I am currently writing this blog post on national Equal Pay Day, a day where we stand up to the patriarch and demand that women make the same amount of money as men. However, what if I told you that this issue wasn’t an issue at all, and is really a manipulation of statistics in order to paint the US and conservatives as sexist bullies. While this may seem exaggerated, it is true, and the wage gap between men and women is completely false.
To start, in 1963 the Equal Pay Act was passed in the United States, mandating that men and women make the same amount of money for doing the same job, and outlawed wage discrimination based on gender. However, if this is the case, why do women only make 75 cents to the man’s dollar? It’s a twisted statistic. Many people believe that this means that women will only make 75% of what a man makes for doing the exact same job. However this is not the case at all, as this statistic is a measure of average income taken between all men vs. all women, not accounting for different jobs. It is as simple as this: men made “x” amount of money in 2018, while women made “y” amount. Once again, this does not account for any variants within the workforce, only total amounts of income.
Every single person contains different sets of characteristics, experience, and accolades, which combine for many variables. The wage gap statistic does not account for men containing such variables: hours worked, different careers, willingness to travel for work, college majors and degrees, full-time vs. part-time, and amount of overtime worked. The reason the statistic provided earlier shows that men earn a full dollar, is solely because they work more, take more risks, and put work before everything else. If these variables did not exist, the wage gap myth wouldn’t ever be put out.
In conclusion, men and women do earn the same amount of money for doing the exact same job, and sometimes even make more than men, and statistically, women do not possess the variables that men have when looking into the 75-cents-to-1-dollar falsehood. Same choices and variables lead to the same amount of money, thus debunking the myth.
References:
https://www.dailywire.com/news/4858/7-facts-you-need-know-debunk-equalpayday-lie-ben-shapiroTo start, in 1963 the Equal Pay Act was passed in the United States, mandating that men and women make the same amount of money for doing the same job, and outlawed wage discrimination based on gender. However, if this is the case, why do women only make 75 cents to the man’s dollar? It’s a twisted statistic. Many people believe that this means that women will only make 75% of what a man makes for doing the exact same job. However this is not the case at all, as this statistic is a measure of average income taken between all men vs. all women, not accounting for different jobs. It is as simple as this: men made “x” amount of money in 2018, while women made “y” amount. Once again, this does not account for any variants within the workforce, only total amounts of income.
Every single person contains different sets of characteristics, experience, and accolades, which combine for many variables. The wage gap statistic does not account for men containing such variables: hours worked, different careers, willingness to travel for work, college majors and degrees, full-time vs. part-time, and amount of overtime worked. The reason the statistic provided earlier shows that men earn a full dollar, is solely because they work more, take more risks, and put work before everything else. If these variables did not exist, the wage gap myth wouldn’t ever be put out.
In conclusion, men and women do earn the same amount of money for doing the exact same job, and sometimes even make more than men, and statistically, women do not possess the variables that men have when looking into the 75-cents-to-1-dollar falsehood. Same choices and variables lead to the same amount of money, thus debunking the myth.
References:
1 comment:
I disagree with this article completely! First of all, using the Equal Pay Act as proof that women and men make the same amount of money is ludicrous. The government passed a law in in 1964 outlawing the segregation of people based on their race, however, segregation still happens today it just goes by a different name (redlining). When the government outlawed alcohol across the country, everyone who wanted to drink still found a way to do so. While the Equal Pay Act was a step in the right direction it does not mean the job is done.
Second, the argument that men are more educated is unfounded. Studies show that across all races women make up a higher percentage of college graduates. White women account for 56 percent of white college graduates and African American women make up 64 percent of graduates for their race. You would think with such a highly educated gender we could at least draw even with men's wages.
I understand that there are a lot of variables that influence a person's pay, and maybe women choose to shoot for the middle where we feel we can be the most helpful or the most comfortable. But deciding that women aren't as ambitious as men or that we don't value our jobs enough is pure conjecture. If anything, we are taught not to stand up for ourselves or force respect because that's too "manly". The first thing we need to change is the idea that certain personality traits are reserved for a certain gender. And we can go on to conquer the wahe gap from there.
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