Julie P. Texas

Why the gender wage gap must be closed.

Reasons that the next President should close the gender wage gap.

Dear Mr./Madam President,

The gender wage gap is a huge issue that will soon bring our economy to flames. Would you think it was fair if you were competing for something, and your opponent won because of their gender? Neither would I. So how is the wage gap any different? The gender wage gap is unfair and discriminatory towards women. Women are more likely to become college/high school graduates, and they are also responsible for their children if they were to get a divorce, so they need the extra money anyway. Your first issue as president is to close the gender wage gap, and give people the equality they deserve.

Women are more likely to graduate college and high school than men. Studies show that more women are graduating and getting better jobs, however they are still getting paid less. In 2010 30.7 million women graduated college, but men didn't do as well. Women need to be paid equally because their hard work should earn them that.

People would argue that closing the gender wage gap could potentially hurt the economy. However if men's wages was lowered and women's wages were raised equally, the money would remain the same but it would be split differently. The economy wouldn’t be damaged if we closed the gap, however if we didn’t people could get angry. That’s how the economy will down.

Women also get primary custody of children if they get a divorce. Mothers are usually better with their kids, most judges give primary custody to the women. Women get 68-99% custody of their kids, while men only get 8-14%. Women need extra money because they are not just feeding themselves. They have to feed a family and for men to get more money than them is absurd.

The gender wage gap needs to be closed now. We cannot stand back and let people get treated unequally. Many people would agree,77% of women and 63% men believe that the wage gap needs to be closed. Many people don’t understand how big of an issue this could potentially be. We need to eliminate this problem before it grows, and close the wage gap.

Works Cited

Hughes, Jr. Robert. "Are Custody Decisions Biased in Favor of Mothers?" The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.

News, BBC. "Obama Signs Executive Orders Targeting Gender Wage Gap." BBC News. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.

Patten, Eileen. "On Equal Pay Day, Key Facts about the Gender Pay Gap." Pew Research Center RSS. 14 Apr. 2015. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.

"Search." Urban Institute. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.

"The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap (Fall 2016)." AAUW: Empowering Women Since 1881. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.