Spandana Devarakonda

Dear Future President of the United States,

Although there is no slavery and segregation in the United States today, there are still some injustices, such as the gender pay gap. The gender pay gap is the difference between men’s and women’s weekly earnings. In simpler terms, women get paid less than men for the same amount of work done. Your policies should close the pay gap by raising the minimum wage, encouraging women to negotiate their salaries , and by passing federals laws that protect women and their rights in the workforce.

Raising the minimum wage would reduce the pay gap in significant ways. In 2015, a woman made 78 cents to every dollar a man made.“Women working full time, year-round — across all industries and including all races and ethnicities — earn an average of 78 percent as much as their male counterparts. That leaves a wage gap of 22 cents on the dollar.” (Closing the Wage Gap) A huge percentage of the women in the workforce have jobs and careers such as cashiers, child-care workers, and waiters. All these jobs have one thing in common; they pay minimum wage. If we simply increased the minimum wage, the pay gap would drastically lessen because women, on average, would make more money. As of 2016, the state of Texas’ minimum wage was $7.25. Simply raising that number to $10 or $11 an hour, could majorly alter the difference in men and women’s salary. “Estimates from the President’s Council of Economic Advisers suggest that increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour and indexing it to inflation could close about 5 percent of the gender wage gap.” (Minimum Wage) This is one way we could end the unfair wage differences.

Another way to close the gap is by simply encouraging women to negotiate their salaries. Studies have proven that women are less likely to negotiate their salaries than men. “Research shows 57 percent of men negotiate their salaries compared to 7 percent of women.” (Closing the Wage Gap) If we encouraged women to compromise, we could slowly heal the discriminatory pay gap. Some studies show that women even tend to ask for less money when they’re negotiating! “...43% of women said they had ever asked for a raise, compared again with 54% of men.” (Negotiating Skills) Helping women understand the importance of discussing their pay could make a positive impact on the evident pay gap.

The easiest way to close the pay gap is by passing federal laws that would help women get the rights they deserve in the workforce. Although the president cannot officially make laws, he or she can effectively influence Congress’ decisions in the matter. There have already been a few federal laws passed to close the gender pay gap. “In April of 2014, President Obama signed an Executive Order to prevent workplace discrimination and empower workers to take control over negotiations regarding their pay.” (Federal Laws) However, there is not enough support from the majority number of representatives and Congress members to successfully end the wage gap. As president, you can influence people and government officials to deeply consider the growing issue.

Women are beginning to take the places of jobs traditionally done by men. If we don’t end the pay gap, not only will our people suffer, but we as the United States of America will suffer. By raising minimum wage, encouraging women to negotiate, and passing federal laws, we can successfully close the gender pay gap and end the U.S. of any discrimination between men and women in the workforce.

Works Cited

(Closing the Wage Gap) Vagianos, Alanna. "10 Things We Need To Do To Close The Wage Gap." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 14 Apr. 2015. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.

(Minimum Wage) Catalan, Https://www.facebook.com/DiversityInc/ Julissa. "Can a Minimum-Wage Increase Help Close the Gender Pay Gap?" DiversityInc. N.p., 28 Mar. 2014. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.

(Negotiating Skills) Bussey, John. "Gender Wage Gap Reflects the 'Ask' Gap." WSJ. Wsj.com, 10 Oct. 2014. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.

(Federal Laws) "Understand the Basics." The White House. The White House, Apr. 2015. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.