Introduction
The gender gap refers to the difference between the average earnings of men and women in a specific workforce. The measure of the gender gap has been internationally accepted. It has, over the years, been used to measure the position of women in the economy by comparing them to men. Even though some people refute the gender pay gap, multiple types of research have proved its existence. Worldwide average results on the existing pay gap revealed that for every dollar a man makes, a woman makes 77 cents. The inequality in gender payments has, in the long run, proved to cause massive effects on women, whereby most end up retiring in poverty. The gender pay gap has been demonstrated in all countries and employment sectors. Many researchers have continued to argue that the gender pay gap has made it hard for women to accumulate wealth and compete with their men counterparts. The gender pay gap is, therefore, a complex issue that requires robust solutions that are based on inclusivity.
According to the Australian government (2), the gender pay gap is experienced by women during their ingestion in the workforce. The gender pay gap, in addition to other economic factors, makes women less likely to make career advances and secure savings for their future, making it more likely that they might end up living in poverty in old age. Gender pay gap results from cultural workplace problems that include negative trends in undervaluing the significant contributions of women in their places of work (Australian government 3). The undervaluing of women in their work areas leads to their underrepresentation in senior and executive management roles. The existing gender pay gap in Australia is due to bias and discrimination during the hiring and paying process. Additionally, the gender pay gap has proved to be a result of women and men working in different industries in different jobs, with women-dominated industries attracting lower wages.
Additionally, the United States also faces the challenge of the gender pay gap. Even though the government has proved to be working towards bridging the gender pay gap, women in the United States continue to receive little annual remuneration compared to Men (Barroso and Brown 2). A report released in 2020 revealed that women received 84 percent of the 100 percent earned by men. According to (Barroso and Brown 4), the gender gap in the United States is due to many underlying factors such as educational attainment, occupational segregation, and work experience. Over the few years, women have proved to try to bridge the gender pay gap by venturing into male-dominated jobs and professions. However, the number that ventures in traditionally male-dominated careers are few as their more significant number is represented in lower-paying jobs, which further explains the gender pay gap.
Research through the use of surveys on the five American based medical related career fields revealed the existence of a gender pay gap. The medical field occupations under scrutiny included; physicians, nurses, surgeons, healthcare practitioners, technical and healthcare support, and direct care jobs (Barry 4). The American Community Survey revealed through public microdata that women received lower occupational wages in all medical careers except the physician occupation. Additionally, the research proved the existence of a negative growth among women compared to men, a trend that further contributes towards widening the gender pay gap in most medical-related careers.
The gender pay gap was also witnessed in a nonprofit organization. According to (Finley et al. 1362), women in nonprofit organizations recorded a pay that was 8.9 percent lower than that of men. Some nonprofit organizations are, however, in a bid to close the gender pay gap by allowing negotiations and ensuring equal compensation across all genders. Additionally, Finley et al. (1367) argue that the labor force participation rates and risk preferences are some of the highest contributing factors to the gender pay gap.
Additionally, according to Magda et al. (2238), there exists a higher gender pay gap in foreign-owned firms compared to domestically-owned firms. The gender pay gaps vary according to the jobs involved; however, the most significant gaps are often witnessed on top and at the bottom. Also, women’s job returns are much lower than men’s in domestic firms; wage premia widen within-firm wage distribution, a factor that has further led to the widening of the gender pay gap.
Conclusion
In many countries, women receive less pay than men. Pay discrimination exists in most employment dimensions, and much evidence supports the allegation. Therefore, it is time to face the facts and find probable solutions for the gender pay gap epidemic. Governments and individuals have acknowledged the existence of gender pay gaps. In some instances, the gender pay gap is witnessed due to unavoidable factors such as level of education and experience. However, in other instances, the gender pay gap is being witnessed due to the continued workplace cultures that undermine the role of women in places of work and therefore end up discriminating against them during the section process. The gender pay gap has proved to have long-term effects on women because they cannot carry out career advancement and save a little for the future, a factor that contributes to their poverty during retirement days. The government should therefore take the matter with the utmost seriousness it deserves and ensure the gender pay gap has been bridged to ensure gender equality.
Works Cited
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/.
Barry, Janis. “Real wage growth in the U.S. health workforce and the narrowing of the gender pay gap.” Human resources for health 19.1 2021: 1–9.
Finley, Andrew R., Curtis M. Hall, and Amanda R. Marino. “Negotiation and executive gender pay gaps in nonprofit organizations.” Review of Accounting Studies 27.4 2022: 1357–1388.
Government, Australian. “What Is the Gender Pay Gap?” WGEA, 2018, https://www.wgea.gov.au/the-gender-pay-gap
Magda, Iga, and Katarzyna Sałach. “Gender pay gaps in domestic and foreign-owned firms.” Empirical Economics 61.4 (2021): 2237-2263.
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