The wage gap between men and women has been contested and fought about for an innumerable number of years now. Some claim the wage gap is imaginary, while others argue that it’s much worse than commonly estimated. However, what is the truth? How accurate are people when they speak of this gap? As statistics and studies have shown, those “ “feminist complainers” are painfully true.
According to the US Census Bureau, women are paid 80 cents for every dollar men are paid. As the amount of income earned increases, the wage gap only gets wider. In the 10th percentile income range, women are paid 92 cents for every dollar men are paid. However in the 95th percentile income bracket, women are paid 74 cents relative to the dollar that men receive. One main reason for the difference between the two income brackets is due to the wage floor that exists, which prevents wages going below a certain price for all employees. It has also been found that the wage gap varies greatly based on ethnicity. Asian and white women tend to have less varied wages than white men compared to Black and Latina women. Since 1980, Asian and White women have been able to close the gap between their salaries and the salaries of white men by approximately 22 cents. However, Black have only been able to close that gap by 9 cents, and Latina women are at the largest gap with only being able to close the gap by 5 cents. However, in considering differences in the wage gap between minority women it is important to consider the average wages of the different groups. Asian and White Women have salaries that are much closer to the salaries of the average white women. However, Latina and Black women not as much. That said though, even factoring in the different wage values among minority groups, latina and black women are still effected more by the wage gap.
So why does this gap exist, and what is the country doing to try and fix this gap? These aren’t easy or simple questions to answer, but I believe the causes of the wage discrepancies must be analyzed and talked about if this nation will ever come close to ending the discrimination.
A common response when the wage gap dilemma is presented is to greatly oversimplify the situation by placing the cause of the gap solely on the women themselves. Many say women are the cause of the gap due to their tendency to willingly work fewer hours than men, take up lower paying jobs, and stop working for longer periods of time than men. While this is true to an extent, there is more to the gap than simply the differences in hours that men and women work. According to the Center for American Progress, only about 27 percent of the gap can be explained by the difference in hours that the two genders work. Variability in work experience also plays a role in wages, as some women can fall behind in career development more than men due to maternity leave or child care. Another well proven cause is that companies, such as mining and construction businesses, hugely favor hiring men over women. These stated causes are the proven sources of the wage disparity, but approximately 40 percent of the wage gap is caused by unexplained forces. Meaning, 40 percent of the gap is due to blatant or subconscious sexism towards women and how aggressive and willing companies and women are about pay negotiations. As a woman and someone who intends to enter the workforce, this ever-present 40 percent concerns me. I strongly feel this is an issue that needs to be focused on, and while efforts are being made, I am not sure whether this country is being aggressive enough in its tactics.

The first step at closing the wage gap was taken in 1963 by President John F. Kennedy when he signed the Equal Pay Act. This act made it illegal for companies to pay an employee differently based on gender. Unfortunately, this only helped close the gap a little. Then, when President Obama was sworn into office, he placed closing the gap as a top priority. In a press conference he once stated, “The notion that we would somehow be keeping my daughters …any of your daughters out of opportunity, not allowing them to participate in every human endeavor, that’s counterproductive”. In 2009, Obama signed what is known as the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. This act was in response to Supreme Court’s ruling in the Ledbetter vs. Goodyear tire company case, which was filed by a woman who used to work at Goodyear Tire Company and discovered that she was being paid less than her male coworkers for numerous years (for more information about Lilly Ledbetter click here). The Supreme Court ultimately ruled that an individual cannot file for pay discrimination if the discrimination occurred more than 180 days ago. The Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act ensured that a person could file for pay discrimination at any time under the federal anti-discrimination laws. This act helped in allowing workers to have time to build up a case against their employer and prevented companies from concealing the discrimination.

Unfortunately, in the long run, this act seemed to do little in closing the wage gap. The difference in pay between men and women only decreased marginally. Therefore,in 2016, President Obama passed legislation that required companies with over 100 companies to report salary information based on their employees’ gender, race, and ethnicity. This act attempts to make large companies more accountable for their pay distribution. The effects from this legislation have not been properly collected yet, but I hope that it will help in beginning to close the gap.
To me, the gender pay gap seems like something that should have been fixed a long time ago. To have woman paid 80 cents for every dollar a man earns in 2017 is disappointing and discouraging. I believe though that if legislation continues to be passed that aims at protecting gender discrimination and a concerted effort is made by companies to view employees by their ability rather than gender, perhaps the gap really will begin to close. As Sheryl Sandberg, a gender equal rights activist and Facebook CEO once said, “It’s indisputable that there’s a real pay gap. People can argue about how big, but that’s beside the point. The point is that every woman, every girl, deserves to get paid what they’re worth”.

President Obama signing the Lily Ledbetter Act
Source

Works Cited:
Center for American Progress

Economic Policy Institute

National Women’s Law Center

The New York Times