Equal Pay for Both Sexes
This letter is about equal pay for both sexes. Throughout the country, women experience lesser pay than men do. I wanted to write this letter asking the new president to create laws to make the pay more equal among all races and genders.
Dear Future President:
My name is Coral, and I am a senior at Yreka High School. I believe the wage gap between gender and race is unreasonable and should be fixed by law.
In the past 50 years, the gender wage gap has been decreasing, and because women are taking a stand to be equal with men, closing the wage gap is becoming possible. In 1964, women on average were paid 59% of what men were paid. In 2014, that number had jumped to 79%. Studies show that by 2059, after almost 100 years of women fighting for equal rights, pay will become equal.
Articles have been written trying to come up with claims to show why women are paid less overall; Some say that women's choices to work fewer hours, take on lower-paying jobs, or opt out of the workforce for longer periods of time than men are the reasons they make less money. Others claimed raising children would affect their working time and availability. While these claims can be true, how could they be true for single women without children? Dads are not penalized by so many cents per hour they take to care for sick children, especially if they don’t have children. In this century, both parents have become responsible for raising their children, unlike previous generations.
Women have to have an additional degree to earn the same wages men would. This means men who have a high school degree, women have to have their AA. Women have to pay more for schooling, to earn less money.
Women of all races deserve equal pay, and I believe laws should be put into place to make women equal to men. African American women working full time year round typically make only 60 cents for every dollar paid to their white, non-Hispanic male counterparts. For Latinas this figure is only 55 cents, for Asian American women it is 84 cents, for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women it is 62 cents, and for Native American women it is 59 cents.
This being said, there is no reason women should be paid less. No matter the gender or race, all people should be equal. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Coral H., Student