Equality: the Earning Differences Between Men and Women

Equality: The Earning Differences between Men and Women

Austyn Elizabeth Chavez-Bottoms

National University

Abstract

On April 9, 2013, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the “Equal Pay Act of 1963” which President John F. Kennedy avowed (Huffington, 2013.) August 28th we listened to President Barrack Obama recite a speech written in memory of Dr. Martin Luther King and his dream he spoke so freely about 50 years ago. The United States of America is recognized around the world as a country of freedom and equality, but why is our President and others’ still having to push for women rights? This paper will provide insight on the struggle women in the U.S. in all positions face daily in the fight for pay equality.

Equality: The Earning Differences between Men and Women

In 1967 women only earned about 58 cents to a man’s dollar, now women in the United States today are paid on average 77 cents for every dollar paid to men, the gap is even more significant for African-American and Latina women and according to a new study done by the National Partnership for Women and Families, the gender-based wage gap exists in every state and in the country’s 50 largest metropolitan areas (Huffington, 2013.) The median yearly pay for women who are employed full time is $11,804 less than men’s (U.S. Census Bureau data) If the gap as eliminated in Seattle Washington, the metropolitan area with the worst wage discrepancy, the study showed, women would be able to afford 2.3 year’s more worth of food and in New York City women could afford seven more month’s rent (Huffington, 2013.)

According to The Wage Gap and Occupational Segregation, Women are almost half of the workforce. They are also equal, if not the main breadwinner in four out of ten families. Women also receive more college and graduate degrees than men. Yet, on average, women continue to earn noticeably less than men. Below is a list composed by Sarah Jane Glynn and Audrey Powers of the top 10 facts we all should know...