Introduction
Pay is essential to compensate for time doing the work. Despite the critical need for pay, there is currently a problem with the gender pay gap. It is justified by the conditions of patriarchy, the enslaved person’s longevity, and the sexist system. Unfortunately, the situation does not seek a stable change in the pay ratio, so many women struggle financially. This study aims to establish the perception of the gender gap in the workplace in different perceptions.
Personal Experience
I have not experienced a pronounced pay gap in my life. However, I have heard about the problem many times; for example, this summer, nurses in New Zealand protested against being paid the same as male nurses. Also, I know of the glass ceiling – where women are not given leadership positions. I am not sure what the income differential is, but I know that because of patriarchy, women want to be left financially dependent on men.
Historical Lens
Historically, it was not until the early twentieth century that women gained voting rights. Women had the hard luck to battle with the millions of men who considered the opposite sex incapable of work and dignity. In 1963, the United States signed the Equal Pay Act, but by 2021, for every $1 a man receives, women receive only 60-80% of that amount (“Wage gap overall state ranking,” 2021). The importance of the topic has not diminished over time, and only female authors have mostly paid attention to it.
Humanitarian Lens
The gender pay gap is essential in culture: it is portrayed in movies and TV shows, and there is a difference in work and earnings documented in historical records. In the U.S., there is a culture that a pay gap is an act of discrimination – March 15 became Equal Pay Day (“Equal Pay Day: March 15, 2022,” 2022) 2022. Women’s experiences show that they have experienced unequal pay (Toczek et al., 2021). Women organize protests and strike to protest. Trade unions and human rights organizations try to change the situation of this problem.
Natural and Applied Sciences
Research on the gender gap is conducted as part of socio-historical studies. Doren and Lin (2019) use life-cycle theories to establish how the income gap varies across women’s lives. They point out that it is essential to look at inequality across all persona characteristics, including education and race. Moreover, inequality is not a static bias but the result of years of social oppression of women. Toczek et al. (2021) use multilevel analysis to establish the gap’s causes, confirming that it is a historical result. The gender wage gap should be investigated with multiple factors in mind.
Social Lens
The gender wage gap issue directly affects women around the world. Their wages are lower in many developed countries because it is a tool of pressure on women (Litman et al., 2020). Pay causes confrontations in families and society because half of humanity does not have equal pay and the same opportunities. For example, the glass ceiling or job denials due to potential pregnancy or parental leave are just two aspects of the problem. Related to the gender pay gap are the institutions of family and education and society as a whole.
Conclusion
Thus, the gender wage gap is a serious problem in the contemporary world. Throughout history, one can see that the law of equal pay in 1963 did not fully work. Through a humanitarian lens, the problem is embedded in the consciousness and culture of the United States. In applied research, the problem is best studied through multivariate analyses. Through a social lens, one can see that women are most affected.
Reference
Doren, C., & Lin, K. Y. (2019). Diverging trajectories or parallel pathways? An intersectional and life course approach to the gender earnings gap by race and education. Socius, 5.
Equal pay day: March 15, 2022. (2022). U.S. Census Bureau.
Litman, L., Robinson, J., Rosen, Z., Rosenzweig, C., Waxman, J., & Bates, L. M. (2020). The persistence of pay inequality: The gender pay gap in an anonymous online labor market. PloS One, 15(2).
Toczek, L., Bosma, H., & Peter, R. (2021). The gender pay gap: Income inequality over life course – a multilevel analysis. Frontiers in Sociology, 6.
Wage gap overall state rankings. (2021). National Women’s Law Center.