Wage Inequality Research Paper

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things: that women choose certain kinds of occupations, and also that employers favor men over women in most professions. Employers do this by not adapting the work environment to accommodate both male and female employees. Second, the way that skills are acquired for a specific job plays a huge role into that person’s financial evaluation. The division of work due to gender causes women to lack effective bargaining power and have inferior jobs in the labor market (Goff, Sarah C.).

The final important factor is the gender bias of duties and requirements. These duties and requirements result from parenthood (Ramos, Miguel R.). A woman is much more likely to take a career break or reduce their work load to being part time when they have young children at home that need to be taken care of. Those women who return to the work force part time or come back to a full time job after a break in their career are much less likely to make as much as the men who did not have any interruptions in their career. Shockingly, even those women who do not currently have children are still considered to be “potential mothers” which may cause them to be denied promotion opportunities that are offered to their male colleagues. As a result of this, the gender pay gap tends to be higher in the countries where the female labor force participation rate is quite high but public and available child care is not provided in most places.

We, as a society, tend to under-evaluate the value of work that is specifically considered to be for women. Women face general barriers in the labor market which impact their income growth and their promotion prospects. Although more women than ever successfully complete higher education, this increase in the educational level of women does not necessarily correlate with pay rises. Two main indicators of gender inequality in the labor market have been identified. One of them is the gap between female and male participation in the paid work force. The other is that the ratio between women’s and men’s pay. It is hard to conclude what the true impact of these gender inequalities has on society, because there are a lot of factors that come into play. However, research has been done in areas of poverty that the gender pay gap does have an effect on economic growth (Janssen, Simon).

The persistent presence of the gender pay gap cannot be justified by differences in skills, experience, education, or location in the labor market. Women are not the only members of society that are affected by the gender wage gap and many other serious issues are also a result. An increase in poverty, a negative effect on the wealth and well-being of families and communities, and the barrier to economic growth are all a result of gender discrimination at work. Some improvements have been made over the last 40 years in order to reduce the wage gap. This being said, there is still a long way to go before the gender wage gap will be completely erased in not only the United States, but worldwide.

The explanation to why the wage gap is where it is today and influenced the change can be explained by the history of the gender wage gap, occupational segregation, and gender bias. As I was researching the wage gap, what I thought was going to come out as a cut and dried solution, actually turned out to be kind of open-ended. It is no secret that this form of discrimination is unfair and unacceptable, but because of where we are in modern-day society, a wage gap is almost unavoidable. There are amendments and laws supporting equal pay, but obviously the wage gap still exists. Time is the only solution that anyone can give for the situation right now and I believe time will also show the results of hard work because to be equal one must demand equality. 

Works Cited

Anderson, Bernard E. "The Ebb and Flow of Enforcing Executive Order 11246." The American Economic Review 1996: 298. JSTOR Journals. Web. 30 Nov. 2016.

Dworkin, Terry Morehead, Aarti Ramaswami, and Cindy A. Schipani. "A Half-Century Post-Title VII: Still Seeking Pathways For Women To Organizational Leadership." UCLA Women’s Law Journal 23.1 (2016): 29-78. Academic Search Complete. Web. 30 Nov. 2016.

“Global Employment Trends for Women.” International Labour Organization (ILO), 2009

Goff, Sarah C. "How To Trade Fairly In An Unjust Society: The Problem Of Gender Discrimination In The Labor Market." Social Theory & Practice 42.3 (2016): 555-580. Sociological Collection. Web. 30 Nov. 201

Janssen, Simon, Simone Tuor Sartore, and Uschi Backes-Gellner. "Discriminatory Social Attitudes And Varying Gender Pay Gaps Within Firms." ILR Review 69.1 (2016): 253-279. Business Source Complete. Web. 30 Nov. 2016.

Kassenboehmer, Sonja C., and Mathias G. Sinning. "Distributional Changes In The Gender Wage Gap." ILR Review 67.2 (2014): 335-361. Business Source Complete. Web. 30 Nov. 2016.

Ramos, Miguel R., et al. "Exposure To Sexism Can Decrease Implicit Gender Stereotype Bias." European Journal Of Social Psychology 46.4 (2016): 455-466. PsycINFO. Web. 30 Nov. 2016.

Siniscalco, Gary, Lauri Damrell, and Clara Morain Nabity. "The Pay Gap, The Glass Ceiling, And Pay Bias: Moving Forward Fifty Years After The Equal Pay Act." ABA Journal Of Labor & Employment Law 29.3 (2014): 395-427. Business Source Complete. Web.