Women used to make about
60 cents for each dollar men make, now it’s around 80 cents. There are several
reasons for the gap to exist. Firstly, women are in a disadvantage for heavy-duty
jobs, and normally very few women choose to take jobs in these industry. Even
if they did, they are most likely not as productive as male. Which leads to a
lower wages. Secondly, in this article, one of the researchers indicates that
some times the main issue is the gender difference non-cognitive skills. Men
are often said to be more competitive and self-confident than women, and
according to this logic, they might be more inclined to pursue highly
competitive jobs. Also, sometimes women voluntarily choose lower-paying jobs,
because they want less demanding jobs because they have more family
responsibilities outside of work.
In general, the wage gap still exists, but
it’s getting smaller and smaller as the society evolves.
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/20/upshot/as-women-take-over-a-male-dominated-field-the-pay-drops.html?ref=economy
I thought this article was very interesting to read. I wonder how long that it will take to no longer have a gap in wages. I wonder if in the future there will be a gap in wages but one where that women make more money then men do. I think that it is very possible for that to happen because women are becoming more educated and getting better paying jobs then women in the past.
ReplyDeleteIt is good to see hard evidence of growing gender equality in the United States. While it may still take some time for there to be perfect equality at least we as a society are moving in the right direction. You mentioned that there are some jobs that favor the traits of a man, but I am sure there are some that favor common traits in women.
ReplyDeleteWhile this is very important in the direction of gender equality, perhaps this is also important because it holds an effect that is not limited to one gender. An increase in the wages of women will contribute to growth in domestic and international economies and possibly most importantly, a rise in the overall standard of living which binds humanity with the economy
ReplyDeleteThis article was an interesting read since I can definitely see it applying to my life post graduation. I think its a good sign that there is still a fight to end the wage gap since it is archaic and acts as a huge disadvantage for well educated and experienced working women. Today especially, there are more women entering higher education than in the past according to an article in Forbes which states that are are uneven ratios of around 40:60. I also found it shocking that there are even wage inequalities between the lower end of minimum wage jobs since stereotypes and biases tend to sneak into the payment method. The article included the fact that "janitors (usually men) earn 22 percent more than maids and housecleaners (usually women)." Clearly, I think it is time that the wage gap ceased to exist, and by continuing to spread the word through use of statistics and evidence I think that we could be on our way.
ReplyDeleteThis article was really interesting and made a lot of good points. I think its important to note that this gap is heavily influenced by social factors and gender differences in non-cognitive skills. I think that this gap will continue to decrease overtime.
ReplyDeleteI really like how we are growing to an equal pay for both genders. I think that it is important for workers who are successful and have worked really hard to get where they are to be payed a fair price and what they earned. I like that the gap is diminishing, and hopefully we won't even be able to talk about "the gap" in coming years.
ReplyDeleteThe article is interesting but to play the devils advocate there are many people who believe that the gender wage gap does not exist. In the article it said, "In fact, another study shows, when women enter fields in greater numbers, pay declines — for the very same jobs that more men were doing before." This is not really a shock, as the supply of labor increases the wage rate decreases because firm's demand for labor at a higher quantity is lower. A major point that people who believe this gap does not exist say that differences in wages exist because of the types of jobs women choose. Claudia Goldin found that in jobs such as technology occupations and the science occupations and the health occupations there is a small degree of self-employment and as a result similar wages between genders. However in occupations with higher self-employment there was more of a gap. Her biggest point is how temporal flexibility effects the differences in wages. Also according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 17,561,000 women 16 years or older who work part-time compared to 9,780,000 part-time male workers. The big statistic used in the article is the median and with this large amount of part-time workers there could be a larger median for males given the fact that there are more full-time workers. Thus the distribution is different.
ReplyDeleteI found this article very interesting. The wage gab still exists, but is narrowing. I predict that the wage gap will continue to close until it is close to nonexistent.
ReplyDeleteThe gender wage gap is something that I have always liked to study. It is important that women get to the point that they make just as much as a man does in the same kind of labor. However, it is understandable that this gap exists because women do typically take more time off of work for maternity leave and other reasons relating to raising children. In order to decrease the gender wage gap, I think that it is necessary that childcare becomes more easily accessible to all women and that they are encouraged to enter higher paying job fields.
ReplyDelete