Changing Roles in the Household - Economics of Race and Gender - Essay Example

Changing Roles in the Household - Economics of Race and Gender - Number and Number Submission Total Number of Words: 2,566 Introduction Back in 1800s, there were a lot of evidences showing that women were considered ‘the weaker sex’ as compared to men (Womens International Center, 1995). In line with this, most women were deprived of having good education and employment. Since the U.S. society accepted the limitation of women’s participation within the four-corners of a house, most women were given no choice but to do house-related work or perform the role of motherhood or housewives. Since the 19th century, part of the US government’s social policy objective is to promote equal rights in work opportunities. Specifically the Equal Pay Act of 1963 was implemented to promote equal work and employment opportunity for men and women by mandating employers to pay male and female employees equally for performing equal work load except for work differences related to seniority and merits (Reuter, 2009). As part of strengthening the promotion of work diversity and gender equal rights, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was established in order to enforce the federal laws concerning work discrimination related to race or ethnicity, color, religion, gender preferences, nationality, age, and physical or mental disability (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2010). As part of determining the current socio-economic status of women and the minorities in the United States including the significance and effectiveness of EEOC in terms of alleviating gender and racial discrimination within a work environment, this study will gather the most recent articles and news reports that has been published online particularly in the Wall Street Journal, news media, business journals, and magazines. Eventually, economics of race and gender will be tackled in relation to the gathered news and articles. Prior to conclusion, strategic ways on how the EEOC could effectively prevent the high incidence of work discrimination related to gender and race will be provided in details. The Most Current Articles and News Reports Back in 2003, the entire U.S. workforce is composed of 69.9% White Americans, 13.8% of the African Americans, 11.1% Hispanics, and 5.2% other minorities (Hymowitz, 2005). Out of the White Americans who are employed, 84.5% of them are managers in small-, medium-, and large-scale companies (ibid). Statistics shows that gender discrimination in the United States is still present despite EEOC’s effort to avoid gender and race discrimination at work. In rare cases, there are some women and few individuals coming from the minority groups who were able to establish a strong career in their chosen profession. In line with this, Aaron Velasco who is a US-born Latino was reported for his success as a seismologist and a faculty member of the University of Texas (Powell, 2007). Women and the Minorities Fighting for Equal Employment and Pay Men and women are capable of performing equal tasks without sacrificing the quality of work. With regards to computer programming, Barak (2008) reported that women are equally or even better than men when it comes to writing computer cryptic code. Since the 20th century, the implementation of work diversity has been a significant part of the corporate and academic policies. Because of the active promotion of work diversity and gender equality in schools, more people are educated and knowledgeable in terms of fighting for their rights for equal employment opportunity and pay. Since then, the value of work diversification has been the talk of the town over the decade. There are some news-related evidences suggesting that the EEOC has been successful in terms of preventing the high incidence of work discrimination related to gender and race. Specifically the 27,000 gender discrimination claims under the case of Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. was resolved by EEOC administratively by convincing Wal-Mart to pay $94.2 million cash worth of case settlements for the benefits of the victims of work discrimination (Mears, 2010). Recently, Kilman (2010) reported that managers who are working at the meatpacking section of Tyson Foods Incorporated1 was sued for not entertaining female applicants who are searching for entry-level positions at the Tyson’s cattle slaughtering plant between 2003 to 2004. In order to protect the public image and welfare of Tyson Foods Incorporated, Ken Kimrbo who works at Tyson as the chief human resources officer explained that the company does not discriminate female applicants considering that the company has employed 672 women in the workforce (28% of 2,400 employees) (Kilman, 2010). Working in a Disney restaurant as a hostess, Imane Boudlal who is a Muslim filed a complaint against Disneyland for asking her not to wear her hijab when dealing with the customers or simply agree to work in areas where the customers will not be able to see her wearing hijab (Miller, 2010). Specifically the news report of Kilman (2010) and Miller (2010) are clear signs that modern women and the minorities are now capable of fighting for their rights to be employed and not be discriminated at work. Another solid evidences wherein women and the minorities are ready to fight for their rights against work-related discrimination can be noted in the case of Wal-Mart. Since 2001, a legal case was filed against Wal-Mart for not allowing female store employees to be promoted to higher managerial positions and that female employees are receiving lesser pay as compared to men regardless of their job positions (Mears, 2010; Pepitone, 2010). Specifically the case of Best Buy is very much similar to the case of Wal-Mart. Aside from preventing women and the minorities from being promoted at work, Best Buy2 was also legally charged for paying female employees and the minorities including the African Americans and the Latinos lesser as compared to white American employees (All Business, 2005). Workplace discrimination is not limited to women and the minorities, men can also be a victim of gender and race discrimination. In line with this, New Haven firefighters fought for their civil rights in the U.S. Supreme Court wherein a total of 14 New Haven firefighters will be promoted as either lieutenant or captain after winning the case and passing the promotion exam (CNN Justice, 2009). It was also reported that most of the African-American and Hispanic men who were applying as a fire fighter in New York City Fire Department were also discriminated from being qualified for the job (CNN, 2009). In rare cases, a local steakhouse was legally sued by a male applicant claiming that the restaurant is only accepting female employees as food servers (Simone, 2010). Economics of Race and Gender in Relation to the Gathered News and Articles In general, men who are doing equal work with women are most likely to receive a higher pay as compared to women. Although gender and race discrimination at work is applicable to both men and women, it is the women and the minorities who are mostly affected by gender and race discrimination. Because of wage gap between men and women, women especially those who are single mothers are most likely to work for longer hours as compared to men. For example: James is earning $5,000 a month working 8 hours a day as a manager in a large multinational company. As a single mother who is taking care of her child in the morning, Magan is earning only $500 a week working for 8 hours on a part-time job as a waitress in nearby restaurant. For Magan to be able to earn $5,000 a month, she will have to take a double job or work for longer hours so that she could have adequate finances in case her child gets sick, etc. In this case, Magan will have to work for a total of 80 hours a month in order for her to earn the same amount James is earning. [($500 / 8hours) = $62.50 / hour; $5,000 a month / $62.50 per hour = 80 hours a month] Normally, a married couple who are both working shares the household expenses. In line with this, the household income for the family is less burdensome since the financial requirements can easily be distributed between the couple. As a result of shared household expenses, married women who are working will still have ample time to play their role in doing housework and duties as a mother. In the case of single mothers, the only way she could increase their income for her children is to increase the number of hours spent at work. It means that a single mother usually ends up sacrificing her leisure time with her children as well as doing some household chores in exchange of the income she would earn while working. The unequal growth in the participation of men and women in the U.S. labor market increases the concerns that women would have to work longer hours to earn more because in the absence of a husband, a woman may not be earning enough to sustain the increasing personal financial needs. Gender and racial discrimination at work including the differences between the salary of men and women is both advantageous in the case of the employers. Normally, a good economic condition means a higher demand for human resources. In case of a good economic condition, pay discrimination can increase the profitability of the companies by keeping their fixed operational expenses as low as possible. Since it has been a common practice in the United States to offer low salary to female employees, there are some companies who take advantage of women and the minorities by offering them low basic pay in exchange for their services. (See Graph I – Demand and Supply Curve of a Good Economy below) Graph I – Demand and Supply Curve of a Good Economy Because of economic recession, most of the medium- and large-scale companies are left with no other choice but to decrease the number of their employees through massive lay-offs. Even in the case wherein the U.S. economy is weak, employers are still better off than women and the minorities. Since employers in this case have a stronger bargaining power against employees, there are some employers who take advantage of employees’ weaknesses by practicing pay discrimination among the workers. (See Graph II – Demand and Supply Curve of a Weak Economy below) Graph II – Demand and Supply Curve of a Weak Economy The only differences between a good and bad economic condition is that women and the minorities have higher chance of being able to find full-time employment during a good economic condition. Including the case of prospective work applicants, a good economic condition does not protect women and the minorities from the hands of abusive employers who unfairly treat their employees. There is a wide leisure gap between the high-skilled and low-skilled workers (Landsburg, 2007). In line with this, unemployment is the major cause of widening the gap between the income distribution and the available leisure time among male and female employees. Likewise, the increase in the standard of living is causing many people to work overtime just to cover their daily expenses. For those who are working, they tend to spend more time at work rather than relaxing, doing household chores, spending time with kids, going to parities / bars, reading the newspaper, surfing the web, or even visiting friends. Demographic changes also affect the income-leisure of each individual. The more children married couple has, the more time they need to spend working in order to sustain their daily expenses. Educational attainment is also a factor. The more educated a person is, the higher the chances that he/she is going to get a job. Because of the tight competition in the U.S. labor market, women and the minorities who are less educated are the ones who are left behind in terms of job searching. Let us compare the difference between earning $5 and £10 per hour (Friedman, 2007). Assuming that Tina is working for $5 per hour and Trixia for $10 per hour, if both are expected to work for 12 hours per week, Tina and Trixia will receive $60 [12 hours per week X £5 per hour] and $120 [12 hours per week / £10 per hour] each week respectively. In line with this, time outside work will then be used for leisure. (See Graph III – Income and Leisure Curve on page 10) Graph III – Income and Leisure Curve This curve above shows that as wage rises, the number of hours spent on working decreases. This gives an individual more time spent on leisure. Each individual works according to the expected amount he / she will be getting in each job. Given the expected salary, as an employee, the person has the option to choose whether to spend more time at work or in leisure. In case of tight financial needs, an individual especially the single parents will be left with no choice but to sacrifice most of his/her time working than staying at home or go somewhere else to do his/her personal activities. The role of EEOC is important in terms of narrowing down unequal distribution of wealth and poverty rate caused by racism and gender biased practices in the search for qualified employees (Women and the Economy, 2010). Given that EEOC failed to convince employers to practice fair treatment among male and female employees, single mothers and the minorities will remain unable to uplift their standard of living because of their inability to financially support the educational experiences of their children. This will make their children unable to compete in the future labor market. In case the EEOC is successful in terms of strengthening the laws behind racial and gender discrimination at work, women and the minorities can enjoy equal privilege in terms of having equal salary and fair judgment in work promotion. As a result, women especially those who are working single mothers can have the privilege to enjoy more time taking care of their children. Strategic Ways on How the EEOC could effectively prevent the High Incidence of Work Discrimination Related to Gender and Race Aside from exerting extra effort to teach the public about their employment rights and procedures in filing complaints against abusive employers, EEOC should continuously strengthen the U.S. law on racial and gender discrimination at work in order to protect the socio-economic welfare of women and the minorities from the hands of abusive employers. Through the use of EEOC’s official website, the agency should be open in terms of accepting public complaints from people whose rights for equal employment opportunities has been denied by abusive and powerful employers. Conclusion The socio-economic issues behind racial and gender discrimination at work is a serious matter because it can significantly affect the quality of life of their family members. Since medium- and large-scale multinational companies have a better bargaining power over female employees and the minorities, EEOC should remain strong in terms of protecting the socio-economic welfare of this group of employees. Although there are very few women and minorities who were able to develop a successful career in the chosen field, most women and the minorities remained unfairly treated when it comes to their rights for equal payment and promotional opportunities. Most schools in the United States are actively promoting the importance of work diversity and gender equality. Since the number of people who are knowledgeable about their equal rights at work and the law behind work-related discrimination is already increasing, the number of legal cases on unequal employment opportunity and pay is also increasing accordingly. *** End *** References All Business. (2005, December 8). Retrieved November 18, 2010, from Women and Minority Employees Charge Best Buy with Employment Discrimination in Federal Court;...: http://www.allbusiness.com/legal/labor-employment-law-discrimination-gender-sex/5171188-1.html Barak, S. (2008, June 9). The Inquirer. Retrieved November 18, 2010, from Women write more expressive, sensitive code. Talk to me about your feelings : http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1018844/women-write-expressive CNN. (2009, July 22). Retrieved November 18, 2010, from Judge rules FDNY exams discriminated against minorities: http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/07/22/firefighter.discrimination/index.html#cnnSTCText CNN Justice. (2009, November 25). 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