...US Male vs. Female Pay Differences: Has the Wage Gap Narrowed and Why? Table of Contents Abstract…………………………………………………………………………….. 3 Introduction………………………………………………………………………… 4 Literature Review…………………………………………………………………... 5 History of Inequity………………..………………………………………... 6 Pay Equity…………..……………………………………………………... 7 Trends in the Gender Pay Wage Gap…........................................................ 10 Trends in the 1980s………………………………..………………………. 11 Trends in the 1990s………………………………………………………… 12 The Human Capital Theory……..…………………………………………. 14 Sex Segregation Theory……………………………………………………. 15 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………. 16 Predictions for the future…………………………………………………... 17 References………………………………………………………………………….. 18 Abstract Pay differences between men and women is still a topic that keeps re-surfacing over the years. Since the signing of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, it is now illegal to pay men and women substantially different wages for equal work. The question is could there still be pay disparity between men and women in today’s labor market. This paper evaluates the dilemma faced by employers and reviews the trends in the gender wage gap. The paper will also investigate possible causes of the gender wage gap. In closing, the author will provide possible predictions for the future. US Male vs. Female Pay Differences: Has the Wage Gap Narrowed and Why? In the United States, there is still controversy about male...
Words: 4066 - Pages: 17
...Wages: Is There Really a Gender Pay Gap Abstract The wages used in the following research paper were taken from a population of 100 workers and divided by 12 descriptive statistics. The purpose of this research is to determine if there really is a gender gap with wages. The following descriptive statistics were used: wage, industry, occupation, education, location (from the south or not from the south), non-white, Hispanic, female, ex-military, marital status, age and Union. This research paper will include the problem statement, research question, hypothesis, definitions, presentation of data, conclusion, implication, recommendations and reference page. This research paper is composed from peer reviewed journals and references are available on the last page of this research paper. Wages – Is there really a Gender Pay Gap Introduction Is the United States work force still facing the issue of gender pay gap? According to The American Association of University Women (AAUW) it’s real, it’s persistent, and it’s undermining the economic security of American families. This research paper will define that there is indeed a pay gap between men and women working full time in the United States. (Linda D. Hallman, CAE AAUW Executive Director, 2012) Problem Statement The American Association of University Women (AAUW) has been on the front lines of the fight for pay equity since 1913. AAUW members were in the Oval Office when President...
Words: 1936 - Pages: 8
...the wage differentials between men and women I thought it would be interesting to hypothesize that there is research to prove that the world is analyzing the facts on why men make more than women and what is attempting to be done to correct the outdated and long-standing issue. I hypothesize that although there is data showing that the wage difference between sexes has already began to decline there are many reasons why there is a wage differential besides the obvious that “men are superior”. The gap between earnings of male and female workers has declined significantly over the past 30 years. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in 1979 median weekly earnings of full-time female workers were 63.5 percent of male workers' earnings, implying a gap of 36.5 percent. The earnings gap dropped to 30 percent in 1989 and to 23.7 percent in 1999. In the second quarter of 2011, the gap reached a low of 16.5 percent. (BLS) Despite the accuracy of these numbers, many researchers believe that the mere comparison of median weekly earnings of male and female workers (represented in graph 1) presents an incomplete picture. First, women are likely to work fewer hours than men, which would make a gap in weekly earnings between the two groups substantial even if their hourly wages are the same. Most economic studies of a gender gap use hourly wages instead of weekly earnings as a measure. Second, many other factors (such as education and labor force attachment) could affect wages. Research...
Words: 807 - Pages: 4
...The Comparable Worth Debate March 20, 2012 The Comparable Worth Debate Comparable worth means getting the same amount of pay for jobs of equal value in an organization. This is completely different from the concept of “equal pay” which means that workers who perform the same duties with the same job title get the exact same wages. Comparable worth is a recognized strategy for determining job compensation. If an organization is going to put a specific value on a function, it should also put the same value on other functions that are of equal importance. Comparable worth remains an undeveloped concept. Many court cases have been heard in reference to comparable worth but the suits were unsuccessful as the procedure is not clear. (The Law and Compensation and Benefits, 2009) If a company values a position, they should show the employees that they are valued and appreciated through salary and wages. I am certain that most employees would agree. As the HR department’s director, James Bledsoe, should consider the issue of comparable worth for reasons that involve legal and ethical consequences as well as the organizational structure. The pay system that a company uses reflects that company’s culture. The culture determines the policies and guidelines that are in place, the company’s expectations, and the way that employees carry out the company’s mission. Employees are more likely to coordinate their behavior with company goals without the need for vast procedures and mounds...
Words: 811 - Pages: 4
...Wage and Wage Earners Research Process Paper University of Phoenix Research and Evaluation I RES/341 Negussie Nega Purpose of the Research The way this information is layer out it will show us different wages for males, females, education in years, Occupation, Industry, married, not married, white, non-white, Hispanic, age groups, union, non-union, age. By the end of this research we will be able to tell from the group surveyed who is making more and if education matters. This basic research can help figure out if these differences make a difference in prevailing wage earners. Is it possible to figure out whether making a change now help the outcome of this research? According to our text observation and preliminary data gathering is already preformed for us. This leads us to problem definition therefore from our research it is believed that one should find out if education is an important aspect in earning the prevailing wage. Secondary problems would also be looked into is does gender play a part in defining prevailing wage. If one can learn about the fundamentals on wage earning than it would be a possibility to change the way our own wage leads to the success in our own lines of work. Doing this type of research can lead all interested parties a chance to learn what to do to make a change in their future and the future of all of these types of survey’s .According to our text a problem does not necessarily mean that something is seriously wrong, it could simply...
Words: 318 - Pages: 2
...The authors of this paper are in search for how employers in a low-wage labor market respond to an increase in the minimum wage. Specifically the raise in the minimum wage of New Jersey (NJ) on April 1st 1992 from $4.25 to $5.05 per hour and how this effected the surrounding areas employment level. This question is of interest to students of economic because we would expect to see a case study like this follow the labor of demand theory, as wage increase, employment decreases. However this paper finding indicates that the rise of minimum wage does not reduce employment. Which for someone studying economic comes as a shock, and the opposite of the models we have learned in previous class. This paper is not alone in these findings because as mentioned in the paper its self earlier studies have come to the same conclusion. So as a student this gives us a real life example of the labor demand theory being disproven, at least for this case study. Both of the authors of this paper have credibility and useful backgrounds. Dr. David Card earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen’s University in 1978 and his Ph.D. in Economics in 1983 from Princeton University. His main field of study is labor economics; having authored 4 books over 90 journal articles and book chapters, while currently teaching at the University of California Berkley. Dr. Alan B. Krueger received a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University in 1983, a Master’s of Arts in Economics from Harvard University...
Words: 1042 - Pages: 5
...Sarah Moll Mrs. Knierim CA 102 October 21, 2011 Minimum Wage and the Fight to End Multigenerational Poverty Everyday we see poverty stricken people begging for money on the side of the road. Upon seeing them, various thoughts cross our minds: Why do they not go out and get a job? Why are they wasting their time begging for money instead of looking for work? Are they really poor or do they just want to get my money? Are they really going to spend my money buying food or are they just going to buy cigarettes, alcohol, or drugs? Are they just being lazy or can they really not get a job? Though each person’s case is different, many of these people are truly so poor that neither they nor their families can survive without handouts from generous people passing by. There is no accurate or reliable way to tell if these people are genuine in their need, so it is up to the individual as to whether or not they choose to give these people aid. In answer to the ever-present question of why these people do not go out and find jobs is many times quite simple – they simply cannot. In order to get a job, one must have references; however, in order to get references one must have had a good job to provide these references. Also, one must go through the interviewing process before one can acquire a job. This is quite challenging for someone who has no place to shower and no clean clothes to wear. In addition, one must know how to behave and interact in an interview, something that many of those...
Words: 1477 - Pages: 6
...several employment laws for Mr. Stonefield’s Landslide Limousine Company and there are four laws that I will outline for Mr. Stonefield to consider complying with in his new business venture. I will discuss in this memo the Civil Rights Act of 1964 regarding employment discrimination, The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 regarding people with disabilities, Equal Pay Act of 1963 regarding wage discrimination between men and women, and lastly the Texas Minimum Wage Act regarding the least amount of an hourly wage payable in the state of Texas. I will give a brief summary of each of the four Acts and consequences for noncompliance. Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is regulated and enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). As a new business, if you receive any federally funded monies such as grants, assistance, or subsidies The Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies to you. The EEOC “enforces laws that prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or age in hiring, promoting, firing, setting wages, testing, training, apprenticeship, and all other terms and conditions of employment” (The United States National Archives and Records Administration, n.d., para. 3). The Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it unlawful for employers to “fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions or privileges...
Words: 2776 - Pages: 12
...Gender equality goes downhill once you enter the job market (Hsu, 2011). In order to comprehend the differences of communications patterns we should begin by making an allowance for the different essentials of the communication process between the sender of the information and receiver of the information. During any form of communication, the sender has a message to convey that becomes determined. The receiver acquires this determined message by way of some channel whether it be verbal, nonverbal or written, which is then translated. The situation, culture, time, and gender can affect a good and effective communication. Gender can affect communication in different ways has been widely accepted by a large part of the people today. Gender differences in communication can pose problems in social exchanges leading to prejudice, anger, and stress as well as a decrease in efficiency. This is exceptionally serious in business organizations but even more so in your everyday world and therefore a scrutiny of these differences in the first step to understanding the issues involved and moving towards better communication. Nearly a one fourth of all working women are considered part-time, more than men. The number of men who are stay-at-home dads has just about more than doubled over the last ten years. Society molds these women's so-called choices by telling them that they are care givers by default. Women are more likely to be punished for staying home to take care of a sick child. Are...
Words: 594 - Pages: 3
...example, promotion prospects, location of plants, working hours, and especially the wages. The only difference between the two job offers is that there are irritations of noise and an increased risk of work accidents in firm A while not in firm B. Which job do you choose? Definitely the job in firm B! The only thing firm A could do, is to compensate you for worse working conditions by paying an extra bonus. Compensating wage differentials are where people are paid more for dirty, dangerous or difficult work. This perspective on the functioning of labour markets originates from the writings of Adam Smith. The theory of compensating wage differentials stated that workers receive wage premium related to harms and hazards at their workplace. Utilities of workers are therefore equalised between industries and occupations by means of competition in the labour market. In particular, the theory implies that the marginal worker receives a compensated wage just enough to accept the work conditions, whereas those who are not risk averse or do not mind adverse conditions are paid more than is necessary to have them work in jobs that are risky or have bad working conditions. In an ideal market situation where each worker is well informed and everybody shares the same information. The worker is confronted with a schedule of wages and risk in different occupation. The worker has a utility function depending on wages, occupational health and safety (OSH) hazard and leisure of the form u = u (W,...
Words: 2987 - Pages: 12
...probably the greatest problem that lead to several deadlocks. * moreover agreements that were already stated were revised (issue ii nomination for training) * reason for that were discrepancies in between group members of the union party. → did the structure of the negotiation work? * The structure of the negotiation did no work that well. Due to several deadlocks like just mentioned we had to skip Clause 16 and 22 before getting back to them when all other issues were agreed on. * reason here were great differences in the positions of both Management and Union. 2) with differences: → How well did we get to understand the extent of the critical differences that needed to be addressed? * Both parties were strongly persistent on their own stand and subconsciously block out BATNA. * As time went by and questions were asked, we understood the extent of the critical differences quite well. * However working together to sort out the differences was quite difficult. The reason was because the Union tried to follow their planned written script exactly, without thinking of concessions and that made communication and understanding to be very difficult. 3) that they need to resolve → Did we overestimate the quality of our walk- away alternatives? * I think we did overestimate our walk away alternatives that we thought of. * Maybe we should have thought of more walk away alternatives than we did and analysed those we had thought off with more regard...
Words: 3037 - Pages: 13
...industry in the United States has significantly prospered in lieu of two tier wages. Also hiring employees from an outside supplier, or also known as contract employees, frees up time for the tier 1 employees, having contract employees doing simpler more time consuming work and allowing skilled workers focus more readily on the design and build work. The two tier approach has been very sustainable, and more profitable for the automotive industry especially GM. Implementing lower wage employees who are able to do more of the running, simpler tasks and tool work that is directed by a mentor usually tier I employee. Along with the two tier system, manufacturing was streamlined. Two tier wage system has helped build and develop streamlined GM by how they work with their suppliers, how they keep their inventory management trimmed, and they manage a just-in-time inventory where assembled parts are removed from the delivery trucks and placed on the line immediately and delivered to right to production for immediate use. (Smith, 2015). In response to Mr. Marchionne not liking the two tier wage system, stating that it doesn’t work while he is trying to get his organization to work in a unison manner, it turns out that Mr. Marchionne really wants to lower the wages for all tier I employees, while slightly bringing up the wages for the tier II employees or contract employees, thereby making all employees the same wage. The problem with his plan is it divides the generations. It divides the...
Words: 683 - Pages: 3
...Problem 1: i) All the coefficients are significant, because t (crit) = 1,96 is smaller than the absolute values of these three coefficients β1, β2 and β3. Estimated equation is: Log (wage) = 0.128 + 0.0904educ + 0.041exper – 0.000714exper2 (0.106) (0.0075) (0.0052) (0.000116) n = 526, R2 = 0.30 ii) Yes, the coefficient is significant because t-statistics absolute value 6,16 is greater than t (critical value) at 1 % significance level which is 2,586 in this case. iii) Return to the fifth year of experience: 100 * [0.041-2*(0.000714)*4] = 3,53% Return to the 20th year of experience: 100 * [0.041-2*(0.000714)*19] = 1,39% iv) x* = 0.0410089/(2*(-0.0007136)) = -28.7338 28.7338 There are 121 people in the sample with at least 29 years of experience. Problem 2: a) SSE + SSR = SST SST – SSE = SSR SSR = 7160,41429–10.6243285= 7149,79 b) n =524 c) R2 = SSE/SST = 10.62/7160.41 = 0,001484 d) t = (-0,4682478/0,5306473) = -0,88241 e) t = coefficient/ std. error coefficient / t = (5,944174/34,96) = 0,170028 f) F = t^2 = (-0,88241)^2 = 0,778645 Problem 3: Model 1: a) Coefficient on variable cigs indicates that one cigarette smoked per day reduces birth weight by 0,44 %. Therefore, the effect on birth weight from smoking 10 more cigarettes will be that it reduces birth weight by 4,4 %. b) In model 1, a white child is predicted to weight 5,5 % more than a non-white child on...
Words: 821 - Pages: 4
...ECO 6191A Labor Economics Human Capital and Education -----------The use of IV based on AK-91’s paper Content 1. Overview of the Human Capital……………………………………………3 (1) Origin of Human Capital…………………………………………………..3 (2) Theory of Human Capital………………………………………………….4 2. The methodology used in the paper………………………………………...5 (1) Ability Bias/Selection Bias………………………………………………….5 (2) Instrument Variables……………………………………………………….6 3. AK-91’s Paper………………………………………………………………...9 (1) Seansonal Pattern………………………………………….…………………….9 (2) Estimating the Return to Education………………..…………………….……….12 4. Conclusion……………………………………………………..……………...15 5. Reference……………………………………………………………………...16 1. Overview of the Human Capital It is obvious that human capital becomes a vital part in our real life. In order to improve the productivity, people want to invest in the human capital more than before. From the Wikipedia, it defines human capital as the stock of competencies, knowledge, social and personality attributes, including creativity, embodied in the ability to perform labor so as to produce economic value. In a simply word, I think human capital is the set of skills which an employee acquires on the job, through training and experience, and which increase that employee's value in the market place. (1) Origin of Human Capital In fact, no one realized the human capital before A.W.Lewis wrote his paper "Economic Development with...
Words: 2918 - Pages: 12
...The other explanatory variables that they define as potential contributors to levels of inequality include employment, inflation, growth, political stability, and the Gini coefficient. This study is interesting to reference because the data it works with combines other studies on the same topic. By combining what worked in other studies model, this model is a strong reference point to build off. In the 66 studies analyzed, the researchers find that education has two main effects on income distribution; it reduces the share of wealth in the top, and increases poor peoples the share of wealth. This shows that education has a big influence on the lives of the poor and can be a powerful tool for changing inequality. Griliches and Mason come up with a similar regression model in 1972 on the relationship between education, income and ability. The variables they include are scores on a mental ability test, parental status, location where they grew up, school years completed before their service, and school years completed afterward. This...
Words: 1687 - Pages: 7