The Gender Wage Gap Needs To Close
In America, women earn an average of 80 cents for every dollar a man makes for the same work. Women and men are equal, and women have the ability to work just as well as their male co-workers. People should be payed equally for the work they do, no matter what gender they are.
Dear Future President,
Hello, my name is Allison and I am a freshman in high school. Congratulations on becoming President of the United States. I am here to tell you about a very important issue in our country, the gender wage gap. I feel this issue should be addressed because it is unfair that women and men are not being paid equally.
According to a report titled "The State of the Gender Pay Gap" written in June of 2016, published by the White House, a woman makes 79 cents for every dollar a man makes as of 2014, and as of 2015, a woman makes 80 cents for every dollar a man makes. This means, on average, women are only making 80% of what men are making and are missing out on 20% of what their salary should be. Women who are Hispanic or African American are facing an even wider wage gap when compared to white men, with African American women making 60 percent of a white man's earnings, and Hispanic women making only 55 percent. There are factors such as differences in education and experience that play a role in the gap, but even after removing those factors, there is still a large difference in pay between women and men. This shows that women are being discriminated against, and gender inequality is why we do not have equal pay.
The wage gap is a very important issue that needs to be addressed in our country. Women have been oppressed throughout history, and even though our country has made great progress in closing the wage gap, our work is not done. Women all over the country, including myself, feel very strongly about this topic. If women and men are equal, why should we have unequal pay for the same work? The wage gap is not a "myth" and it is not because women choose lesser paying jobs or take days off to take care of their children and families. Women are working just as hard as men, if not harder, and deserve the same pay for the same job.
Even though I am only 14, I know the wage gap will affect me when I am older and have a job if we don't do something about it. Women are making thousands of dollars less than men every year for the same work. A woman has to work many extra hours, days, weeks, and months to try to make what her male co-workers are making, and to catch up to a man's yearly earnings. This puts lots of extra pressure on women to be able to pay their bills on time, take care of and support their families, fill their cars will fuel, and to buy groceries to feed themselves and loved ones. If we don't do something to close the wage gap completely, we will never get rid of gender inequality. Please take the time to address this issue, and help give the women in our country the money they deserve.
Thank you,
Allison
Sources:
"The State of the Gender Pay Gap." Whitehouse.gov. Council of Economic Advisors, June 2016. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.<https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/page/files/20160614_gender_pay_gap_issue_brief_cea.pdf>.
"The Wage Gap: The Who, How, Why, and What To Do - NWLC." National Women's Law Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2016. <https://nwlc.org/resources/the-wage-gap-the-who-how-why-and-what-to-do/>.
"Pay Equity & Discrimination." Institute for Women's Policy Research. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2016. <http://www.iwpr.org/initiatives/pay-equity-and-discrimination>.
