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The gender inequality crisis has been an ongoing issue for many years now and it is still a problem today. The wage discrepancy has improved slightly over the past few years but it is nowhere near equal. There are many statistics that show how the wage gap affects earnings and affects the economy as a whole. These wage gaps need to be closed so that men and women have equal pay and equal opportunities.
Women have been given the short end of the stick for many years over various different subjects. Women have come a long way with activism, helping the gender inequality crisis, but the wage discrepancy is still recurring. “In 2020, women earned 84% of what men earned, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of median hourly earnings…”, (Amanda Barroso - Pew Research Center). All over the globe, women are being paid less than men and there was another part of this study that said one in 4 women were earning less than a man who was doing the same job as them. This shows that there is a large gap between the pay and a part of it is due to gender discrimination. The Pew Research Center states, “ …about four-in-ten working women (42%) said they had experienced gender discrimination at work…”, (Amanda Barroso - Pew Research Center). It is believed that there is a correlation between the gender discrimination and the pay gape that is persisting. According to the Colorado Virtual Library, in 2020, women earned 83 cents for every dollar a man makes, just in Colorado alone. This problem is persistent all over the United States and all over the world as well.
Although this pay gap issue directly affects women all over the world, it also affects the economy and global GDP as well. “A 2015 report from the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), The Power of Parity: How advancing women’s equality can add $12 trillion to global growth, explored the economic potential available if the global gender gap was narrowed.” (Mekala Krishnan - McKinsey & Company). Along with increasing the global GDP, it would also help lower the poverty rate among women, which is higher than men, and it would help families be more secure. The Institute for Women’s Policy Research states, “In the United States as a whole, if working women aged 18 and older were paid the same as comparable men—men who are of the same age, have the same level of education, work the same number of hours, and have the same urban/rural status—the poverty rate among all working women would fall by slightly more than half, from 8.0 to 3.8 percent” Closing this gap would cause a huge change in many people’s lives.
Gender inequality has been an ongoing issue in the US and all over the world. Closing the wage gap would be a huge step in the right direction on fixing gender inequality. By closing the gap, it would change many people's lives and it would positively influence the global economy.
Mo McClure is a senior at Poudre High School and she runs the Watashiato Press where she shows peoples life experiences and social issues. Click here to check it out!
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Doran-Myers, Miranda. “Equal Pay Day and Wage Transparency in Colorado.” Colorado Virtual Library, 17 July 2022, https://www.coloradovirtuallibrary.org/resource-sharing/state-pubs-blog/equal-pay-day-colorado/
Krishnan, Mekala, et al. “Ten Things to Know about Gender Equality.” McKinsey & Company, McKinsey & Company, 13 Apr. 2022, https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/ten-things-to-know-about-gender-equality
“What Is the Gender Wage Gap in Your Metropolitan Area? Find out with Our Pay Gap Calculator.” Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends Project, Pew Research Center, 25 Aug. 2022, https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/interactives/wage-gap-calculator/fort-collins-co/16/
Barroso, Amanda, and Anna Brown. “Gender Pay Gap in U.S. Held Steady in 2020.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 8 June 2022, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/05/25/gender-pay-gap-facts/#:~:text=Women%20ages%2025%20to%2034,from%2036%20cents%20in%201980
Milli, Jessica. “The Economic Impact of Equal Pay by State.” IWPR, 10 Sept. 2020, https://iwpr.org/iwpr-issues/esme/the-economic-impact-of-equal-pay-by-state-2/#:~:text=Closing%20the%20gender%20wage%20gap,and%20families%20achieve%20economic%20security
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