Dear Future President of the United States,

Thank you so much for taking the time out of your hectic schedule to read this letter. I know you have a lot of issues on your plate, but it has come to my attention that women are still getting paid 23% less than men. This is such a silly problem. Everyone should be treated fairly, but it feels like we are stuck in the 1960’s because of this wage gap. It is also absurd that women of different ethnicities are paid even less. African-American women make 31% less and Latina women make 43% less than a man. Women make up approximately 50.4% of the US population, so thinking that men are superior to women is simply stupid and idiotic. We should close the wage gap because women work as hard, if not harder, as men. Children are affected by this gap as well.

Every day, women are working side by side with men. Women are working as hard as the men, doing the same amount of work. The same amount of work should result in the same amount of pay. Some studies have even shown that females consistently work for a longer period of time than males in ten-minute experiments. One famous female role model, Tina Fey, has said “If you were to really look at it, the boys are still getting more money for a lot of garbage, while the ladies are hustling and doing amazing work for less.”

Don’t you want to set a good example for your precious daughter? If a daughter sees her mother not making as much money as her dad, even though she’s working just as hard and maybe even more hours, the daughter may not strive for a better education and a better paying job. Parents have a huge influence on their children. While parents may expect their sons to focus on getting education and jobs in the science/ technology/ engineering/ mathematics(STEM) field, they may not push those fields toward their daughters. Girls can succeed just as well as boys in STEM, and striving toward more challenging jobs may help balance the wage gap. Lawyer and author, James E. Faust stated that “The influence of a mother in the lives of her children is beyond calculation.”

Some people believe that the wage gap is a myth because men traditionally choose more dangerous professions and are 9 times more likely to die from their occupation than women. Also, some believe the average man works 15% more each week than the average woman. There is no evidence to prove those two statements, so this information cannot help to prove that the gap is a myth. The wage gap is about women getting paid less for the same amount of time, not different amounts of time. Men may work in more life-threatening jobs, but no one is forcing them to work there, so this is also not a valid argument.

In conclusion, we should close the wage gap because women work as hard as men and paying women less negatively impacts our youth. We can shut down gender inequality starting with an important topic, the wage gap. Knowing all of this, I hope you choose to do the right thing and close the wage gap to be on the right side of history. Thank you!

Sincerely,

Grace Matteson

Round Rock,Texas