Dear Future President,

Hello, my name is Chelsea and I am sixteen years old and a junior in high school. I am writing to you to discuss the pay gap between males in females in the United States. Being a female and getting closer to having to enter the workforce, income is important to me. Knowing that males make, on average, 20% more than females is frustrating and concerning. I would really appreciate you showing an effort to change this fact, while you are in office.

According to The Simple Truth About The Gender Pay Gap by Kevin Miller, women in the United States only make 80% of what a man makes. Change is overdue to the women of this nation considering this pay gap has not changed since 2007, almost a decade ago. Nationally, men make 20% more than women, but this changes state to state. For example, in Michigan, my home state, women make 74% of what men do. Whereas in New York, women make 89% of what men do. So, not only is the pay gap unfair, but inconsistent.

One might think that equal education could be a simple solution to this problem. However, studies show that the higher of an education is obtained, the bigger the pay gap. In Kevin Miller’s article he provides graphs showing the difference in pay between genders based on education. The graph shows that the pay difference between men and women with a high school diploma is 23% but is 27% with an advanced degree. So the more education you have, the bigger the pay gap is.

The pay gap between genders in the United States is incredibly unfair and the women of this country deserve just as much as men do. I, along with every other women in this nation, would really appreciate your efforts to close the current pay gap. Thank you so much for your time and attention and good luck on your term in office!

Sincerely

- Chelsea