Sandra Contreras

The Gender Pay Gap

Introduction
Discrimination comes in many forms one of
them: unequal pay between two competent
employees of different genders, otherwise
known as the gender pay gap.
This is a social problem that the public is well
aware of but there seems to little to no initiative
towards the fining of a solution.
Though there have been efforts made by the
government they have failed as the pay gap
continues.

What is the Gender Pay Gap?

The gender pay gap is the wage difference
between different gender employees who are
equally qualified where on is earning
significantly more than the other.
It is a form of discrimination against women in
the workforce.

Gender Pay Gap in the US

Column2
0.72
0.61

0.59

0.6

0.74

0.77

0.78

0.79

The pay gap in the United States

Currently women in the U.S. earn 79 cents on the
dollar in comparison to the earnings of a male
employee.
There have been laws such as the Equal Pay Act of
1963 and the Paycheck Fairness Act that have tried
to remedy this issue but have proven unsuccessful.
A recent study by the American Bar Association
revealed that, despite surging numbers of female
lawyers, bias against women remains entrenched in
the legal profession and results in steep inequities of
pay, promotion, and opportunity (Gibelman, 2003).
Over the years the pay gap has indeed decreased
but has not been completely closed.

What are the causes of the pay gap?

There are two main attributing factors that experts
claim are the causes of the pay gap: explained and
unexplained.
Education, qualification, competence and job
experience fall under the explained factors, this
leaves the unexplained as plain discrimination as no
one has been able to provide a clear and concise
explanation to the wage difference between genders.
This gender pay gap is wide-ranging, from top
female CEOs earning less than their male
counterparts (Molla, 2014).

The gender pay gap around the world.

Currently there is no single country in the
world in which an employees gender does
not affect his or her earnings.
Studies have shown that countries will have
more wealth equality when they have better
gender equality, this means that the gender
pay gap tends to be lower.
Countries such as Australia and South Korea
have managed to significantly reduce the
pay gap by having a forward-looking
perspective.
Conclusion
The gender pay gap is a social problem that
must be dealt with, as it is affecting women
not only in the U.S. but worldwide.
The first step in resolving this issue is
admitting that women are victims in this
and take the appropriate measures.
In the future job qualification should
determine wage and not gender.

References
Gibelman, M. (2003). So How Far Have We
Come? Pestilent and Persistent Gender Gap in
Pay. Social Work, 48(1), 22-32.
Molla, R. (2014, September 23). Womens Pay
Compared to Mens From 1960 to 2013. Retrieved
from http
://blogs.wsj.com/numbers/womens-pay-compared
-to-mens-from-1960-to-2013-1774/