Why Lower Wages for Women as Compare to Men - Research Proposal Example

Why Lower Wages for Women as Compare to Men? 12 July, Introduction: When we talk about different matters happening around us, matters concerning women inequality do not sound to be a new thing. There are still many areas where men are always preferred over women. The male domination is a little bit old term but still can be implemented in this 21st century. Though the world and the society is much developed now and also turned into a globalized world where everything is modern and full of technology. In this technological era, where everything is revolutionized, the perception regarding women is still the same. Women always face a discriminatory behavior in different social matters. Decades back, the working women were considered not good for the family lives. Now this perception is a little bit changed. Women are working in many of the fields but still facing a biased behavior in the financial matters. Men are receiving more wages as compare to women, where the fact remains the same that both of them are same qualified and working on the same position. And this is not confined to any particular society or country rather everywhere the women are facing this similar situation. Literature Review: There is always a hot discussion on this topic of biased behavior regarding wages among men and women. Many researchers work on the topic of unequal pay and wages for the females. Different research studies have clearly shown the reason and factors which actually create a pay gap between the males and the females (Fortin et al., 2012). However, the positive thing is that now in the 21st century women are more powerful to fight for their rights (Picot et al., 2013). They can stand up for receiving their rights and an equal wage system is their true right. This strength is only possible because of the education and knowledge level in the females. It is a matter of fact that education always creates awareness in the human beings. In addition, because of this education women are now powerful regarding their fight for rights. The reason for increase in the pay system can be the changing role of women in the labor work force. In the past decades the women were not involved in the hard works but now there is no single field where women are not working and giving their best (Peng, 2010). Earlier it was considered that women may not take any burden on them, women cannot work on the executive seats just because of their emotional instability. This emotional instability is always a factor to restrict the scope of jobs for women. Now we can say that women are more stable in some situations. They can tackle problems in a more stabilized way. Road Map: In this research article we will focus on the discrimination between the wage rate of men and women when they are same qualified and working on the same position. There is another hot discussion that why women should receive low wages when they are equally qualified and even working on the same positions. ‘Equal Pay day’ is celebrated worldwide on 17th of April every year but the sad fact is that there is no implementation on the policies of equality for the pay or wages for both men and women (Pay Equity and Discrimination, 2010). Every year, the State agencies pass different policies and bills regarding women rights in their countries but they do not care for the implementation of those policies. Research studies show that there is a little progress in the wages rate of a woman. In 1960’s the usual and normal wage of a woman was about 58 cents as compare to her a man was receiving a dollar for the same job. Now in this 21st century the wage rate of females is progressed to 70 cents as compare to men’s one dollar (Pay Equity and Discrimination, 2010). Nevertheless, it seems that if the women wage rate is continue to increase at the same pace then it will take many more years to fill the gap of both wages rate of men and women. Here we can say that this increase in the ratio of women wage rate is just because of the women’s own fight for their rights. Main Body: The main problem is that the lesser wage rate of a female may not only affect her individually rather the entire family is affected by it. In most of the situations when a female is working then it means that there is no other working hand in the family and with the less amount of wage rate it will be difficult for her to maintain her family. A statistical survey shows that women’s wage rate or we can say earning is almost 77% to that of earning of a man (Patrick, 2010). Almost all of the ethnic groups and races present across the world are facing this pay discrimination in their culture and the society either its African or white people, Hispanic or Asian people. Here it is significant to be noted that the wage gap is lesser in African black people as compare to the white people. The reason for this lesser gap is that the overall pay trend is low in the black people. The black men are also earning lower as compare to other people (Patrick, 2010). But still we must say that the lower wage gap is commendable for them because in almost every field or we can say discussion black people are considered inferior than whites but in this situation we can say that at least they are giving rights to the women. Some of the people justify this wage or pay gap due to some reasons. According to them, women are usually employed in such fields, which are not that much complicated or tiring, or maybe we can say these professions may not require much exertion of their body or minds (Townson, 2000). Women are usually involved in nursing, teaching, waitressing and child care. Here it should be mentioned women are also involved in many other fields but these are some of the significant areas where the whole and sole employment is for the females of the community. As compare to these females, men are usually employed at the positions where there is a need of hard work, physical and mental exertion. Therefore, the pay gap can be justified if we look this matter form the professional perspective (Townson, 2000). Now the females of the society are also taking part in many other new fields and areas and thus trying to explore more form their expertise and the talents. Therefore this wage or pay gap should be filled. Contrary to this if we look at the professions where women are more involved like teaching, nursing and day care centers etc then all of these fields are also very much demanding. They require basic care and a sensitive personality. A woman may suits these professions just because of her soft nature and attitude. Women almost make half of the employed work force in many parts of the world. We can say that more than half of the women population is employed and thus earning a living hand for their families. This statistic is not a small one rather it is a crucial point for the policy makers to think about the wage gap and then the procedures to fill this gap in a smooth manner (Macintosh, 1988). It is point of focus for the Government and the State agencies that the ration of employment is increasing day by day in the women population. They must ensure a proper wage rate and a compensation plan for them otherwise this present situation will not be good for them. Another research study show that when women were asked about their opinion regarding their pay or wage, gaps then they pointed a ridiculous thing that usually males are the part of the panelists and these men are not of the opinion that women should work in their companies (Blau & Kahn, 2007). Therefore, they usually set a low wage rate that women may not agree upon this rate and thus leave the organization. However, in actual this may not happen. Many other males who are working on the top positions raise another point in favor of pay gap based on gender discrimination. They said that usually women do not demand for a rise in their salary. They are unaware of the fact that salary is a negotiable thing and thus can be set at a rate, which is mutually agreed by both parties (Blau & Kahn, 2007). Usually women are reluctant to talk confidently about the salary increase and thus the managers may take advantage of it. Still the fact remains same that most of the females are working in the low paying industries. Many of the researchers answer the question of why there is wage gap between the earnings of the females and the males (Green et al., 2012). They are of the opinion that despite gender there can be many other certain factors, which play an important role for setting a high pay rate for the males. These factors may include work commitment, strength to carry hard work, availability at any point of time, emotional stability, communication skills and the most important that is decision making power. All of these factors collectively make a stronger and potential candidate for a higher wage rate. Usually men comprise of all of these factors in abundance as compare to women. Another reason for the low wage rate of the females as compare to men is their likelihood of being a mother. Usually women may have to drop their jobs just because of the reason of their children and many other related issues. Due to this, the company may have to suffer a loss in monetary terms. Though there are many other women, who somehow manage their children along with their jobs, but in most of the cases, women do prefer children over their jobs and in such situations, a woman may not be a potential employee for the company. Contrary to them men are not facing any such issues or problems. Therefore, they are always committed towards their organizations and the jobs. Due to this reason, many of the people justify the pay gap between women and men. An interesting thing is that many of the women blame men for this problem of children. Usually women give priority to their children over their jobs just because of the reason that men are sacred of taking the responsibility of parenting. For this reason, in any case a mother has to suffer the loss of job just to take care of their families. Therefore, usually mothers blame the men for their low level of loyalty and the commitment towards their organization. Now it is right time for the state or the Government to take their responsibility and make some legislation for the betterment of this problem. There should be a proper plan and then a check and balance on the implementation of it. On a small scale, employers can also take certain action in order to support or solve these kinds of issues and thus hire the potential females’ work force. It is a fact that women are more committed towards their work as compare to men but in the situation when they do not face any problem regarding their family. Conclusion: The pay gap based on gender discrimination is a usually matter in almost all the ethnic and racial groups all across the world. However, many of the people are playing their roles in order to make some policy in regard of this pay gap but still the problem is very much significant in many of the countries in the world. There can be many reasons behind this pay gap. Many of the people think that women are working in those fields which are not very much demanding like nursing and teaching etc but contrary to this men are working on many positions which are very much demanding. These job positions may require time and energy both and therefore they should get a higher wage rate against their hard work. Many other women are of the opinion that usually panelists are males who hire them and then set their pay and wages. These males do not want to take a woman in their team or the group of different employees. Some of the males have a typical thinking about the women that they should not work rather only raise their children. Different opinions exist in the society but the fact remains same that the wage or pay gap still exists in the society and also in different ethnic groups like black people, white people, Hispanic and even African people too. Works Cited ‘Pay Equity and Discrimination’, (2010) Institute for Women Policy Research, (paragraph 2-3) Retrieved on 30 Jun 2014 from http://www.iwpr.org/initiatives/pay-equity-and-discrimination Blau, F. & Kahn, L. (2007) Gender pay Gap, Have Women Gone as far as They Can? Academy of Management perspectives, page 7-23. Green, D., Fortin, N., Milligan, K., Riddle, W. (2012) Canadian Inequality; Recent Policy options, Canadian Public Policy, page 121-145 Macintosh, P. (1988) White privilege; Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, Wellesley College Centre for Research on Women, page 1-4 Patrick, L. (2010) Why Do Women still earn Less Than Women, Times, (paragraph 1-2) Retrieved on 30 June 2014 from http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1983185,00.html Peng, P. (2010) Canada’s Bold experiment with Pay Equity, Gender in management, An International Journal, (25)7, page 570-585. Picot, G. (2013) The Evolution of Canadian Wages over the last Three Decades, Analytical Research Studies Branch Paper Series, Ontario, Minister of Industry. Page 15-35 Townson, M. (2000) A Report Card on Women and Poverty, Canadian Centre for policy Alternatives, page 1-18 Read More