Research Report

Topic: "Factors showing how women still

earn less than men due to gender inequality in
the United States, its impact on the economic
development of the country from 2010 to
2019, and solutions to the gender gap "

PREPARED BY: ADRIANA INEZA UWAMAHORO

1. Abstract

This paper is comprised of the background of gender inequality in the united states from the
1900s till now. The paper talks about the objectives of the study and the research questions that
helped to achieve the objectives of the study. There includes also to whom this report is
important, the importance of the study, the timeline that shows the range of time that was chose
as the scope of the study, as well as the geography of the study which shows specifically why the
united stated, was the scope of the study. The report talks about the methods used to get
information that acts as evidence to the research topic and deeply goes through the results and
their discussions. Those results show that women still earn less than their male counterparts.
There are three main categories: statistics show that women with children earn less than men
with children, women of color face the problem of pay gape compared to white men, and women
over 65 years old face problems of a pay gap than men over 65 years. There comes the
conclusion which summarizes the report and emphasizes on the causes of the gender gap even
though there are laws that fight against gender inequality. Lastly, there comes the
recommendation and the appendix. The recommendation part contains different solutions that
were chosen to end up with this gender gap in the United States. For more information, there is a
reference list with all primary resources used in the study.

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2. Table of Contents

1. Abstract...............................................................................................................................................1
3. Table of figures....................................................................................................................................2
4. Introduction.........................................................................................................................................4
5. Research objective...........................................................................................................................5
6. Significance of the study..................................................................................................................5
i. To whom the study is important..................................................................................................5
ii. Importance of the study...............................................................................................................5
7. Scope of the study............................................................................................................................5
i. Timeline.......................................................................................................................................5
ii. Geography...................................................................................................................................6
8. Methodology....................................................................................................................................6
9. Research findings: Results and discussions.....................................................................................6
10. Conclusion.................................................................................................................................10
11. Recommendation.......................................................................................................................11
12. References.................................................................................................................................12
13. Appendix...................................................................................................................................14

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3. Table of figures.

Figure 1_Source: JEC senate gov, 2014 monthly data from the current population survey,
Bureau of labor statistics.................................................................................................................7
Figure 2_source: JEC senate gov, US census Bureau...................................................................8
Figure 3_Source: Glassdoor Economic research (Glassdoor.com/research).................................9
Figure 4: Characteristics of employment and unemployment by race and gender in U.S...........15

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4. Introduction.

In 1915, forty years since the U.S. had overtaken the UK as the world’s largest economy, a
statistician by the name of Willford I. King expressed concern over the fact that approximately
15% of America’s income went to the nation’s richest 1% (Gordon,2018). However, gender
inequality is one of the most challenges in all modern societies, the united states of America no
exception. Despite the effort of the economic progress of this country, there are still gender gaps
in working areas. Throughout history, women have faced intense discrimination from
independence from a lack of legal rights and very little independence from their husbands, to
being thought to have inferior brains (Arizona State University college of liberal arts and
sciences, 2012).

While American women achieved the right to vote in 1920, their citizenship was still vested
in a father or husband until 1934. Up until then, a woman would lose her citizenship if she
married a man from another country. This is one among the signs that show that gender
distinctions were also involved in the process of granting U.S. citizenship. In 1963 the united
states have taken some steps in reducing the gender gap and stopping gender discrimination. This
was an act done to abolish pay discrimination based on sex. In 1972, the united states introduced
another legislation with title IX of the education amendments that provided equal federal
financial assistance indiscriminate of sex (Quffa, 2016). According to the Global Gender Gap
Index, the title IX of education amendment helped the United States to be in the frontrunners in
gender equality, which result to be ranked on the 20th place in 2014.

According to Goldin (n.d), even though in 1963 was an introduction of the legislation that
was intended to stop the pay discrimination based on sex, whether or not the gap will continue to
narrow and eventually disappear is uncertain and probably depends on the gender gap in time
spent in childcare and home. This inequality is affecting the economic development of the
United States because women are not able to join the labor force on an equal footing with men.
According to the IMF, it ranges from 10 percent of GDP in advanced economies to more than 30
percent in the U.S.

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5. Research objective.
This report has the main objectives to show that women still earn less than men, reasons why
they still earn less than men, and a solution to this gender gap. To achieve these objectives, the
researchers used three questions that guided it all along the research process.

 Why do women still earn less money than men in workplaces?

 What are the factors showing that there is gender inequality in the united states?
 What are the impacts of gender inequality in the economic and social development of the
united states from 2010-2019?

6. Significance of the study.

i. To whom the study is important
This study was conducted to help the ministry of public services and labor to access why
women still earn less than men whom they share the same work and to come up with solutions to
this gender gap that still show up several centuries ago in the United States.

ii. Importance of the study

This study came to be important because it was carried in a way that assessed the situation
from the beginning until now. The study analyzed the cause of inequality and gender gaps in the
United States to come with solutions that would help the ministry of public services and labor to
abolish this gender gap.

7. Scope of the study.

i. Timeline.
The period under consideration is 2010 to 2019. The reason for this timeline is because it
has shown high progress in the economy and many legislations have been established in this
entire period that supports gender equality, but still, women still earn less than men in the
workplace. This study was conducted to analyze why this still shows up while many methods
have been applied to overcome it.

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 ii. Geography.
The report focuses on the United States of America because it is on the top in fighting
gender inequality, but apart from that, there are still signs of gender gaps in workplaces.

8. Methodology.
Information for this report was sourced from various first primary sources that are
mentioned in the reference list. The report focused on both qualitative and quantitative research
methods because almost all resources used both numerical data and shared the pieces of evidence
that were used to gain an understanding of underlying reasons, opinions, and motivation about
the situation. During the research, I met challenge about authors who are biased. For example,
information from women may be more personal and biased because they are the one concerned
or maybe the information from male authors may be confusing because they were not talking
about the whole truth about the situation.

9. Research findings: Results and discussions

Gender pay gaps persist around the world, including in the United States. Women’s
participation in the U.S labor force climbed during the 1970s and 1980s, reaching 60 percent in
2000. However, in 2010 this figure has declined to 49.7 percent and is not expected to increase
by 2019 (ILO, 2011). Even though women surpass men on education attainment among those
employed aged 25 and over, 37.1 percent of women hold at least a bachelor's degree compared to
34.9 percent for men, but still they earn less than men. In 2010, American women on average
earned 81 percent of what their male counterparts earned.

Statistics show that women with children earn less when they return to the workplace, while men
with children are rewarded. Data suggest that women suffer a “mommy penalty after they have
children, earning 3 percent less than even other women who do not have children (Sheth, 2017).

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 Women with children are penalized, while men with
children are rewarded.

women with no children

women with children

Men with no children

Men with children

$0 $200 $400 $600 $800 $1,000 $1,200

Salary

Figure 1_Source: JEC senate gov, 2014 monthly data from the current population survey,
Bureau of labor statistics.

This graph shows that women who are mothers earn less compared to men with children.
This is maybe because of the way working mothers and fathers are perceived by management.
Some employees may view motherhood as a signal of lower levels of commitment and
professional competence while fathers are perceived as having an increased work commitment
and stability. There is another case where American women of color face the biggest gap when
compared to white American men (Sheth, 2017).

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 Women of Color face the Biggest Pay Gap when Compared
to White Men.

100%

84%
75%

60%
55%

white men Asian women White women Black women Hispanic women

Series 1

Black and Hispanic women are most affected by the wage gap, compared to white men. This
means that not only gender these women also suffer because of their race.

There is the last case where women over the age of 65 earn less across all income sources when
compared to their male counterparts (Sheth, 2017). In 2014, women over 65 age made about $
277 million, while men over 65 made about $286 million.

Women Men
All sources $641 M $965 M
Social security $277 M $286 M
Earnings $149 M $317 M
Figure 2_source: JEC senate gov, US census Bureau
pensions $100 M $195 M

In total, the graph shows that women over the age of 65 earned$641 million, while over 65
earned $965 million. This means that women earned 66% of what their male counterparts did.

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There are some jobs that suffer a high gender pay gap than others even after adjusting for
occupation, experience and education. Many of those jobs are in traditionally male-dominated
spheres, like pilots and chefs, which are the biggest and second biggest gaps between male and
female earnings, the study found.

Base pay gap

Pilot
Chef
C suite
Deputy Manager
Branch manager
Retail representative
Driver
Occupation

Computer program
Data specialits
Business Operations
Professor
Technical support
Bioinformatics scientist
Facility administrator
Medical technicians
0.00% 5.00% 10.00% 15.00% 20.00% 25.00% 30.00%
Axis Title

Base pay gap

Figure 3_Source: Glassdoor Economic research (Glassdoor.com/research).

The found that male pilots earn almost 27 percent than women pilot in the same role with them.
This means that women pilots earn 73 cents for every male counterpart earn, even thought hey
have the same title and experience. (Picchi, 2019)

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10.Conclusion

The United States has altered greatly in gender equality, but still, women are still earning
less than their counterpart men. Some of the factors researchers acknowledge to have an impact
on this inequality are discrimination in some companies, job choices where women chose to
work on lower-wage industries than men that are seen as traditionally feminine, different hours
where women tend to work fewer hours per day than men due to household duties, family
responsibility, and negotiation where women are less likely than men to negotiate their starting
salary or raises. This study analyzed how all these factors that impact gender inequality are the
major cause of the gender gap. The research showed that even though women surpass men on
education attainment among those employed aged 25 and over, 37.1 percent of women hold at
least a bachelor's degree compared to 34.9 percent for men, but still they earn less than men. This
means that this situation is not based on working capacity or experience, instead, it is based on
sex.

This gender gap is affecting the economic development of the United States because as
IMF estimated GDP would increase by 5 percent in the U.S if female participation in the labor
force was increased. IMF also found that adding more women into senior management roles o on
corporate boards can directly boost a company's return on assets (Schulze,2018). This means that
earning lower wages throughout their lives causes women to have less money in retirement. The
working outside the home contributes nearly 40% of their family's total earnings. According to
the council of Economic Advisers found that the U.S economy is $2 trillion bigger now than it
would have been if women hadn't increased their participation and hours since 1970. As
McKinney global institute suggests that the U.S GDP could add yet another $2.1 trillion by
increasing women’s workforce participation and achieving parity (Dishman, 2016).

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11.Recommendation

The information collected in this report provides a broad overview of why women still earn
less than their male counterparts in the workplace. based on the findings and conclusion in this
study the following recommendations are made:

 Evaluate your own company for an analysis of the gender gap.

 Advocate for women. As it has been analyzed, one of the causes of gender is the lack of
negotiation for salary. Negotiating can be tough and can come with a social backlash.
However, I think that women should advocate for other women.
 Vote for the policies on equal pay by considering the paycheck fairness act.
 Encourage others to participate in the eradication of the gender pay gap.
 Talk to your daughters and other young women to raise a generation of daughters ready
to advocate for themselves.
 Companies should discuss salary and compensation with their employees to fight against
the gender gap.

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12.References.
Gordon, C. (2018). Growing Apart: A Political History of American Inequality. Published by

INEQUALITY.ORG. retrieved from

https://inequality.org/research/growing-apart-political-history-american-inequality

Arizona State University college of liberal arts and sciences, 2012. What are the Roots of Gender

Inequality? Women's Rights, Race, and Reproduction. Retrieved from

https://www.newswise.com/articles/what-are-the-roots-of-gender-inequality-women-s-
rights-race-and-reproduction

Quffa, W. A. (2016). A Review of The History of Gender Equality in The United States of

sciences, and Education Research Review. Department of Communication, Journalism

and Education Sciences, University of Craiova, Vol. 3(2), pages 143-149. Retrieved from

https://ideas.repec.org/a/edt/jsserr/v3y2016i2p143-149.html

Goldin, C. (n.d). Gender Gap. Retrieved from

https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/GenderGap.html.

IMF, (2019). Women and Growth: Empowering Women is Critical for the World's Economy

and people Page 5. Retrieved from

https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2019/03/pdf/fd0319.pdf.

ILO, (2011). Gender Inequality and Women in the US Labor Force. Retrieved from

https://www.ilo.org/washington/areas/gender-equality-in-the-
workplace/WCMS_159496/lang--en/index.htm

Sheth, S. (13 Apr 2017). 5 Charts that Illustrate the Current US Gender Gap. Retrieved from

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/04/the-us-gender-gap-in-5-charts

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Schulze, E. (2018). Closing the Gender pay Gap could have big economic Benefits. Retrieved
from

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/08/closing-the-gender-pay-gap-could-have-big-
economic-benefits.html

Dishman, L. (2016). Why the Gender Wage Gap Might Ruin the Future U.S Economy. Retrieved
from

https://www.fastcompany.com/3058740/why-the-gender-wage-gap-might-ruin-the-
future-us-economy.

Picchi, A. (2019). Jobs where Women Face the Biggest Pay Gaps. Retrieved from

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/equal-pay-day-2019-jobs-where-women-are-hit-with-
the- biggest-pay-gaps/

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13. Appendix.

Additional information about the unemployment, employment, and earnings characteristics by

race and Hispanic ethnicity, 2010 annual averages.

Characteristics of the Women Men

employed
% Employed (employment- 53.6 63.7
population ratio among
those 16 and older)
White 54.0 65.1

Black 51.7 53.1

Asian 53.0 67.5
Hispanic 49.6 68.0
% College graduates (age 37.1 34.9
25 and over)
% Usually working part- 26.6 13.4
time
% Working in the private 76.2 79.3
sector (wage and salary
workers
% Working in the public 18.2 12.4
sector
% Self-employed 5.5 8.3
(unincorporated)
Weekly earnings
Total $ 669 $824
White $684 $850

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 Black $592 $633
Asian $773 $936
Hispanic $ 508 $560

Characteristics of the unemployed

Unemployed rate total 8.6 10.5

White 7.7 9.6

Black 13.8 18.4

Asian 7.1 7.8

Hispanic 12.3 12.7
The median duration of 20.3 22.2
unemployment in weeks
% Longer-term 41.5 44.6
unemployment
Figure 4: Characteristics of employment and unemployment by race and gender in U.S.

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