By ANTHONY GADALETA
ELMWOOD PARK – Equal pay among genders has always been on the forefront of women’s minds, yet not on the minds of men. Women make up almost half of the workplace across the globe, but it will take up to 2059 for them to earn as much as men.
Throughout generations, pay inequality between men and women persists. According to Business Insider, a woman that works full time makes approximately 80.7 cents for every dollar a man working a full time position works. According to the Center of American Progress, woman’s leadership has increased, yet not the way it should be. “Women are 50.8 percent of the nation’s population.” “They earn almost 60 percent of an undergraduate degree and 60 percent of all master’s degrees”. “They earn 49 percent of the college-educated workforce.” This has increased from Gen X and Boomers to Millennial & now Gen-Z’s. However, “women accounted for just 17 percent all the directors and executive producers.” Compared to older generations, women earn more yet never the exact amount of men.
According to the Wall Street Journal, in 1960,“women could expect to make 61 cents for every $1 a man made. Women now earn 78 cents for every dollar.” Now, women make only 79 cents for every dollar a man makes. Despite the fact, that the gender pay gap has narrowed, women are still below the dollar line in terms of pay and earn cents short of men.
The main reasoning for women making less is the likelihood that they put in fewer hours then men and have less experience than men showing that their pay is less. According to the National Women’s Law Center, “we can shrink the wage gap by lifting up the salaries of women in low-wage jobs, making it easier for women to enter high-paying careers”. This will then allow women as a result to earn more and not have to be in a financial situation because they ended up becoming parents and giving up work temporarily.
Workers’ Reactions
Karin Todd, sales associate at Pier 1 Imports, said “I believe it’s a given that men and women doing the same job should receive equal pay. The women of my generation were igniting the flames of equality and reaped some rewards but not as much as younger women have benefitted from our efforts. I think young women now have higher expectations as a result, as well they should.
Hopefully the issue will become a non-issue soon.”
Grace DeCandia, 49, used to work in customer service as a phone representative for an office supply company and she remembers the hit of lower pay. “I remember getting my pay check each week and always asking my male colleagues and they mentioned their pay and I mentioned mine. They were always shocked that I made a few cents short of them even though I worked the same amount of hours as them full time. Something has to be done on a national level that our current POTUS needs to understand.”
On both ends of the equation, men & women deserve the right to equal pay to achieve the careers they work for and aim their goals high to a fair earning.
Interesting read, while women who work in minimum wage jobs are just as important it would have been interesting to hear the point of view from women who work in jobs that are high paying. I liked how you used different points on why women get paid less.