Gender Pay Gap: Unfair Policies & Poor Protection - Essay Sample

Introduction

The gender wage gap is the average difference between the pay of men and women who are employed. Over the years, women have been paid less than their male counterparts while doing the same job or working in the same job group (Johnson, 2016). The pay gap can be analyzed using two distinct numbers that are the adjusted and non-adjusted pay gap. The difference in the pay gap can be attributed to poor public policies and failure to protect women. The gap has regularly exposed women to hard economic times, especially in their old age (Johnson, 2016). This paper will discuss issues such as work experience, profession, discrimination, and differences in hours engaged at the place of work per day as some of the reason for the wage gap, address the challenges that women face due to the wage gap and the role of government in reducing the disparity.

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Work Experience

Many companies in America do rely on the number of years one has worked to determine the entry pay in different departments. Unlike men, women tend to commit most of their time in childbearing and nursing at home, which significantly reduces the number of years they are in employment (Buttrick & Oishi, 2017). This disparity poses a severe challenge to women, with some resolving into getting few children to concentrate on their carrier or not getting into marriages at all. Employers should come up with ways of addressing this gap of experience by, for example, enabling women to work from during maternity leave and get a full salary (Buttrick & Oishi, 2017).

Profession

In America, women tend to engage in professions that are not well-paying compared to men. For example, in America, some jobs are referred to as "women jobs" that include professions like teaching, home health care, counseling, child care works that predominantly have low pay (Buttrick & Oishi, 2017). While the so-called "men jobs" such as construction, engineering tend to pay well. This is something that is slowly changing, and the stereotyping should stop so that both men and women can take the kind of job that they do like and still deliver on the targets. Better formulae should be worked on so that people do not run to well-paying jobs and leave other equally essential fields(Johnson, 2016). Moreover, a method to determine the ratio of women and men in any organization, if put in place, can ensure that the disparity is reduced.

Discrimination

In America, gender-based pay discrimination was made illegal in 1963; however, over the years, discrimination has continued (Buttrick & Oishi, 2017). Most organizations and companies rely on pay history to give women less salary than men in the same job group (Schwellnus et al., 2017). Moreover, wages have not been openly discussed, so women fall into the trap and accept low payments. Unlike men, women fear being turned down from a job opportunity hence limiting their options. Most women have improved their qualifications overtime to bridge the gap that existed in the past (Johnson, 2016). Employers should negotiate salaries according to the skills required and not depending on the gender of the employee. Women and men are found in all the fields in the job market, and equal treatment would boost women's morale.

Working Hours

Due to the different duties that men and women engage in at home, ladies tend to work for less and utilize most of their time at home. The average working hours in America are a bit less, and most people tend to compensate by working overtime to get more pay (Johnson, 2016). Because of this, men tend to get more money at their workplace than women. The duties that women do at home are vital, and formula should be worked upon to enable the women to feel secure in the ownership of properties (Schwellnus et al., 2017). To bridge the government can develop favorable policies to allow women to engage in personal businesses and still get good returns if they still have to undertake their duties at home. Doing this would assist women who feel disgruntled to find alternatives to make a living (Buttrick & Oishi, 2017). With these factors in mind, it is vital to dig deeper to understand how women feel about the wage gap and how it affects their performance at home and work.

Women do feel unappreciated at their workplace after putting more effort just like the men or even working harder but still getting a lower wage. Studies show that the disparity in paychecks has led to many women falling into depression and many other disorders associated with depression (Buttrick & Oishi, 2017). Further, women spend about 241 minutes doing the house chores while the men spend 145 minutes; this is according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. If all the household jobs are left to women, they feel exhausted and can lead to a feeling of emptiness and even harm how they relate with their spouses or children (Buttrick & Oishi, 2017). Amidst these challenges that women face, the disparity has energized women to fight for their place. Different lobby groups have come up to create public awareness on this issue and are slowly bearing fruit. However, much more needs to be done to protect women against such conditions.

Nonetheless, the government has considerable responsibilities in ensuring that the wage gap is addressed. It is good to appreciate what has been done, the achievements made so far, and what needs to be done to make the situation better. The government can engage in many areas in realizing this dream (Johnson, 2016). The government can compel employers to share their wage data with the federal government. This can assist the government in holding the employers accountable. Subsequently, employers have been harsh with the employees when they discuss their wages. A law should be passed prohibiting employers from doing so. Employees can also be allowed to work from homes, for example, in the case of women and gauge them on their performance and not necessarily the amount of time they spend in the office (Schwellnus et al., 2017).

Also, women have a role to play for them to narrow this gap. While negotiating for salaries, most women tend to start at a relatively low amount than men (Johnson, 2016). It is crucial first to research the salary range for the particular post to negotiate within that range. The employees should as well consider women while giving a pay increase. They should continuously engage their employers on why they should get a pay increase, and the persistent could pay (Johnson, 2016).

Conclusion

The wage gap in men and women is a grave issue that should be addressed with a lot of caution. The employees, both men, and women should come together and agitate for equality at their place of work. Also, the employers should be more interested in the quality of work delivered and the promptness in delivery and not just the number of hours an employee takes in the office. Also, the government needs to come up with directives that will ensure that this gap is reduced considerably and holding each player in the sector accountable. While at home, men should assist in household chores to make sure that the lady is appreciated and not sees like they are doing "unpaid job" by themselves. If all these are put into practice, there will be a significant step in addressing this issue. It is a work in progress, and every move in a positive direction counts. As women make efforts to venture into the fields that were previously seen as technical and preserves for the male gender, there should be a leveled playing field so that such an attempt does not go into waste.

References

Buttrick, N. R., & Oishi, S. (2017). The psychological consequences of income inequality. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 11(3), e12304.https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/spc3.12304

Johnson, J. (2016). Gender differences in negotiation: Implications for salary negotiations. UCLA Women's LJ, 23, 131.https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/uclawo23&div=11&id=&page=

Schwellnus, C., Kappeler, A., & Pionnier, P. A. (2017). Decoupling of wages from productivity.https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/content/paper/d4764493-en