Discriminatory Wage Gap
“The gap between the median wage for a man and that of a woman in 2010 was $10,784.00 per year. The gender wage gap gets larger with age and builds up over time. But for women in the final five years of their careers before retirement, the wage gap grows to a whopping $14,352.00. Over a 40-year career, the average woman will lose $431,000.00 to the gender wage gap” (Cooper 1). Does this seem fair? It seems quite obvious to the common observer that there should be equal pay across the board for the same job accomplished regardless of gender, education or any other factor one might dream up. Nevertheless, according to most research and authorities on the subject of equal pay, there is a gap between the earnings of men and women. Moreover, as one delves into the subject more thoroughly, one notes it is much more complicated than simply equal pay for the same work performed. Women are greatly affected by the wage gap over time where they lose a significant amount of money the closer they are to retirement. As of April, 2014, the Center for American Progress states that to every dollar a man makes, a woman makes 77 cents (Cooper 1). Thus, it is apparent that women are still behind the men in terms of equal pay in the workforce. While women's pay in the workforce has traditionally been less than a man’s it nevertheless has increased over the years; however, as of 2014 there still exists a pay gap which can only be addressed through legislation, enforcement of that legislation and awareness by all that inequality is unacceptable.

Throughout history women have never been given equal pay in the workforce and this inequality extends to modern days. “Until the early 1960s, newspapers published separate job listings for men and women. Jobs were categorized according to sex, with the higher level jobs listed almost exclusively under "Help Wanted—Male." In some cases the ads ran identical jobs under male and female listings—but with separate pay scales. Separate, of course, meant unequal: between 1950 and 1960, women with full time jobs earned on average between 59–64 cents for every dollar their male counterparts earned in the same job” (Rowen ). Discrimination began very early in history when women had very few rights. Soon enough, females wanted to attain jobs in order to support a family or themselves. Men and women were given different pay grades which were obviously unequal. There is very little consideration given to women who stay in a job for many years as far as salary goes; also, women in typical female jobs have limited careers (Rowen). In addition, our society characterizes certain jobs as either male or female, creating the idea that only one particular gender can perform that job. How can one decide who is better capable for a job, and how much they should be paid based on sex and nothing else?
Back in 1963, President John F. Kennedy executed the Equal Pay Act; however, the National Equal Enforcement Task Force recorded that women earned only 59 cents in comparison to a dollar earned by men. The Equal Pay Act was supposed to guarantee that women and men in the same job would be given the same payment. Soon after, a specific legislature was enacted called, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which enhanced certain laws in the government meant to make it illegal to "discriminate on the basis of sex for pay benefits, as well as race, color, religion, national origin, age, or disability" (The History of the Equal Pay Act and Its Impact on Women ). Moreover, the Equal Pay Act began the pathway to equal pay. Nevertheless, this act was either not enforced or did not last because even today women are still treated unequally in terms of salary. Although the number of women going to college and pursuing a degree has greatly heightened, men still seem to obtain the majority of the higher paying and higher ranked jobs (Hurley 31). Even if women go to the same college and obtain the same job as men, they still get paid less. When women work just as hard and have the same schedule as men, they don't get the same salary. Even women with college degrees start out in the business world already acquiring 5 percent less than the men with the same educational level. As women battle men in the workplace regarding salary, the pay scale difference increases to 12 percent after just 10 years on the job (Cooper 2). It is apparent that women lose ground as time progresses.
In fact, discrimination even goes as far as the home. Women are given a reduced pay based on how many children they have, about a 7 percent wage forfeiture per kid (Cooper). Does this seem fair? Men have no deduction on their wage because of children, but women do. Also marital status affects salary. Females are the essential providers in 40 percent of U.S. families yet are bringing home 23 percent short of what their male equivalents collect. Considering that women now only make 77 cents to every dollar a man makes takes a toll on their future lives. Consequently, in some cases when the woman is the major financial provider, the families' standard of living is significantly lower due to that wage discrepancy. The outcome will be less money towards children’s additional schooling and less put away for retirement (Fact Sheet 2). Unequal pay does not only affect a woman’s present life but her children’s as well. The wage gap takes a direct hit on a child's prospect, limiting his or her future choices. During the time females partake in paid work, they keep on caring for individuals in their household, especially spouses and youth. The ceaseless downgrading of caring work happening inside of a home also disregards the positively related connections inside families. Women throughout history have been viewed as first the caretaker of the home, then as workers which does not help the wage gap. In fact, many men see women as not capable of undertaking jobs with great responsibility. Furthermore, the most exceedingly awful paid, briefest contract, most repetitive employments are strangely appointed to women. Women predominantly control these tedious jobs. Nevertheless, their embodiment in worldwide markets provided them with little security, fewer promotions, and absolutely no way to compromise (Gaag).
Fortunately for women, there have been activists from the late 1960’s to the 1970’s bringing about major transformations in women’s lives in the United States; white middle class women especially have been instrumental in organizing equal access to upper level jobs and fighting for fair pay (Mankiller 2). Consequently, the general public began to take notice of the extreme pay gap between men and women as well as cause women in organizations to lobby for better pay.
Subsequently, solutions to the problem of unequal pay in the workplace must be addressed in a timely manner to match the ever-growing female workplace population. Currently, the Equal Pay Task Force in alliance with the Department of Labor put in motion the “Equal Pay App Challenge” and asked software builders to design applications providing better methods to help women access information and become more aware of what is available to them concerning their jobs. “The winning teams created tools that (1) provide easy access to U.S. wage estimates by city, state and job title, empowering employees or applicants for employment with reliable and specific compensation information to support informed salary negotiations; and (2) supply users with current wage data and interview, resume and negotiation tools, as well as connect users to relevant social networks” (Fact Sheet 2). These apps help women to be aware of their pay compared to that of others. This tool will further women’s progress to closing the wage gap because employers cannot hide the inequality. The Earned Income Tax Credit aids low-income families with children by providing them with certain advantages such as extra employment. However, workers with no children obtain less credit, only up to $500 and it is required for them to be at least twenty-five years old. “The President has proposed doubling the maximum credit to $1,000.00 raising the income eligibility standard so the credit is available to a full-time minimum wage worker, and lowering the age limit from 25 to 21. The proposed expansion would be fully paid for within his budget and would benefit 13.5 million workers, including 6.1 million women” (Fact Sheet 2). On the whole, this appears to be a move in the right direction and given the support of the President, it has a good chance of success. On a large scale, President Barack Obama supports a practical decree in which women would be given supplementary devices to help go against pay inequality and urges Congress to ratify this Paycheck Fairness Act (Fact Sheet 1). Unfortunately, in April of 2014 the Paycheck Fairness Act signed by President Obama, was rejected by the Senate.
Additionally, “In 2009, President Obama signed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, which allows victims of pay discrimination to file a complaint with the government against their employer within 180 days of their last paycheck. Previously, victims were only allowed 180 days from the date of the first unfair paycheck. This Act is named after a former employee of Goodyear who alleged that she was paid 15 percent to 40 percent less than her male counterparts, which was later found to be accurate” (Rowen). This was the first case of pay discrimination to go before the Supreme Court and win but will probably not be the last. Because of the continued discrepancies in wages between men and women new laws need to be enacted frequently. To combat this issue, the National Equal Enforcement Task Force was established in 2010 combining the strength of many founded departments to put an end to unequal pay such as, the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Department of Labor (DOL) along with the Office of Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) (The History of the Equal Pay Act and Its Impact on Women). These departments have a tough role facing them, and they must learn to cooperate with each other as well. A well established organization AAUW (American Association of University Women) is in the process of convincing companies to put forth salary audits in order to "proactively monitor and address gender-based pay differences" (Hill 2). It is important for women to be aware of how the companies operate and address pay issues. To help achieve fair pay, women can begin to consult their employer and strategize a negotiation. These skills can further develop success when asking for equal pay (Hill 1).
Because many American workers as a whole do not receive just compensation for their employment, President Obama signed a new executive order on April 8, 2014 preventing workplace discrimination and encouraging workers to discuss their salary with their employer (Ledbetter). Women especially need to confront their employers regarding compensation. Recently, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was also endorsed by President Barack Obama hoping to further women's equality. The President ratified the National Equal Pay Task Force in order to decrease the wage gap and create better opportunities for women in the workplace. Also, this upcoming June will consist of the initial White House Summit on Working Families, hosted by Obama, concerning disputes spanning from equal pay to childcare and adaptable working environment strategies in pursuance of guaranteeing parents to be beneficial in the workplace and taking care of their obligations at home (Ledbetter). President Obama is taking a step in the right direction for women's fair pay. The National Equal Pay Enforcement Task Force will address five concerns and create recommendations for women. The first item that they are going to address is creating a group of people to coordinate enforcement of wage discrimination laws and assemble information on the confidential workforce in order to realize the breadth of the pay gap. The task force will instruct employers concerning their requirements and employees on their rights. Fourth, they will put together a plan to have the federal government become a model employer. Finally, the White House will work hand in hand with congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act (United States). While this looks good on paper, time will tell whether progress has been achieved. On the other hand, some people do not believe that women are discriminated against in the workplace. Some also believe that the wage gap statistics are untrue. Many feel the wage gap between men and women has narrowed and is gradually becoming extinct. Also, a large number of poorer individuals in both sexes are beginning to acquire better paying jobs (Hurley 36). This may be true but the general consensus agrees in the pay gap. Women have made substantial progress over the past decade but are far from equal. The wage gap is still in existence and IWF(International Women’s Forum) states that a full-time man works .49 hours a day more than a full-time woman. Twenty-five percent of working men have an average of about 41 hours per week compared to women's 14 percent (Cooper 2). Although women are dramatically advancing in terms of equal pay and improvement in women's position in substantial jobs, they are unhappy with their results. Women blame men that they are standing in the way of their progress. Women's status in society progresses at the same time men's is starting to diminish (Hurley 38). While women are making headway, they are by no means on an equal level with men. Indeed, more women are now in the workforce than ever before which has lessened the gap between the sexes (Hurley 41). Actually, the numbers still state that the pay gap exists. Christina Sommers, an American author, states that prejudice does not affect the difference in wages between men and women. Background in the workplace, education disparity and the amount of time in a certain occupation are all factors that contribute to men getting higher paychecks than women. The wage gap closes substantially when one applies these components (Sommers). The bottom line shows that given everything being equal, education and every other factor, on the average, women still receive a smaller paycheck than men and prejudice is a cause of this. In the business world, education does help to raise a woman's earnings, but does not make a difference towards closing the gender pay disparity. Sometimes more education and higher level jobs have an even larger pay gap (Hill 2). The way women live their lives interferes with their pursuit of misleading equality. This includes the fact that women have the ability to bear children and will most often become mothers at some point in their lives (Hurley 42). Children should not be a detrimental factor in determining a woman’s salary. Opposing views will always exist in any given controversial issue, but we realized our mistake by abolishing slavery once and for all; we now must face reality and close the gender pay gap immediately!
In conclusion, we must first recognize that there is a gender pay gap and then work toward solving the problem. While there has been a long history of wage discrimination, change will not come easily. We are on the right track by promoting the awareness of this situation. Some believe there is no discrimination towards women, but an overwhelming number of sources and statistics have proven this is not the case. Our country is heading in the right direction to close the wage gap but we have a long way to go before women receive their just reward: equal pay for equal work.

Works Cited
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