Closing the Gender Pay Gap
For decades, women have fought for their rightful places as equal members of the workforce. Seemingly, those efforts have provided little return, as women still overwhelmingly occupy lesser-paying and lower positions than men. However, some economists remain optimistic about the future of equal pay and the economic benefits that would follow.
The majority of countries around the world, demonstrated by the above chart, have significant gaps between income levels of men and women. On average, women make only 80.5% of what men make for the same job. Raising the average global income for women would allow many countries to see a significant rise in GDP. Logically, this makes sense as a large portion of the population would have greater spending power, and thus put more of their money into corporations and the government. It's predicted that GDP will increase by 5 percent in the U.S., 9 percent in Japan, 12 percent in the United Arab Emirates and 27 percent in India if women earned the same wages as men.
In developing countries, establishing equal pay could pull millions of women out of poverty. ActionAid estimates that it would boost women's earnings in developing countries by $2 trillion. Not only that, it could be a stepping stone towards gender equality in these countries where women are not only discriminated against in the workforce, but also in everyday life.
Aside from economic benefits, more women would be incentivized to start working. According to the International Labour Organization, there's a 26.5 percent gender gap in labor force participation around the world. More men work than women, so having equal pay could lure women from staying at home to finding new sources of income.
However, closing the gender pay gap will be difficult and arduous. Experts say that a large part of the gender pay gap is attributed to differences in occupations between men and women. Additionally, more women take time off to raise children, resulting in lowered levels of income. However, much of the gap still remains unexplained. Even after taking into account the factors of industry, education, experience, and working hours, there are still discrepancies in the wages between women and men. Unfortunately, we can infer that this is due to gender discrimination, which is altogether a different issue.
In recent months, the empowerment of women has become a national pattern. Women are marching together in support of legalizing abortions, speaking out against harassment, and equality under the law. If the predictions of these economists are accurate, we can only hope that lawmakers will realize the vast benefits of closing the pay gap.
Sources: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/08/closing-the-gender-pay-gap-could-have-big-economic-benefits.html
https://www.vox.com/2017/9/8/16268362/gender-wage-gap-explained
Chart: https://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/img/editorial/2018/03/08/105052541-Gender_pay_gap_chart_16x9.1910x1000.jpg?v=1520520290
The majority of countries around the world, demonstrated by the above chart, have significant gaps between income levels of men and women. On average, women make only 80.5% of what men make for the same job. Raising the average global income for women would allow many countries to see a significant rise in GDP. Logically, this makes sense as a large portion of the population would have greater spending power, and thus put more of their money into corporations and the government. It's predicted that GDP will increase by 5 percent in the U.S., 9 percent in Japan, 12 percent in the United Arab Emirates and 27 percent in India if women earned the same wages as men.
In developing countries, establishing equal pay could pull millions of women out of poverty. ActionAid estimates that it would boost women's earnings in developing countries by $2 trillion. Not only that, it could be a stepping stone towards gender equality in these countries where women are not only discriminated against in the workforce, but also in everyday life.
Aside from economic benefits, more women would be incentivized to start working. According to the International Labour Organization, there's a 26.5 percent gender gap in labor force participation around the world. More men work than women, so having equal pay could lure women from staying at home to finding new sources of income.
However, closing the gender pay gap will be difficult and arduous. Experts say that a large part of the gender pay gap is attributed to differences in occupations between men and women. Additionally, more women take time off to raise children, resulting in lowered levels of income. However, much of the gap still remains unexplained. Even after taking into account the factors of industry, education, experience, and working hours, there are still discrepancies in the wages between women and men. Unfortunately, we can infer that this is due to gender discrimination, which is altogether a different issue.
In recent months, the empowerment of women has become a national pattern. Women are marching together in support of legalizing abortions, speaking out against harassment, and equality under the law. If the predictions of these economists are accurate, we can only hope that lawmakers will realize the vast benefits of closing the pay gap.
Sources: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/08/closing-the-gender-pay-gap-could-have-big-economic-benefits.html
https://www.vox.com/2017/9/8/16268362/gender-wage-gap-explained
Chart: https://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/img/editorial/2018/03/08/105052541-Gender_pay_gap_chart_16x9.1910x1000.jpg?v=1520520290
I liked your post as it shows how far we still have to go to truly close the gender pay gap. For women of color, the gap shows to be even wider. In 2017, they were usually paid 61% of what white men earned, which is lower than the national ratio for women, which is 80%. This also means that the wage white men earn for 12 months amounts to 19 months of work for colored women. Even if the median white woman drops out of high school, she will be 70% more wealthy than a median black woman with some college background. Unfortunately, black women stand in the intersection of racism and sexism. Historically, they have always had limited educational and job opportunities. We must be aware of all groups when addressing the gender pay gap.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.aauw.org/article/black-women-and-the-pay-gap/
I love the idea of promoting the gender equality in your post, and I believe that closing the pay gap would be a cornerstone of gender equality. In fact, your post reminds me of an article that we read in English Lit (https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/04/why-is-silicon-valley-so-awful-to-women/517788/). This article discusses gender issues in Bay Area job's market. Like what you addressed in your post that women "stay at home," I think in the real world, however, closing the gender pay gap is more than an economic problem in which "incentivized to start working." I believe that closing the gender pay gap also involves the issues like different cultural/racial background of the females, educational levels, different physical ability and mentality. There are so many reasons that cause women to stay away from the workforce and choose to take care of the family since most of the time, men would get a higher pay and women are the ones who choose to quit when the time comes, leading to a continuing problem.
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