileged groups to have influence and power over the marginalized groups in society. This is a factor that should be taken into consideration in any efforts to deal with the problem of wage gap. Given the fact that the society condones discrimination related to gender; then the gap in wage will continue to persist. The wage gap problem is still a major social and economic issue that policy makers should look closely into and come up with workable remedies to. They should also understand that the problem is not simply pervasive, but also emerges in different forms and in a variety of areas of employment. Regardless of the theoretical understanding of the factors that influence wage gap, its empirical understanding remains weak. Major research should be done and recommendations made in order for employers and policy makers to deal with the problem.
Work Cited:
Amaram, Donutus, 'The gender pay gap: Review and update', China-USA Business Review, 9.6,2010, pp. 51-58
DeNavas-Walt, C., Proctor, B.D. & Smith, J.C. Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2009. U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, P60-238, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 2010
Hirsch, Boris, & Schnabel, Claus. 'Women Move Differently: Job Separations and Gender', Journal of Labor Research, 33.4, 2012, pp. 417-442
Lee, Jungmin, & Lee, Simon, 'Does it Matter who Responded to the Survey? Trends in the U.S.Gender Earnings Gap Revisited', Industrial & Labor Relations Review, 65.1, 2012, pp. 148-160
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Highlights of Women’s Earnings in 2009. Report 1025, June 2010.
