Pay Gap between Men and Women - Research Paper Example

? PAY GAP BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN goes here of goes here goes here February 09, Introduction Money is of critical importance in any individual’s life. It not only plays the role of a recognized value for exchange of products and possessions but also makes a person buy desired luxuries of life. However, money cannot be earned easily rather a person has to make a lot of struggle in order to earn a good amount of money. It is due to the utmost importance of money that both men and women do a lot of effort to earn it. However, women mostly do not earn equal to men because there exists some pay gap between the two genders and that pay gap not only discourages women but also makes them struggle hard in the process of earning money. There are different factors or causes of the pay gap between the two genders such as education, skills, discrimination, and experience. In this paper, we will discuss why the pay gap exists and how that pay gap affects the lives of women in our societies. Common Factors of Pay Gap Let us discuss some of the most common factors of pay gap in order to get a better understanding of the issue. Talent and Confidence Talent of women is one of the most influencing factors regarding the difference in the pay gap between men and women. In most of the societies, women are not considered equal to men. Women are considered less talented and less skilled as compared to men. It is really a misconception because talent and skills have no concern with the gender of a person. Many women in the history have performed exceptional roles in various fields of life. We can take examples of Annie Easley, Henrietta Swan Leavitt, and Rita Levi-Montalcini who marked their names in the list of most talented women scientists of the world. Therefore, we cannot say that skills and talent of women are less as compared to men in any field of life. Most of the employers do not prefer to hire women because they consider women less productive. Women also face sexual harassments and different kinds of discrimination during their jobs, which discourages them from going out to do some job. Such women usually do not have much confidence to report any incident related to harassment or wage discrimination to the higher authorities. The less confidence of women is one of the most critical elements behind the pay differences, which exists between men and women. Some employers think that women are not confident enough to face major challenges that occur during jobs. They think that male employees have more ability to face the challenges as compared to female employees and that is one of the reasons for why employers offer high wages to male employees and comparatively low wages to female employees. Employment Opportunities Another factor behind the pay differences is employment opportunities for men and women. Employers think that men usually have more employment opportunities and they can get alternate jobs easily whereas women do not have enough job opportunities So, the employers offer high wages to male employees in order to retain them. The governments of most of the countries are also responsible for creating such pay gaps between the two genders. It is the responsibility of the governments to provide equal employment opportunities to both men and women in order to reduce the pay differences. Governments need to understand the importance of work for women because in the present world, it is not easy for men to work alone in order to earn for their families. Women need to provide financial help to their husbands in order to run the cycle of life but when there will be less job opportunities and low pay scales for women; they will not be able to support their husbands in a proper way. Therefore, governments should take steps to reduce the pay gaps that occur due to less employment opportunities for women. Pay Gap Due To Color The pay gap, which exists between the two genders, is significantly wider in case of women of color. “White men still earn the most among all groups of workers” (Lorenz, 2004). It is really a dilemma that women of color get low wages as compared to men for the same nature of jobs. “African American women earn only 63 cents on the dollar earned by men” (Wolfe, n.d.). Hispanic American women also face the pay gap even more than the African Americans. “Hispanic American women earn only 52 cents on the dollar earned by men” (Wolfe, n.d.). Some studies show that on average, women are paid only 75 percent of what male employees are paid. “In 2006, all women combined earned only 77 cents for every dollar earned by men| (Wolfe, n.d.). This huge pay gap discourages a large number of women and as a result, majority of women hesitate from working for the companies. Employers do not offer competitive salaries to the female employees because they do not consider women productive or confident. However, the reality is very much different from what they think about women. Women of color are equally talented and skilled and if they are provided with the opportunities, they can prove themselves even better than their male counterparts can. Unequal pay for women is completely illogical because there is no difference between men and women as far as talent, skills, and abilities are concerned. Managers of the companies should understand the fact that a single person’s earning is not sufficient for the whole family at this point of time. Women should also be provided with equal job opportunities in order to make them support their husbands in a proper way. Unequal pay criteria should never be set because it puts various adverse effects on the motivation and enthusiasm of the working women. Education and Gender Differences Less education is also one of the factors behind the pay gap that exists between male and female employees. In some countries, such as Afghanistan and Pakistan, most of the women usually do not get proper education because their parents do not like them to get higher education. Even in western countries, literacy rate of women is generally less as compared to men, which results in creating a pay gap. Employers do not give high wages to a less educated employee and if a less educated employee is a woman, the case becomes even stronger for the employers because in such cases, two reasons for low wages come into the employers’ minds, which include gender and education. Most of the employers do not give high wages to a less educated female employee. It is really a dilemma that gender difference plays its role when employers determine the pays for the employees. Although less education is a valid reason for low wages for women but the gender difference is completely illogical and does not make any sense. The gender difference not only creates pay differences but also discourages women from progressing in their professional careers. Employers like to hire male employees because they consider men more productive and responsible as compared to women. They think that women have the additional responsibility of taking care of their husbands and children, so they cannot maintain their attention on their job responsibilities. Due to this reason, the employers first hesitate to hire female employees and even if they hire them, they do not give them pays equal to their male colleagues. It is dilemma that women are not considered equal to men even in the 21st century. Although different governments have taken considerable steps to provide equal rights to women and have made different laws for protecting women rights but we hardly see full implementation of the laws. Governments need to make laws to eradicate all forms of gender differences because they give rise to many significant problems for women. Unequal pay for women is one of those issues, which emerge due to the gender differences. Employers should understand the fact that there is no difference between men and women except their social responsibilities and those responsibilities do not affect the skills and abilities of a person. The assumption of employers that women are less productive or less talented than men is not a correct one. The fact is that women are somewhat more responsible and dedicated towards their jobs as compared to men. Women never compromise on their job responsibilities and make every effort to adhere to the rules and regulations of the companies for which they work. However, the concept of female employees is not the same in the minds of the employers. Employers discriminate among their employees based on gender and create pay gaps because they do not consider women productive and hardworking. It is commonly observed that employers usually give less paid jobs to the women because they think that a woman is not able to perform high valued job as efficiently as a man does. Even if a woman succeeds in getting a good job, her pay is not always equal to men and she faces different forms of discrimination that makes her leave the job at the earliest. Low wages, less education, and discrimination are some of the most significant factors behind slow progress of women in their professional careers. Work Experience of Women Another factor, which creates a pay gap between the two genders, is work experience of women. Women usually face more difficulty in job search as compared to men. The reason behind this is that employers prefer to hire male employees for the advertised jobs due to several reasons, which have been discussed earlier. So, when women do not get jobs, they lack experience and that lack of experience results in creating pay gap between experienced men and inexperienced women. Employers do not give equal pay to women as women have less experience as compared to men because of less employment opportunities. However, we cannot hold women held liable for their lack of experience because experience of women depends upon the number of employment opportunities available to them. When there will be less number of jobs available to women, their experience will also be less because not all women will get those jobs. It is the responsibility of the governments of all countries to increase the number of job opportunities for women in order to make them gain some experience. Less experience definitely results into low wages for women. Therefore, the important thing for women is to gain some experience before searching for a high paid job and that can only be possible if the employers change their concepts about female employees and assign jobs based on talent instead of gender. Pink Collar Jobs for Women Another fact regarding women is that they are mostly segregated into pink-collar jobs, which not only restrict them to some typical professions but also affect their wages. “One of the main objections to holding a pink collar job is the low pay” (Bocco, 2010). Women doing pink-collar jobs do not get high pays, which makes them struggle for other jobs. “Part of the wage gap is a result of occupational choices and other factors” (McSweeny, 2010). In most of the societies, white-collar jobs are restricted to male employees and women are hardly given the opportunities to get those jobs. Although many steps have been taken by the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom to eliminate the gender differences from jobs, still proper planning needs to be done to increase the wage rates for the women doing pink-collar jobs. Jobs should be given on merit instead of creating gender-specific jobs. “Historically, women have always earned less than men, and the fact that they continue to work on a field that's considered mainly women's only, continues the trend” (Bocco, 2010). Effects of Wage Discrimination Talking about different causes of the pay gap, which exists between the two genders, let us now discuss the effects of wage discrimination on the women of any specific society. Wage discrimination leads to various difficulties for the women in different ways. Some of the most prominent and negative effects of wage discrimination for women include unstable financial condition, decrease in the level of motivation, and inability to support their families. Women, who are paid less, not only loose their confidence but also the level of motivation to earn a better living decrease in those women. It is a fact that if a person does not get a good return for his efforts, the motivation level of that person drops which ultimately affects the career of that person. The case is not different for the working women who are not paid equal to their male counterparts. The motivation behind those women continues to decrease and as a result, some of those women leave their jobs and sit at home contributing nothing to their families from financial aspect. Pay Differences in the United States The pay difference between the two genders is wide enough to be discussed at all forums. The gap is so wide that the researchers do not see it to be eliminating until 2050. “At the current rate of change, working women will not achieve equal pay until after the year 2050” (Lorenz, 2004). Acccording to a research done by the United States department of labor, female employees make just 78 percent of the men’s wages, which is really a very less percentage considering the economic conditions of the whole world. In 1979, this percentage was 62 percent, which has increased up to 78 percent in 2003. This pay difference puts adverse effects on the economic conditions of the female employees because they find it very difficult to run their families properly with a low pay. Lorenz (2004) further states, “The wage gap is largest among the most highly educated groups”. Increasing the earnings for the female employees having college degrees by one-third is one of those steps that American government has taken to reduce the wage gap. Although the government of the United States of America has taken considerable steps to eliminate the wage differences between men and women, still a lot more needs to be done in this regard. Pay Gap in the United Kingdom The pay gap between the two genders is also wide in the United Kingdom. Allen (2010) states, “Despite four decades of equal pay legislation, Britain has one of the worst gender gaps in Europe”. An equal part of the job but not the equal pay for that job is a common concept regarding female employees working for the British companies. According to a research, this gap does not seem to be reduced in the next 56 years. “Forty years after the Equal Pay Act was passed, the study shows that the gender pay gap remains stubborn and that male and female managers will not be paid the same until 2067” (Allen, 2010). Even the female employees at the managerail level do not get their pays equal to their male counterparts, which is really a discouraging point of fact for the female employees. If we talk about the gap between the average salaries of male and female employees, we come to know that the average salary in the United Kingdom for male managers is approximately ?10,000 more than the salary of a female manager. The pay gap at the managerial level not only injects sense of inferiority in the minds of the female managers but also discourages non-managerial female staff from progressing in their professional careers. Another discouraging fact is that the current economic recession has hit the female employees more than males. As compared to men, a large number of female employees have been fired off from their jobs since recession. “Women have also been harder hit by the recession, with more female workers than men being made redundant in the past 12 months” (Allen, 2010). Equal Pay Act 1963 McKay (n.d.) states, “The Equal Pay Act of 1963, an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), prohibits employers from paying unequal wages, based on gender”. The Equal Pay Act was passed by the congress in 1963 in which it was declared that men and women should receive equal pays for the same level of jobs. The act was passed in order to protect women right to get equal pays. The sole purpose of this act was to eradicate the element of gender-based discrimination from the work environment of American companies. Under this act, a female employee can make a claim by providing the evidence of not getting equal pay for working in the same place and for doing the same work. Before the act was passed, it was a common concept in the United States that men should receive more money for the same work as they are the primary source of income for their families. “It was often argued that women should make less because they weren’t supporting families” (Ellis-Christensen, n.d.). However, that was a wrong concept because in many families, the income producers are only women. It is due to the implementation of the Equal Pay Act that today women receive nearly three quarters of men’s pay which was about half of what men used to earn before the act was passed. Therefore, we can say that although the wage disparity remains in the United States, the Equal Pay Act has done a considerable job in reducing the pay gap between the two genders. Conclusion Summing it up, unequal pay for women is one of the most considerable issues for almost all countries of the world. For employers, many reasons exist for providing the female employees with low salaries. Some of those reasons include less education in some parts of the world, less experience due to less number of employment opportunities, and less confidence of women to face different challenges of jobs. However, none of these reasons is big enough to snatch the equal pay right from women. Women are equally talented as men are, so they should be paid their salaries with no discrimination. Equal Pay Act provides women with the opportunity to raise their claims against any case of unequal pay. It is the responsibility of the governments of all countries to implement the Equal Pay Act properly in order to eradicate the problem of unequal pay for women. References Allen, K. (2010). Equal Pay for Women Not Likely Till 2067. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/aug/19/equal-pay-women-2057 Bocco, D. (2010). What is a Pink Collar Job?. Retrieved from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-pink-collar-job.htm Ellis-Christensen, T. (n.d.). What is a Pink Collar Job?. Retrieved from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-equal-pay-act.htm Lorenz, K. (2004). Equal Pay for Women? Not Till 2050. Retrieved from http://articles.cnn.com/2004-10-22/us/equal.pay_1_male-dominated-occupations-wage-gap-hispanic-women?_s=PM:US McKay, D. (n.d.). Equal Pay for Equal Work. Retrieved from http://careerplanning.about.com/od/federallawsus/a/equal_pay_act.htm McSweeny, T. (2010). The Importance of Equal Pay For Women. Retrieved from http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/11/17/importance-equal-pay-women Wolfe, L. (n.d.). Why Equal Pay for Women Would Benefit the U.S. Economy. Retrieved from http://womeninbusiness.about.com/od/challengeswomenface/a/equalpay-econo.htm Read More