Dear future President,

Did you know that women make up quite a large chunk of the American workers? They work just as hard as the men in their same position at their jobs, yet they earn quite marginally less. According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, women earned in 2015 (on average), only 80 cents for every dollar a man makes. All I am saying is that there should definitely be more equality for women, and closing the gender wage gap would be a crucial step. Having such a significant wage gap and not doing anything is just like letting a supervillain win, and we can’t have that in our society.

Now I know, increasing the women employees’ wages to match the men’s would cost the employer a whole lot of money, but that isn’t the only solution. The companies can look at the different wages and meet halfway. This doesn’t require them to lose any more money, and they promote gender equality, which will most likely boost their image. Having a better image produces more sales and partnerships, which actually gives the company more money. If the male employees have a problem with their salary decreasing, they should get fired. That kind of negativity isn’t needed. You can spread that message around, and maybe even make it a law, right?

Many women in this country face crippling debts, and according to the American Association of University Women, women are in bigger debt than men. Could this be because of the fact that they earn less money as a whole? It is a very strong possibility. If men earn more than women, then it is just natural that they have more money to pay off their debts with. More debt means less money that could be spent on fun things like shopping and going out to eat, less money being used for fun things means less money for the big companies, less money for the big companies means that they would lose a lot of money which would force the unemployment rate to go up. Do you, future President, want that to happen under your watch? Closing the wage gap would mean less debt.

Women also have more things to pay for such as makeup, hair products, and sanitary products. These costs can add up to a lot of money per year, money that men have more of, but isn’t quite necessary. Beauty treatments such as facials and blowouts can cost hundreds of dollars in only one year. That’s a lot of money that some people could afford if there wasn’t a wage gap. In a study provided by the Economic Policy Institute, studies show that the average hourly gender wage gap for people who went to college was $8.72. It is even more extreme for people who got an extreme degree such as a Masters or Doctorate. Then, the average hourly wage gap was $12.19. Imagine how many more women would spend that extra $10 per hour if their pay was brought to justice.

Finally, the pay gap should close because it really isn’t fair to women. There is really no concrete reason for women getting payed less except for the fact that the rate of change has been so slow from when it was even worse in the 1900’s. The Wall Street Journal reports that the wage gap is more extreme for women who work with higher paying jobs. The example was that “Female physicians made 64% of that ($200,000)”. This helps make the assumption that women are worth less or can doo less than men, when that inference isn’t true at all.

As Muhammad Ali once wisely said, “No struggle can ever succeed without women participating side by side with men”. This means that women are just as important as men, and we don’t quite stand with man equally yet, but that is an issue that can definitely be addressed through making a law about closing the gender wage gap. Women all across America need the extra money, and America needs women. This society has come so far from it’s old, prejudiced ways, that there is no need for discrimination now. Can you, future President, change the ways of society to become a better place, or will equality never come?

Respectfully yours,

Mathilda

Adamy, Janet. “Women in Elite Jobs Face Stubborn Pay Gap.” Economy, The Wall Street Journal, 17 May 2016, http://www.wsj.com/articles/women-in-elite-jobs-face-stubborn-pay-gap-1463502938.

Blau, Francine D., and Lawrence M. Kahn. “The Gender Pay Gap.” http://inequality.stanford.edu/_media/pdf/key_issues/gender_research.pdf.

Hill, Catherine. “The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap (Spring 2016).”AAUW: Empowering Women Since 1881, AAUW, http://www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/.

“Pay Equity &Amp; Discrimination.” — IWPR, http://www.iwpr.org/initiatives/pay-equity-and-discrimination.

Schieder, Jessica, and Elise Gould. “‘Women’s Work’ and the Gender Pay Gap: How Discrimination, Societal Norms, and Other Forces Affect Women’s Occupational Choices—and Their Pay.” Economic Policy Institute, 20 July 2016, http://www.epi.org/publication/womens-work-and-the-gender-pay-gap-how-discrimination-societal-norms-and-other-forces-affect-womens-occupational-choices-and-their-pay/.