The Wage Gap | Teen Ink

The Wage Gap

June 7, 2009
By EmilyP. SILVER, La Canada, California
EmilyP. SILVER, La Canada, California
8 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Women and men working at the exact same job and same hours should receive the same pay check is my view, but apparently not the American government’s view.

Women make only 77 cents for every dollar that a man makes, even if they are working at the same job. Imagine that there are two workers that both work at the same job and work the same hours, and at the end of the year the man has made $100,00 then the woman has made only $77,000. This means that the difference is $23,000.

Why is it that in the twenty-first century women are making 23% less than men do in today’s society? The answer is because of sexism and how women are still not equal to men. This type of discrimination is completely unacceptable in my opinion and must be stopped if we do ever hope to have a country where all people are equal. Furthermore, in my mind this goes against the basic principal of the “American Dream”, in which American citizens are capable of getting a job and trying to rise to becoming more successful in life. If women are not given 23% of their rightful pay, how is this supposed to happen?

I find this issue important to address, for in families, the mother or wife might be the main source of income. If that income is less than it should be, the families may struggle and have a much more difficult life because they are not receiving that 23% of their rightful income. Moreover, this law really holds back families with single mothers from prospering. It also creates an unequal distribution of wealth between men and women, which is unfair toward the population of women. While America is one of the most impressive nations on the matter of sexism, I believe that this law is a simpleminded, discriminated law that must be abolished.

The author's comments:
I hope that with this article, people will understand the importance of this issue.

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This article has 2 comments.


AFHDHSGF said...
on Jul. 14 2009 at 9:45 pm
Actually, if you check the official unbiased studies on the matter you will find that if you adjust for legitimate income factors (such as the fact that men tend to work for more hours on average than women do) the income difference between men and women is less than one percent. Pretty much every major study that says that there is a "gender gap" has an obvious liberal or feminist agenda. By the way, even if there was proof of income discrimination in America it wouldn't be appropriate to call it a "law". Unless of course, there was an amendment ot the U.S. constitution that I didn't know about which said "all women in the workplace must receive twenty three percent less income then their male counterparts". It's totally okay if you want to fight the power and be a rebel, but you should really get your facts straight first.

EOP said...
on Jun. 16 2009 at 10:16 pm
This excellent because it is so thoughtfully written.