“No employer having employees subject to any provisions of this section shall discriminate, within any establishment in which such employees are employed, between employees on the basis of sex by paying wages to employees in such establishment at a rate less than the rate at which he pays wages to employees of the opposite sex in such establishment for equal work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility…” SEC. 206. [Section 6] of the Equal Pay Act of 1963
The wage disparity based on sex was one of the main targeted issues on John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaigns, and as stated in the Equal Pay Act of 1963, one branching issue of the income inequality in the United States is in fact because of gender roles. Income inequality is historically an aggravating and also recurrent issue globally but also in American society. President Kennedy’s tackle on the gender pay gap exemplifies past constitutional attempts to solve such social impasse. Nonetheless, as many already know, the pay gap between men and women is a continuing concern for Americans in and out the work force.
As for in 2015 women would have to work about 60 extra days to earn the same of amount of money as men to earn what they have earned in the same year. One of the main contributing factors to this particular inequality comes from the idea of gender discrimination. About 20% of women say they had been discriminated against in the workplace because of their gender, while only 10% of men said they were discriminated. The counter force to the stagnation of certain rights and incongruences between women and men have gained more space in the last decades due the numerable feminist movements that took place in the States and in the international scenario. 2014 for instance marked notable examples of women gaining space in many different social spheres; a record of 100 women serving the 114th Congress mandate, Malala Yousafzai (Pakistani activist for female education) wining the Nobel Peace prize, and actress Emma Watson being named by the UN as the Goodwill Ambassador (acknowledging the importance of gender equality) represent some examples portrayed by media.
The contradiction begins one asks ‘if women did come a long way from their historical stands on several sociopolitical spheres, why would many still claim a relative inertia of the income inequality in the economic sphere?’
Here are some facts that surprisingly support the idea that misconceptions of women in the work place are as real as the changes accomplished over the course of history.
According to the Pew Research Center, based in Washington, unlike mid 30s women, the wage gap for young women is markedly smaller, around 93% if compared to the same-aged male group. The difference does persist but what has been analyzed is why such difference would still exist even with several advancements in work regulations. Women for example reportedly said that, compared to men, they are less likely to aspire to top management positions (34% against 24% men). Another key difference seen in the surveys is the response given from mothers in contrast to fathers as they elaborate family planning; mothers are more likely to quit their job positions and to take time off more than men to take care of children or family matters.
The questions to be asked now are ‘if economy is indeed a pyramid of low to high paying jobs, a hierarchy of different castes, and knowing that women have been equalizing the income disparity, what has happened to cause such ‘normalization’ and advancement in economic affairs for women? Has the American society found ‘alternatives’ / replaced work forces to other ethnic/nationality/gender segment?
Income inequality although shape shifts and takes different labels in different historical contexts, it would most likely continue to be a recurrent issue to society, as it is in my opinion, an inevitable unbalance entropic problem to any capitalist society… In which America happens to be the symbol of it.
Lucas Costa
For Further Reading:
https://www.wgea.gov.au/research-and-resources/fact-sheets-and-statistics
http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/publications/publications-a-z/1556-the-facts-gender-inequality-and-violence-against-women-and-girls-around-the-world
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/04/14/on-equal-pay-day-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-gender-pay-gap/
http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/12/11/on-pay-gap-millennial-women-near-parity-for-now/
The wage disparity based on sex was one of the main targeted issues on John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaigns, and as stated in the Equal Pay Act of 1963, one branching issue of the income inequality in the United States is in fact because of gender roles. Income inequality is historically an aggravating and also recurrent issue globally but also in American society. President Kennedy’s tackle on the gender pay gap exemplifies past constitutional attempts to solve such social impasse. Nonetheless, as many already know, the pay gap between men and women is a continuing concern for Americans in and out the work force.
As for in 2015 women would have to work about 60 extra days to earn the same of amount of money as men to earn what they have earned in the same year. One of the main contributing factors to this particular inequality comes from the idea of gender discrimination. About 20% of women say they had been discriminated against in the workplace because of their gender, while only 10% of men said they were discriminated. The counter force to the stagnation of certain rights and incongruences between women and men have gained more space in the last decades due the numerable feminist movements that took place in the States and in the international scenario. 2014 for instance marked notable examples of women gaining space in many different social spheres; a record of 100 women serving the 114th Congress mandate, Malala Yousafzai (Pakistani activist for female education) wining the Nobel Peace prize, and actress Emma Watson being named by the UN as the Goodwill Ambassador (acknowledging the importance of gender equality) represent some examples portrayed by media.
The contradiction begins one asks ‘if women did come a long way from their historical stands on several sociopolitical spheres, why would many still claim a relative inertia of the income inequality in the economic sphere?’
Here are some facts that surprisingly support the idea that misconceptions of women in the work place are as real as the changes accomplished over the course of history.
According to the Pew Research Center, based in Washington, unlike mid 30s women, the wage gap for young women is markedly smaller, around 93% if compared to the same-aged male group. The difference does persist but what has been analyzed is why such difference would still exist even with several advancements in work regulations. Women for example reportedly said that, compared to men, they are less likely to aspire to top management positions (34% against 24% men). Another key difference seen in the surveys is the response given from mothers in contrast to fathers as they elaborate family planning; mothers are more likely to quit their job positions and to take time off more than men to take care of children or family matters.
The questions to be asked now are ‘if economy is indeed a pyramid of low to high paying jobs, a hierarchy of different castes, and knowing that women have been equalizing the income disparity, what has happened to cause such ‘normalization’ and advancement in economic affairs for women? Has the American society found ‘alternatives’ / replaced work forces to other ethnic/nationality/gender segment?
Income inequality although shape shifts and takes different labels in different historical contexts, it would most likely continue to be a recurrent issue to society, as it is in my opinion, an inevitable unbalance entropic problem to any capitalist society… In which America happens to be the symbol of it.
Lucas Costa
For Further Reading:
https://www.wgea.gov.au/research-and-resources/fact-sheets-and-statistics
http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/publications/publications-a-z/1556-the-facts-gender-inequality-and-violence-against-women-and-girls-around-the-world
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/04/14/on-equal-pay-day-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-gender-pay-gap/
http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/12/11/on-pay-gap-millennial-women-near-parity-for-now/