Gender Gap In Earnings Essay

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What is the meaning of gender gap in earnings? Well according to Webster’s dictionary it is the differences between women and men, especially as reflected in social, political, intellectual, cultural, or economic attainments or attitudes. Some variables such as race, age and education affect the earnings ratio between both genders. Studies demonstrate that women consistently earn less than men across numerous demographic variables. Increase in women’s earnings relative to men’s can be attributed to either increases in the real earnings of women, declines in the earnings of men, or both operating at the same time. Women continue to earn less than men regardless of how you measure it, across time, throughout the life cycle, in all race and ethnic …show more content…

The earnings ratio in 1990 was highest among younger workers, gradually decreasing with age, and then increasing slightly around retirement. Women who are 16-24 years old earned nearly 87% of what comparably aged men earned, whereas women 35-39 years old earned 67% and women 50-54 years old earned 58%. The earnings ratio increased slightly at retirement age, with women 65 and older earning 67% of the male wage. When looking at education men without education earned particularly low salaries, in contrast to the very high pay of men with postgraduate degrees. Black women’s equivalent salaries ranged from 71% to 84% that of Black men. Black women with no schooling earned 74%. Increasing the education of individual women will not increase the female- to- male earnings ratio and eradicate the wage gap. Picture
An article called The Gender Gap in Earnings at Career Entry by Margaret Mooney Marini and Pi-Ling Fan explains why women continue to earn less than men what this is what they listed:
1. Women and men enter the labour market with somewhat different skills and credentials or different amounts and kinds of human capital
2. Because of gender differentiation in adult family roles women and men are in different family situation at career entry and family structure has different implications for the earnings of the 2 sexes
3. As a result of gender-role socialization and gender discrimination prior to labour market and entry, women and men have different work and family aspirations which cause them to aspire to different occupations in the labour

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