Equal Pay for Equal Work Term Paper

Total Length: 3176 words ( 11 double-spaced pages)

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Several justifications for the continuous disparity in wages have been explained. It is obvious that women usually receive less and the central issue is to find out the cause. Men have attempted since decades to provide a justification by the help of hypothesis of various academic qualifications achieved by men or the various occupational responsibilities or vocations controlled by women as against those controlled by men. One reason is that women are featured in the remuneration gap equation, and a lot of these women belonging to a bygone period that continue to be dependent on the behavior and circumstances prevailing in the yester years. (Nash, 68)

Adversaries of uniformity in remuneration assert that preferences and not inequity is responsible for the disparity in the remuneration gap. People who are not in support of bridging the gap in remuneration between men and women think that the gap is present due to the uniqueness connected with the sexes. They consider the gap is because of the disparities associated by the sexes while choosing a profession, academic accomplishment and past job knowledge. For instance women are likely to be taken for low-paid jobs whereas men are hired for high-paid jobs. Less than 12 women hold top-most positions in various concerns and the bulk of the women occupying management cadres remain at the low echelons. (Woodall; Edwards; Welchman, 4)

Placing women in these occupations will aid in the reduction of the disparities between the salaries of men and women. However, the posts at the apex level are basically a career of two individuals- characterized by extended hours of duty time coupled with increased pressure of work, frequent commuting and also transfers, and taking charge of the household-they will continue to be denied to women. Critics show proof which reveals that almost all the establishments perform the least, seldom being positive towards giving a level playing field for men and women. As every women has a freedom in her academic and professional choice, in case she chooses a low-paid work, it is willingly and not because of gender inequity. As regards academic qualification, the 'preference' dispute entails that when the educational standards for men and women is identical the difference in pay vanishes. This is not true. From the late 1970's, the educational standards of women have gone up appreciably, however the difference in remuneration remains. Because of reduced salaries of women, working families are deprived of a substantial billion every year. In the absence of enforcing pay parity a price has to be paid, in the realm of social services like food stamps in case of lowly paid employees. Identical salaries enhance self-reliance. Due to more and more number of women engaged for salaries on which their total family is dependent -we have to ensure parity in salaries. It is a fact that difference in salaries between men and women has reduced progressively in current decades, nevertheless improvement has been sluggish from the 1990s. The reduction of the gap of salaries between men and women from 1979 shows reduced improvement compared to what may seem. (Presser, 97)

Since the bygone twenty years, the major cause in lessening of the gap was due to the decline of the salaries of men in absolute terms and not because of the increase in salaries of women. Putting an end to the inequities of salary ensuring that women receive equivalent salary for employment of equivalent worth would obliterate the relentless gap in salaries. Parity in salaries is not merely a concern of working women rather it is a family concern. In case women were capable of receiving comparable salaries of men, earnings would rise. (Smart, 514) Employed parents will have increased expenses on domestic requirements and higher amounts to put aside for meeting the expenses of their children's academic pursuits or their own financial security after retirement years. Employed parents may be capable of spending lesser hours at work and devote increased time with their families, an alteration that a lot of families would accept well. Among the main outcome of the difference in salaries is that an increased number of women compared to men subsist in the stage of poverty. (Bellas, 314)

The added outcome of inequality in remuneration are decreased self-worth and self-confidence and pessimistic personality of women who visualize themselves as being below standard compared to men who get increased salary for an equivalent task. It is these exemplars and outcomes which uniform remuneration for uniform employment were ratified to take care of, and still the proof reveals that they have not completely been successful.
In case women who are married were given the identical remuneration for performing similar tasks, household earnings will increase and the rate of poverty would go down. (Liff, 67) in case single mothers who go to work earn comparable salaries as that of men their household rate of poverty will be brought down to 50%. Besides, decreased income during their lifespan transforms into lower savings and decreased pensions at the time of retirement. Decrease in the rates of poverty will even bring down the necessity of government expenses on aid schemes. Hiking the salaries for women and individuals having color skinned raises their potential to purchase that consolidates the nation. With job holding households encountering financial adversity due to slowdown of the economy, it is vital that women and color skinned individuals get reasonable remuneration. (Nash, 73)

Although given the quantum of achievement that has come about due to the crusade of women, there are difficulties, which have still to be surmounted. Increased number of women are been employed in customarily engagements which are male bastions, but get less compared to a dollar earned by a man. Furthermore, in general, women continue to be dispirited by the societal norms to carry on a job arena that is a male stronghold and are compelled to strike a balance between their private lives with their professions. (Woodall; Edwards; Welchman, 6) Although there are enactments in force at both federal and state level since decades for a uniform pay, still inequity in remuneration persists. One move which is required to be taken prior to women can be able to get uniform remuneration is for the government to realize the issue of inconsistency in remuneration and subsequently enact regulation that necessitates bosses to recruit and give promotion with no favoritism. The rules, which the government has approved, are full of shortcomings though bosses can lawfully differentiate on the basis of being male or female. Although federal laws banning inequity on the grounds of sex, ethnic status and nationality have been existent, making them effective is on low ebb and their extent of applicability remains restricted. These enactments are ineffectively implemented and also they are not applicable to the question of disparate remuneration for equivalent assignments in diverse occupations. (Acker, 53)

In a lot of cases, it is very problematic, under the present laws to substantiate inequity in salaries and be triumphant. Women have made massive advancement in the job market from the time of Equal Pay Act, but the obstinate reality is that after forty years, the primary objective of the Act is yet to be achieved. Present solutions for inequity in income are restricted. Enactments to reinforce and increase punishments for bosses who give women lesser salaries compared to men are necessary at the state and federal echelons. Although equivalent pay bills have been put forward since the past several years, the various governments have not initiated any action to frame any measures. States are capable of fruitfully dealing with this difficulty and give extra impetus to the endeavor to fight inequity and reinforce solutions. Wage inequity, based on sex ought to be tackled in the similar manner as inequity based on ethnic status. An added concern to be encountered is the strain put on employed women having families. As men are capable of being engaged in a work and concurrently raise a family, women should be prepared to sustain a cut in salaries if they choose to have a family life. (Amott, 21) Besides, community must not force women to bear the load of domestic work, family car, and a profession; these ought to be mutual experiences with their spouses.

The nation, community, and women themselves are required to understand what can be achieved and what the impediments are. Tackling multiplicity has been advantageous from the conventional reaction against political appropriateness and fundamental novel chances. The importance on the business case can indicate that market is in requirement of dominating equity matters, and the centre of attention of treasuring people for their disparities might also emphasize archetypes. Thereafter, after solving these intricacies, women have a greater chance of getting uniform pay for uniform employment. The era has arrived when women in workplaces be handled, given importance, and extended identical reverence just as their male colleagues. The need of the hour is that American women receive the regard that is….....

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