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Hannah Olthof

Droski

4th Hour

20 April 2021

Everyone Should Be Paid The Same

Imagine you just got off a long shift at work. You are a manager at your local sandwich

shop, you’ve been working there for almost 2 years, and one of your coworkers just got

promoted to the same position as you. But here’s the kicker, you find out they’re making more

than you, even though you have more experience. Now a few questions may begin to surface in

your mind. Like, why are they making more than me? Is there something I’m doing wrong?

These could be possibilities, but the more common reason could be wage discrimination. Wage

discrimination can be based upon sex/gender, race/ethnicity, or age/sexual orientation.

Wage discrimination is when workers that perform similar jobs don’t receive the same

amount of pay. People mostly talk about wage discrimination on the grounds of sex or gender,

but it is also believed to occur due to race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, and the prescence of

disability that doesn’t affect the individuals job performance. According to the Equal Pay Act,

employers have to offer equal pay for similar positions. For the position to be considered equal,

it does not have to be completely identical, but close in terms of skill, education, experience, and

the amount of effort and responsibility that goes into the job (“Wage Discrimination”).

One way people experience wage discrimination is due to sex/gender. Women have been

known to be paid less than men. A statistic from 2016 showed that American women with full

time employment earned only 80 cents for every dollar earned by American men that occupied
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full time jobs. In 1996, the National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE) launched Equal Pay Day

which is an annual public awareness day campaign that helps draw attention to the gender wage

gap. The campaign is held on a Tuesday in April. Tuesday signifies the amount of time into the

following week the average woman must work to equal the average weekly earnings of a man,

although this is considering that the woman only makes 80 cents to the man's dollar. After some

math is done, it is concluded that women make a whopping $10,086 per year less than men, in a

full time job. The month of April is also significant. It signifies the number of additional months

a woman needs to work in order to earn the average annual salary of a man. Over the course of

an average career, a man could make up to almost half a million dollars more than a woman

(“Wage Discrimination”).

To continue, another reason that individuals may experience wage discrimination is

because of race/ethnicity. “The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) notes a widening and

largely unexplained gap in earnings between white and black Americans. According to the BLS,

black American men earned an average inflation-adjusted wage of $15 in 1979, while white men

made an average of $19 per hour” (“Wage Discrimination”). This is initially the same as black

men earning approximately 80 cents to every dollar a white man earned in 1979. Although, in

2016 it was recorded that black men made $18 an hour while white men made $25 an hour.

While some aspects of the gap can be contributed to career choice, education, age, location, the

growing divide is mostly caused by immeasurable reasons that could include inequality of

opportunity, gaps in educational quality, and racial discrimination. Women of color face the most

pronounced levels of disadvantage when it comes to respect to wage equality. Hispanic women

earn 54 cents for every dollar earned by a white, non-hispanic American man and black women

making an average of 63 cents for every dollar earned by a white man (“Wage Discrimination”).
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Finally, another reason individuals may experience wage discrimination is because of

age/sexual orientation. I personally feel like many teens experience this because of their age.

Most teens work in fast food but I still believe that they should be paid based on their work ethic.

I work in fast food but I am a manager at my place of work. I am also one of the few people that

have been working there for almost 2+ years. Despite all of this, some of my male coworkers

make more than I do, even at lower positions. I feel like this could be a result of my age or

because of being a female. Moving on, teens and young adults also face discrimination based

upon their sexual orientation. In today's times, many young people feel as though they can be

more open about themselves, which is amazing, but not everyone is accepting of that. Some

businesses or employers may feel the need to pay that employee less than what they are worth

because they may not agree with their way of life. This definitely should not be happening.

Now after taking a look at some facts about wage discrimination, it is time to look at the

opposing viewpoint. Some people may say that the wage gap is due to women’s choices or that

there simply just isn’t a wage gap. “A single, oft-cited statistic is that women make 79 cents for

every dollar that men make doing the same work. However, that average number fails to account

for factors aside from discrimination that can affect an individual’s pay. When experience and

other factors are considered, the wage gap narrows. Comparing single childless women to single

childless men, ages 35-43, the wage gap not only disappears, but instead becomes a wage

premium. Nevertheless, Americans are likely to hear much about the much-exaggerated wage

gap during the election campaign” (O’Neill). Another source that has an opposing viewpoint on

wage discrimination says “Although it is widely purported that women are paid less than men for

equal work, the reality is otherwise…” (“Gender pay”).

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In conclusion, sex/gender, race/ethnicity, and age/sexual orientation are some key factors

that play a part in wage discrimination. Women make about 80 cents to a man's dollar, and

people of color make about 54-63 cents to a white man's dollar. I hope that one day the wage gap

will begin to decrease until there isn’t a gap anymore. And I don’t mean everyone gets paid the

same for not doing the same tasks. I mean if someone is doing the same job, at the same

experience level, for the same amount of time, it is only fair that they should be making the same

amount of money per hour.

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Works Cited

"Equal Employment Opportunities Commission." Civil Rights in the United States, edited by

Waldo E. Martin, Jr. and Patricia Sullivan, Macmillan Reference USA, 2000. Gale In

Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

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826ab. Accessed 26 Apr. 2021.

"Few States Have Specific Laws that Prohibit Employment Discrimination Based on Gender

Identity or ..." Tribune Content Agency Graphics, 2019. Gale In Context: Opposing

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=147c8ea2. Accessed 26 Apr. 2021.

"Gender pay gap reflects choices, not bias." Washington Times [Washington, DC], 20 Aug. 2010,

p. B02. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

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ceb. Accessed 31 Mar. 2021.

O'Neill, June E. "The Gender Wage Gap Is Due to Women's Choices." Income Inequality, edited

by Noël Merino, Greenhaven Press, 2016. Opposing Viewpoints. Gale In Context:

Opposing Viewpoints,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3010979216/OVIC?u=lom_accessmich&sid=OVIC&xid=d69a

964a. Accessed 26 Apr. 2021. Originally published as "The Disappearing Gender Wage

Gap,", vol. 1, no. 766, 22 June 2012.

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Simon, Mashaun D. "The Wage Gap Is the Result of Discrimination." Are Women Paid Fairly?,

edited by Jennifer Dorman, Greenhaven Press, 2013. At Issue. Gale In Context:

Opposing Viewpoints,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3010851206/OVIC?u=lom_accessmich&sid=OVIC&xid=fb7f

94bf. Accessed 31 Mar. 2021. Originally published as "Equal Work, Equal Pay: Congress

Seeks to Make Gender Pay Discrimination a Thing of the Past," Black Enterprise, 1 Nov.

2008.

"Wage Discrimination." Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2018. Gale In

Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/PC3010999195/OVIC?u=lom_accessmich&sid=OVIC&xid=067

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