The wages inequality based on gender has significantly narrowed over time but remains steady at 82% per dollar of what men receive despite having half of America’s workforce as women. Mill et al. (2017) continue to say efforts for closing gender pay gap are progressively achieving a positive response, but it is estimated that not until 2059 to dissolve the difference. In modern society, women have turned into significant contributors to support their families' economic stability. Low wage is a substantial contributor to the levels of poverty in the world, impacting the families leading to adverse effects on families and society in general. Therefore, equal pay should be given to women because the pay gap affects the community negatively while making it difficult to meets their families’ needs. Also, women’s salaries contributes significantly to their families.
Effects of Gender Gap
The gender pay gap affects society negatively by limiting accessibility of essential reproductive health care services. According to the World Bank (2011), access to education is centered on achieving gender equality, which is an essential factor for development within society. Increased access to education is critical in driving fairness in the workforce, thereby increasing the overall human capital, essential for the growth of the economy. Today, women are occupying a higher proportion of individuals with a degree and advanced degree in America, although the gender pay gap continues to narrow it remains consistent between males and females (Scheieder & Gould, 2016). However, low wages act as a demotivation for women and tend to discourage them from getting employment, influencing their fertility decisions. According to Wolszczak-Derlacz (2013), fertility decisions are influenced by available opportunities which impact on their ability to access comprehensive reproductive health care and plan for their lives without unplanned disruptions. Thus, the gender pay gap affects society negatively by limiting women's ability to create wealth despite having the needed qualifications while raising the possibility of increased population among low waged women's families.
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Unequal gender-based compensation influences women's ability to access better jobs denying equal economic opportunities. Despite access to education, women tend to lean more on gender-normative careers as a result of societal expectations of boys and girls (Scheieder & Gould, 2016). For instance, boys are perceived to be best suited for math, while girls for reading. In the long run, it affects their career paths based on the perception of what is reasonably acceptable to their gender as compared to the male. This affects their compensation level compared to men who settle for STEM professions. As such, occupation such as healthcare support and personal care characterized by low wage employs more women. Additionally, women account for more than 55% of workers earning a living from minimum wage occupations of $10.10 and 72% of tipped employments, which has been stuck at $2.13 requirement by the Federal Government for more than 20 years (Arrregretto, 2014). Therefore, women are eligible for equal compensation for equal output compared to men to create a positive perception of the society of what women can accomplish given the same opportunity as men and economic growth.
Additionally, low wages among women contribute to discrimination and poor mental health in women leading to adverse effects on society. In the United States, women's anxiety and depression prevalence are twice as high compared to men's (Platt et al., 2016). Platt and colleagues claim that apart from the contribution of biological factors, social factors such as discrimination and structural inequalities orchestrate the prevalence of mood disorders. Gender gap disparities between males and females are influenced by individual, structural, and institutional levels discrimination (Bishu and Alkadry, 2016). Additionally, lower wages attributes to poor mental health compared to the output and performance expectations. Women are disadvantaged by their domestic responsibilities where they would be inconvenienced to work oddly long hours as compared to men and therefore promoting higher wages in men even when they are in the same position as men.
Likewise, women’s low wages attributes to lower family economic contribution leading to financial distress within their families. Half of the United States’ households with children who are under 18 years have breadwinning mothers acting as head of the household or make a contribution of at least 40% in married households (Milli et al., 2017). Besides, there are other married, and single women without children are working to support themselves and their extended families. Therefore, the gender pay gap leads to lower-income in households and contributes to the prevalence of poverty in the country. Equal pay could solve some of the social issues that government caters, such as temporary assistance to needy families. The United States economy would gain more than $512 billion if women received the same amount of pay as men. Additionally, equal pay would attract more than 17% growth of the average annual earnings for women; this would increase half the poverty level among single mothers to 14.5% from 28.9% (Mill et al., 2017). Equal pay would have a drastic influence on the general poverty level in the United States and would allow more women to contribute to their families' wellbeing substantially.
Low wages among women lead to economic instability, therefore unable to meet individual and greats significant financial losses. Employment and family type patterns have experienced changes over the years since the 1970s (Glynn, 2016). In 2015, 69.6% of the married couples in the United States were working for pay, indicating an increase compared to 1976, where only 56.3% were working. Likewise, the types of families have experienced changes as more married couples have become less inclined to have children, unlike 50 years ago. In 2015, only 65.5% of married couples had children, unlike 84% in 1974. Eradication the low wages benefits the coming generation by generating more than $916 billion annually. The National Partnership for Women and Families state that Women are paid 82% of the dollar men are paid in the United States – a gender pay gap totaling to $10,194 annually (NPWF, 2020). Therefore, although the pay gap is narrowing, measures to close the gap need to be made more drastic to increase women's ability to self-sustain and to reduce the poverty level in families.
Rationale
Advocating for equality in gender pay does more good to the economy and the society in general than would the low wages. Equal pay would financially empower women, allowing access comprehensive reproductive health care where they can plan their lives on the number of children with appropriate spacing leading to a healthy society (National Partnership for Women & Families, 2020). Achieving equality in wages provide women with opportunities to expand their knowledge through advanced education and develop professionally. Additionally, organizations would adopt more standards that are family-friendly, which would protect employees from potential discriminations such as pregnancy allow access to affordable childcare services. It would also eliminate tipped wages by raising the minimum wage to $15/hour, therefore, increasing their overall wages. Other factors such as societal stereotyping on what is expected of boys and girls would varnish giving children the freedom or pursue their dreams.
Conclusion
Therefore, considering equal pay for both men and women has an impact on society in general, their families, and women personally. The gender pay gap to limit women's access to economic opportunities leading to unmanaged reproductive health despite access to education. Additionally, most low waged occupations are occupied by women as a result of societal expectations and stereotyping since childhood leading to gender-normative careers with disparities in compensation. Conversely, the low wages attributes to some of the social factors instigating increased anxiety and depression among women through workplace discrimination. Also, inequalities in wages destabilize families economically, leading to increased poverty levels. The change in employment and family type patterns but the disparities in gender pay limits women's ability to meet their family needs. Therefore, if the gender pay gap is eliminated, there is much to gain in terms of financial freedom, decrease in poverty level, and enhanced life expectancy for the next generation and improve public health.
References
Arrregretto, S. A. (2014, March 1). The Impact of Raising the Minimum Wage on Women . Institute for Research on Labor and Employment. Retrieved on May 11, 2020 from https://irle.berkeley.edu/the-impact-of-raising-the-minimum-wage-on-women/
Bishu, S., & Alkadry, M. (2016). A Systematic Review of the Gender Pay Gap and Factors That Predict It. Administration & Society , 49 (1), 65-104. Retrieved on May 13, 2020 from https://doi.org/10.1177/0095399716636928
Glynn, S. (2016, December 19). Breadwinning Mothers Are Increasingly the U.S. Norm . Center for American Progress. Retrieved 11 May 2020, from https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/reports/2016/12/19/295203/breadwinning-mothers-are-increasingly-the-u-s-norm/.
Milli, J., Huang, Y., Hartmann, H., & Hayes, J. (2017, April 5). The Impact of Equal Pay on Poverty and the Economy . Institute for Women's Policy Research. Retrieved May 13, 2020 from https://iwpr.org/publications/impact-equal-pay-poverty-economy/
National Partnership for Women & Families. (2020, March). America's Women and the Wage Gap. https://www.nationalpartnership.org/our-work/resources/economic-justice/fair-pay/americas-women-and-the-wage-gap.pdf )
Platt, J., Prins, S., Bates, L., & Keyes, K. (2016). Unequal depression for equal work? How the wage gap explains gendered disparities in mood disorders. Social Science & Medicine , 149 , 1-8.
Schieder, J., & Gould, E. (2016, July 20). "Women's work" and the gender pay gap: How discrimination, societal norms, and other forces affect women's occupational choices—and their pay . Economic Policy Institute. Retrieved on May 13, 2020 from https://www.epi.org/publication/womens-work-and-the-gender-pay-gap-how-discrimination-societal-norms-and-other-forces-affect-womens-occupational-choices-and-their-pay/
Wolszczak-Derlacz, J. (2013). The Impact of Gender Wage Gap on Sectoral Economic Growth – Cross - country Approach. Equilibrium: Quarterly Journal of Economics and Economic Policy , 8 (3), 103-122, Retrieved on May 11, 2020 from http://dx.doi.org/10.12775/EQUIL.2013.022
World Bank (2011). World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development , Washington, DC.
