Discrimination in all forms has been a constant battle. Whether its race, gender, religion, beliefs, appearance, or anything else that makes one person different from another, it is happening each and every day. There have been several laws created to end discrimination in America; however, these laws have not been enforced sufficiently by the federal government. One significant discrimination problem the American population is battling takes place along gender lines and the workplace specifically in regard to the wage gap. Women who are as equally trained and educated and have the same experience as men in any skill are not receiving equal pay. Despite the multiple arguments presented as to why women are paid less than men, and the fact that there are multiple ways in which individuals rationalize paying men more than women, few attempts have been made to challenge and solve the problem of pay inequality. Eliminating the gender wage gap in the form of a new regulation reduces gender discrimination based on education while increasing financial advances and job opportunities for women, thereby resulting in a prosperous economy in America.

The ongoing issue of the gender wage gap, which continues to press against society’s discrimination against women, has now become an evident problem in America’s modern day society. On ABC, news actress Jennifer Lawrence delivers a personal statement to the world of her experience of the gender wage gap in an interview with journalist Diane Sawyer. Lawrence states, “I felt like I had to say something, on average women are paid 21% less than men and we can ask for the same amount for equal jobs” (Lawrence 2). Lawrence explains that, with the exception of her main character role in The Hunger Games, film producers continued to pay her less than her co-star Josh Hutcherson. Correspondingly, Lawrence’s first-hand experience of wage discrimination against gender made her want to tell the world that it was not a problem of a women’s skill and negotiation of desired pay, but the problem of society trapping women into an economic standstill. This standstill describes a stalling of monetary funds not being able to be produced or exhibit growth. Society traps women into an economic standstill of receiving less compensation than men. Accordingly, in post-secondary education, women continue to battle against men to gain economic equality. Smith and Carnevale addresses an educational aspect of the gender wage gap through the explanation of women only being able to obtain equal economic opportunities as men by seeking similar careers as men such as technicians, scientist, and engineers (Smith and Carnevale 2). However, according to recent evidence from author Tim Besse, female engineers also make less than their male counterparts and the pay gap widens as experience increases. Besse’s analysis revealed that female engineers in 2015 earned 96.7% of what men earn early in their careers of 0-3 years’ experience, and earn 89.1% of what their male counterparts earn when both genders have more than 10 years’ experience (Besse 1).  The figures of recent studies of the gender wage gap argument is significant because it reveals that the gender wage gap is a continuous issue that causes women to lose financial advances they should equally receive as men with the same education. Thus, the gender wage gap has become a systemic issue that demonstrates discrimination of women in contemporary American society.  

There are multiple reasons why women are perceived poorly as compared to men in the workforce. Barbra Wagner explains specific reasons women in America could be perceived as ineligible of equal pay as compared to their male counterparts. Wagner states that the differences in education, occupation, industry, experience, and hours worked are the leading explanations of discrimination against women in the workplace (Wagner 16). One of the main reasons Wagner describes is the limited number of hours that women work, which results in gender discrimination. According to society and women in the workforce, becoming a mother means taking time off work to care for one’s child or abandoning motherhood so that one’s compensation will not suffer. Therefore, the U.S. state and federal governments require employers to provide job-protected parental leave for new mothers covered under their legislation. However, in most cases this leave is unpaid and rarely longer than 12 weeks in duration.

 Following Wagner assessing the hours worked by women, another colleague evaluates the disparities in parental leave eligibility, access, and usage across the income distribution in the United States (Wagner 5).  Female workers tend to take leave from their jobs more as compared to male workers. Such leaves may include the maternity leaves or a leave which incorporates the reason associated with a spouse or a child. Therefore, researchers like Wagner would argue that women are not as serious and dedicated to their job which, in their view, is a prominent explanation for women being perceived poorly in the workplace. Yet, both kinds of labor are functional and necessary for a society’s survival. According to The Economist, “Ms. Sandberg and Mr. Grant study collected start-ups led by women are more likely to succeed; innovative firms with more women in top management are more profitable; and companies with more gender diversity have more revenue, customers, market share and profits” (Unknown 1). From this quote, authors of The Economist explain that achieving gender equality and ending the gender wage gap enhances the ability of companies to attract talent and retain their best employees. The Economist also explain that 33 percent of women have greater engagement in their work, versus 28 percent of men (Unknown 1). Nevertheless, women are just as dedicated to their job being that they contribute greatly towards the workplace just as men. Subsequently, the explanations of women being distinguished as inadequate contributors to the workforce points out specific negative effects the gender wage gap places on women and society. 

Explanations behind gender wage gap slightly differ from theory to theory, but the overall negative effects from the wage disparity are wholly evident. From individuals, to families, to society at large, all parties lose within the gender pay gap. Over time, unequal pay has translated into an economic hole, greatly affecting how women in America advance economically and the advance of the country itself. Some of these negative effects include women having to receive government assistance, and trapping women into poverty resulting in America spending unnecessary funds.  According to a study collected by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research from Dan Cook, the gender wage gap traps women and their families in poverty resulting in the spending of billions of dollars for safety net programs (Cook 1). Cook mentions, “Working women currently make up 70 percent of Medicaid recipients and 80 percent of welfare recipients” (Cook 1). Not only that, but the millions of working women that receive government assistance such as Medicaid, also live in poverty. Cook also mentions that for the 14.3 million women in the workforce, equal pay could cut the poverty rate in half for all working women, which would cause the poverty rate to decrease to 3.9 percent from 8.1 percent, resulting in two-thirds of women receiving a pay increase (Cook 1). Thus, Cook explains that closing the wage gap allows women to be less reliant on federal assistance, which creates positive financial effects on working women in society. Correspondingly, the increased poverty rates in America causes the federal government to provide funding for safety net programs for people who do not make a living from earning low wages. Cook states, “The total increase in women’s earnings with pay equity represents more than 14 times what the federal and state governments spent in fiscal year of 2012 on Temporary Assistance to Needy Families” (Cook 1). From this quote, Cook mentions that the increased rate of poverty from the gender wage gap causes the United States to lose additional tax revenue. 

Accordingly, journalist Laura Bassett would agree with Cook that closing the gender pay gap would create a huge economic stimulus for the nation. The president of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, Heidi Hartmann, collected a study that estimates the United States’ economic growth by at least three to four percentage points alone based on the stimulus effect (Bassett 1). Moreover, Bassett concludes that the growth estimate enlarges as one considers how many women would have a larger financial incentive to enter the workforce. The pay increase that women receive is additional capital that could be spent on smaller business’ investments, which have an economic impact of about $3 trillion in the U.S. (Bassett 1). Therefore, the stimulus effect could be extremely significant in terms of products purchased and jobs created, thus spurring economic growth. Providing equal pay to women could result in advancing a woman’s family’s finances as well as an advance in the nation’s economy.

Moreover, education, a value of the American culture, should not demonstrate restrictions based on gender because it offers individuals opportunities for financial advances. Unfortunately, education is seen as a cause of the gender wage gap, thus revealing a factor of gender discrimination. Wagner’s article also brings up the discussion of implementing gender equality in the workplace based on education to end gender discrimination from Mariam David’s source, “Women and Gender Equality in Higher Education.” Miriam David illustrates that while there have been changes in education, mainly in higher education, the gender balance of students continues to demonstrate gender discrimination.  Higher education is usually the result of an individual receiving a higher paid income yet, women often need to obtain an even higher education than men to get the same jobs. David mentions, “Today 36% of women with graduate degrees earn the same as men with bachelor degrees, and 36% of women with bachelor degrees earn the same as men with associate degrees” (David 6).   David explains that women with higher educational levels continue to earn a lower salary than their male coworkers.  David’s statistic on higher educational attainment of women compared to men within job industries illustrates gender discrimination based on education.

 Likewise, Wagner would agree with David that education is indeed a factor of the gender wage gap by illustrating the average pay gap between women and men who have received the same degrees from higher education. According to Wagner’s findings, the mean salary of a female with a degree is $31,116, compared to a male’s $39,021, which presents an overall mean pay gap of 20.3% (Wagner 6). According to a graph displayed by Wagner, “Nearly 32 percent of working women in the U.S. are in low-paying sales and office support occupations while only 9 percent of female workers are in the high-paying legal and management occupations” (Wagner 17). Certainly, gender differences in occupation and gender choice can explain a sizable portion of the wage gap based on provided salary. However, the use of occupational choice continues to raise concerns of gender discrimination as to the women who choose higher paying jobs such as health care, business, and finance. Wagner’s graph supports that about 80 percent of women working in high-paying personal care and service occupations, such as nursing, receive less pay than men with the same degree (Wagner 17). This holds true for other fields such as business and financial occupations (Wagner 17). There is no reason as to why a woman with a bachelor of nursing degree and a male with a bachelor of nursing degree do not earn the same wages but perform the same job. There is no reason because it is just jobs that are being inequitable against women. Therefore, jobs should provide equal wages to women and men with equal education and equal job responsibilities. 

For several decades, most American women occupied a supportive, home oriented role within society, outside of the workplace. However, as the mid-twentieth century approached, a gender role shift or paradigm occurred. During this paradigm, women separated themselves from the social norm of being a “housewife” and ventured into the workforce. Women first entered the workforce as professionals in the mid-1970s. Author Louise Roth illustrates the launching of gender discrimination in the workplace during the mid-1960s in the book, “Selling Women Short: Gender and Money on Wall Street.” Roth states, “It was then, that women were outright told that they would receive less money than men” (Roth 1). Roth explains that women became aware of the discrimination that they received from men in the workplace and challenged the issue by filing harassment lawsuits in the workplace. Harassment lawsuits led to president John F. Kennedy signing the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which amended the Fair Labor Standards Act. This act represented many years of effort by labor, management, and several private organizations unassociated with labor or management, and to call attention to the unconscionable practice of paying female employees less wages than male employees for the same job. Unfortunately, the lack of enforcement of the Equal Pay Act of 1963 in the past has allowed the gender wage gap to persist, exactly 54 years later.

Women continue to confront gender discrimination in jobs because lack of legislation requiring equal pay for equal work. The proclamation of equal pay requirements in the form of a new law is needed for equal pay for equal work to be carried out. Along with other colleagues, John Miller argues that the passing of the Paycheck Fairness Act will strengthen the Equal Pay Act and reduce the continuous gender discrimination in the labor market. According to Miller, “The Paycheck Fairness Act would require employers to demonstrate that wage differentials are based on factors other than gender, and would strike a blow against pay secrecy by banning retaliation against employees who reveal their own wages to other employees” (Miller 5). Miller explains that the Paycheck Fairness Act amends sections of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, a law that has not been able to achieve its promise of closing the wage gap because of limited enforcement tools and inadequate remedies. Demonstrating wage differentials based on factors other than gender would cause women to receive lower pay than their male colleague because of inexperience, not gender. Additionally, the Paycheck Fairness Act is a prominent solution because it limits factors such as education by allowing employees to discuss pay differences on factors other than gender, education being a factor. By the act placing restraints on factors such as education women would not have to work harder to receive a higher education than men to obtain the same job. Instead women and men with the same bachelor degree, working equal positions at the same job would receive equal pay. Requiring these changes to equal pay requirements would then make employers who violate the law, liable for unlimited compensatory or punitive damages in a gender discrimination action. The solution of a Paycheck Fairness Act ending the unjust wage discrimination results in a reduction of negative impacts the wage gap has placed on women and the nation’s economic development.

The gender wage gap demonstrates the importance of gender discrimination and its immeasurable impact on women’s lives and their ability to support themselves just as well as men. The gender wage gap has negative consequences of hindering the economic advances of America and America’s female citizens. Implementing gender equality in training based on education, and the spelling out of equal pay requirements in a carried-out legislation, can eliminate the equal pay gap resulting in a flourishing economy in America. Once gender discrimination is eliminated from society, women will be provided equal opportunity to make equal wages as men, thus allowing them equal rights and expanding America’s economy. When women succeed in America the whole country succeeds. 
