Why The Gender Wage Gap Doesn't Exist.

Disproving the idea of unequal pay between men and women.

What The Statistic Means

Now yes women do make 82 cents for every dollar that a man makes but women aren’t being paid less than men, a paradoxical statement I know, but not when you look at how the research was being conducted.

The statistics weren’t a direct comparison between men’s and women’s salaries in the same job, rather it was a comparison, of the total average yearly income for all full-time female workers, versus the total average yearly income, of full-time male workers.

To break this down, it was the average of what all the women made that year versus what all the men made that year.

You may still be confused as to why women came out making less, and that my dear reader can be explained by the simple fact that there are fewer women in the workforce than men. Statistically (Starting at age 16)there are 51% of females employed as of September 2020, and 62% of men employed according to the U.S Department Of Labor.

This, of course, means since fewer women are working compared to men, their total average will be less than men, making this census statistically accurate in proving that as collective men make more than women, because more men are employed, not because women directly get paid less.

The Equal Pay Act

Now that I’ve clarified what the gender wage gap actually is, I’d like to Segway into the Equal Pay Act of 1963, this act made it illegal for employers to compensate women lower wages than men for equal work on jobs requiring the same skill, effort, and responsibility.

It is a federal crime to compensate one gender more or less than the other at your business.

The punishment for this crime consists of many fees including lost wages, attorney fees, court costs, etc. You can also be charged for damages in pain and suffering compensating for any emotional distress the victim may have received, being upwards of about 300,000 dollars on the high end and 50,000 on the lower.

As you can see the government has stepped up and implemented a strong punishment for anyone who wants to compensate a specific sex more or less than the other, this should in it self wreak the foundation of the idea of the gender wage gap, simply because it is illegal and harshly punished.

Now just because something is illegal doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen, of course, so if you have been the victim of sexual discrimination, report it to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or the EEOC for short, at their website https://www.eeoc.gov/.

There Is No Boys Club

I usually find you can’t have the gender wage gap talk without it leading to talking about the underrepresentation of female workers in many jobs such as Construction(9.9%),CEO’s(7.4%), Fire Fighters(3.5%), and many, many more.

There are a lot of jobs that have an underrepresented female population and that’s exactly where the “boys club” argument comes in claiming that men are keeping women from evolving in these fields. I simply can not accept this as fact and I have evidence to back this claim.

According to Shrm.org in 2018 68% of men negotiated their salaries but only 45% of women negotiated their salaries, I know this statistic may seem random but let me explain. One can take away from this study that men can be more assertive in the workforce than women leading to greater opportunity in wage increases and promotions.

Also, women tend to not be not as competitive as men, because from a young age most men are taught to be competitive, providers, and aggressive while women are taught to be nurturing, caring, and polite. This kind of composure is required for raising children but not so great in the ruthlessness’ of the workplace. This leads me to the conclusion that if women want to break through into more male-dominated jobs you have to be able to turn your nurturing mode off and your competitive mode on.

It’s a harsh world and men have learned from a young age to fight for their place in the workforce aggressively, this lesson needs to be taught to women at a younger age, so they too can develop a competitive edge in the workplace they need to succeed.

The Takeaway

Look what I’m trying to tell you, dear reader, in essence, is this, women cant be legally paid less than men, and men aren’t holding women down from moving up in society. I hear it all the time, this victim act the so many people play just so they can be angry at someone, or explain why they can’t move up in the world when it just isn’t the case. I’m assuming your American when I say this but we live in the greatest most opportunity-rich country in the world, no matter your race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation you can be successful if you keep your head down and work hard.