The Gender Pay Gap

Dear Future President, Our world has faced discrimination in many forms, but one has corrupted our entire workforce. The gender pay gap is the huge chasm between a man and a woman’s salary. Women are severely discriminated against when it comes to salaries. Twenty-six countries around the world have enforced ‘equal pay for equal work’ policies. The United States is not one of them. For a country that is significantly advanced and serves as a global role model, why does it fall behind on this critical issue? Women work equally as hard and should be paid the same as men in the United States. Women are, on average, paid 78% of the salary that men receive. Homes with single earning mothers might have food on the table but with a budget 22% less than that of a man. The 2014 median income was $50,383 for men but only $39,621 for women. The gap shows about $10,000 missing from a woman’s deserved salary. Women go through the same amount of education as men and are academically successful as well. In fact, studies showed that 70% of all valedictorians in 2012 were female. Opponents state that women receive less education than men. However, although it is true that females were not given equal academic opportunities in the past, this is not the current case. Today, men and women receive the same education and are equally capable of doing the same job, so they shouldn’t be paid less than what they deserve. Paying women equally would also benefit the economy. In the United States, 50.8% of the population is female. 58.6% of the population of women are employed. If we paid the 58.6% of the employed women more, it would motivate other women, and in doing so, increase our central economy overall. It is shown that women work about the same hours as men, with only a slight difference. If all women work the same as men and also are motivated to do better with equal pay, this would result in a significant increase in our economy. Others claim that the number of employed women do much less work than employed men. The Department of Labor's Time Use survey shows that every man works about 8 hours a day, and every woman does 7.75 hours per day, thus resulting in only a fifteen-minute gap. This difference is very little and does not account for all employed women. Some even work longer hours. This shouldn’t make women earn a whole 22% less than men. By paying women equally, we not only increase our economy as a nation but also give women the equality they deserve. This sets a global example for not only women’s rights, but human rights as well. Women deserve equal pay because they are just as capable as men, receive the same education, do the same amount of work, and have shown that they continue to be equals, in every aspect. Sincerely, Anuj N.