Women are paid unfairly

By Aunjolay Lambert |Staff Writer|

When it comes to gender equality, studies have shown that women have taken the backseat to their male counterparts when it comes to wages,and I think it’s unfair to see women getting paid less than men.

“Nationally, the median weekly wages for women are $692 and for men $840,” according to the Pittsburg Post-Gazette.

Studies show that “overall they earn 77 cents for each dollar made annually by men and in some professions such as financial managers the number drops to 66 cents,” according to msnbc.com.

Many women have another responsibility, which is to take care of their children, compared to men. Women usually have to take care of their children as well as go to work, while many men just have the responsibility of going to work.

This subject is close to my heart because I’ve seen own my mother work hard for many years as a single parent. To know that she may be getting paid less than a man because she’s a woman has me concerned about my future.

The pay gap is said to harm women whose income is needed in the household, and for the women who work in corporate America, according to the Pittsburg Post-Gazette.

As a soon to be college grad I would hope that I wouldn’t be paid less than a man doing the same work but I’m sure my future employer won’t inform me of that type of discrimination within the work place.

I believe women get paid less than men because we live in a male dominated society. Women in our society are seen as caregivers and homemakers instead of breadwinners in the home.

Honestly, I believe that a woman should be paid more seeing as though they have more than one responsibility in the household according to society.

Also a lot more women are taking care of their homes and children on their own without any male help, so if less money is coming in it could make or break a single mom.

“Being a single mother is hard and my son depends on me to provide for him, and because I’m a women it’s a fact that I may get less pay than a man doing the same job, so how do I tell my son that?” said student Brianna Pierce.

California has the smallest wage gap than other states in the US, according to Forbes. I live in California but the fact that there is a wage gap, no matter the size, still bothers me.

Instead of the gap being smaller in some states and larger in others it shouldn’t exist at all. Women should take a stand if they know that they are being paid less than a man doing the same work, especially in the corporate world.

It’s known that the biggest pay gap between men and woman is in corporate America. according to Forbes. Apparently it isn’t good enough that it’s already against the law for a woman to be discriminated against in the work place.

Let’s take it a step further and keep pushing for laws to be passed until this stops completely. Recently Senator Barbara A. Mikulski, Democrat of Maryland, along with other female senators have been advocating the passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act. This act “would require employers to demonstrate that wage gaps between men and women doing the same work have a business justification”, according to the NY Times.

By passing legislation like this we can get even close to making sure men and women are paid fairly and eqaully. I believe that if women keep trying to get the government involved in the situation, the better the outcome will be.

Gender discrimination should be taken seriously and I think that it’s time that the governement ends it. We have to continue to stress to the government how important it is for men and women to be equal in all aspects of life.