Are women inferior to men? The obvious answer: no. The United States Constitution asserts that all men are created equal and have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. On the most fundamental level, all people, regardless of gender or any other factor, are said to be equal to one another from birth. Why, then, is it that women make less money than men in several professions? Why isn’t this convention of equality reflected in the average annual income earned by men and females? Gender discrimination is nothing new. After several decades, we have yet to resolve this injustice. The gender wage gap wrongfully perpetuates inequality for women in the workforce and should be rectified in the United States.
Despite gender inequality …show more content…
The pay gap has not and will not improve without human intervention. America must actively prioritize closing the wage gap today. It is our responsibility to reconcile this issue if we wish to achieve real gender parity in the workplace. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau, progress in closing the wage gap has slowed significantly since 2007. Following the estimated projection based on the rate from 1960 to 2015, the gender pay ratio would not equalize until 2059 or even as late as 2152 when the more gradual trend after 2001 is considered (Miller). The lull in balancing the female to male pay ratio reflects a ubiquitous indifference across society and a lack of effective advocacy for women's rights. In fact, government policy on the issue of gender wage inequality is cripplingly outdated, most notably the Equal Pay Act, which has not been updated since 1963 (Miller). This trend may even slow to a halt if people do not take progressive measures soon. Fortunately, there are various strategies of enacting change that major corporations, Congress, and even the individual can exercise. The American Association of University Women (AAUW), a nonprofit charity intended to educate and advocate for female equal rights, believes that all people are capable of taking action to help bridge the pay rift between …show more content…
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) itself has proposed that because women are more likely to request time off work after having a child than men, which explains the resulting wage imbalance (Livingston). Although it is true that women are traditionally responsible for childcare and household maintenance, government policies have displayed the continual transformation of household gender dynamics suggesting the ability to achieve both a successful career and family. Furthermore, it is becoming increasingly common for either sex to take a maternity or paternity leave to care for their children rather than exclusively the mother. For instance, the authors of the article “Gender Differences in Pay” state that “employers are likely to continue to expand such policies as they respond to the shifting composition of the work force and a desire to retain employees in whom they have made substantial investments… the increasing availability of such policies will make it easier for women to combine work and family, and also for men to take on a greater share of household tasks” (Kahn, Blau). In this, the twenty-first century, women are not confined to their homes to raise a family. Having and supporting a child is the responsibility of either or both parents, and the responsibility is
Despite gender inequality …show more content…
The pay gap has not and will not improve without human intervention. America must actively prioritize closing the wage gap today. It is our responsibility to reconcile this issue if we wish to achieve real gender parity in the workplace. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau, progress in closing the wage gap has slowed significantly since 2007. Following the estimated projection based on the rate from 1960 to 2015, the gender pay ratio would not equalize until 2059 or even as late as 2152 when the more gradual trend after 2001 is considered (Miller). The lull in balancing the female to male pay ratio reflects a ubiquitous indifference across society and a lack of effective advocacy for women's rights. In fact, government policy on the issue of gender wage inequality is cripplingly outdated, most notably the Equal Pay Act, which has not been updated since 1963 (Miller). This trend may even slow to a halt if people do not take progressive measures soon. Fortunately, there are various strategies of enacting change that major corporations, Congress, and even the individual can exercise. The American Association of University Women (AAUW), a nonprofit charity intended to educate and advocate for female equal rights, believes that all people are capable of taking action to help bridge the pay rift between …show more content…
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) itself has proposed that because women are more likely to request time off work after having a child than men, which explains the resulting wage imbalance (Livingston). Although it is true that women are traditionally responsible for childcare and household maintenance, government policies have displayed the continual transformation of household gender dynamics suggesting the ability to achieve both a successful career and family. Furthermore, it is becoming increasingly common for either sex to take a maternity or paternity leave to care for their children rather than exclusively the mother. For instance, the authors of the article “Gender Differences in Pay” state that “employers are likely to continue to expand such policies as they respond to the shifting composition of the work force and a desire to retain employees in whom they have made substantial investments… the increasing availability of such policies will make it easier for women to combine work and family, and also for men to take on a greater share of household tasks” (Kahn, Blau). In this, the twenty-first century, women are not confined to their homes to raise a family. Having and supporting a child is the responsibility of either or both parents, and the responsibility is