Do men and women deserve same pay?

 Do men and women deserve same pay.

Since women put in exactly as much effort as men do, they ought to be paid equally in society. For the most part of human history, women did not have the same rights as men. They were denied the right to vote and property ownership. They were not allowed to attend the same schools or hold the same occupations. Nevertheless, women have changed the world in significant ways. Some achieved this through defending women's rights. Others left their imprint in fields like science, the arts, economics, politics, athletics, and social reform. Helen Mirren claims, "Women's roles in the spy community have always been underappreciated and underappreciated in terms of recognition." Inequitably so. Women are needed by the world (Women in History at a Glance, par. 75).

The National Statistics Institute (NSI) reported that in 2013, the proportion of women employed in the health and welfare and education sectors was 80.2% and 69.9%, respectively. On the other end of the scale, women made up 13.9% and 16.6% of all workers in the construction and extraction industries, respectively. (Covert, B., Bryce,2004). These industries are thought to be exclusively male domains.

Figure 1- Source: data modeling Press Issue no. 230

• It is more difficult for women to care for their family when they earn less money. Compared to men, women make between 81 cents and $1, according to research. This is over twenty cents less, which can be quite detrimental to a family, particularly if the woman is the only employee or if the household consists of a single parent. 
• A Center for American Progress study by Bryce, Covert, and Petrohilos found that when men and women earn the same, single moms' poverty rates can drop by more than half. Essentials like food, clothes, and shoes becoming more expensive when the cost of life rises. When women earn less money, it becomes more difficult for them to sustain their families. When self-sufficiency becomes unachievable, families may turn to government aid, which raises the poverty rate. Equal pay for women, however, may be able to stop this tendency (Harry, n.d.).

The NIS states that in Romania in 2013, women earned an average of 2070 lei (or 8.5% less) in gross average monthly salary (which is taken into account when determining the difference in remuneration between men and women) at a national level, while men earned an average of 2247 lei. The fact that, according to the same source, men made more money on average than women in 2013 across most economic activities—with financial brokerage and insurance showing the biggest discrepancies, at 37.2%—is particularly significant in this regard.

 

Figure 2- Press release no 230.

• Men are also harmed by women earning less money. According to an American Progress article, men may experience negative effects from women being paid less since they frequently find themselves having to put in more hours to make up for the money that is taken away from women. 
• According to the report, among industrialized nations, males in the US work the most overtime, leaving them with little spare time. Men may spend a lot of time away from their family as a result of feeling compelled to work longer hours in order to make up for their wives' lower pay.

Men as a result work longer hours, spend less time with their families, and add stress and issues to the home. This wouldn't be a problem if men and women were compensated equally for working the same number of hours. Time would no longer be a problem since women would be paid decently and have sufficient income to prevent their husbands from working longer hours. In 2012, 76.5% of male workers with a comparable level of labor force connection earned the same median annual salary as full-time, year-round female workers ($49,398 vs. $37,791). According to the "Pay Equality Overview" (Equal Pay Act). Men would have to put in more hours at work in a home to make up the $12,000 salary difference. This would lead to issues for the family, such as less time spent with children and loved ones and greater stress for the guy. (Maatz, L. M. (2014)

• Women have been advocating for equality since the 1800s women's suffrage movement, and despite the enactment of laws to address this disparity, the struggle persists. The Lily Ledbetter Fairpay Restoration Act, signed into law by Obama in 2009, allows "victims of pay discrimination to file a complaint with the government against their employer within 180 days of their last paycheck," as reported by Infoplease (Imbornoni).
• Ironically, this measure supersedes an earlier statute from over 50 years ago, which stipulated that men and women must receive equal pay for equal work. The Equal Compensation Act (EPA), as highlighted in the Pay Equality Overview, "mandated equal pay for equal work" in 1963 and has resurfaced. In 2013, the 2009 Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was complemented by the submission of the Paycheck Fairness Act (Hicken, M. H., 2013). 
• Forbes Magazine asserts that this proposal would enhance the 50-year-old EPA. However, analysts have determined that there is just a 5% likelihood of this new measure passing the committee and 1% possibility of it becoming law. Although it won't enforce any of these laws, the government claims that women should be paid equally for equal labor. In addition to being morally right, paying women equally to men is also required by law; those who don't comply with this requirement are breaking the law. (Imbornoni, A.-M. (n.d.)

Legislators and policymakers should impose equal pay laws on all businesses to guarantee that women receive wages commensurate with males because underpaying them at work leads to issues at home and raises the poverty rate. (Preiss, A.,2009). The government can ensure that women are paid equally by enacting legislation requiring firms to report the salaries of both male and female employees to the government. Additionally, the government can impose penalties on noncompliant enterprises. It's been proven that paying women the same as men is a problem. Nothing will change and women's equality will never be achieved if they do not unite and demand greater implementation of these acts.

Reference

1. Covert, B., Bryce, and Petrohilos, D. (2014) 'The Gender Wage Gap Is A Chasm For Women Of Color, In One Chart.' ThinkProgress RSS. 
2. Covert, B. (2014) 'Microsoft CEO Apologizes For Equal Pay Remarks, Pledges Efforts On Diversity.' ThinkProgress Microsoft CEO Apologizes For Equal Pay Remarks Pledges Efforts On Diversity Comments. 
3. Harry. (n.d.) 'Equal Gender Pay For Unequal Gender Jobs?' Women Do Not Deserve Equal Pay. Angry Harry. 
4. Hicken, M. H. (2013) 'Average Cost to Raise a Kid: $241,080.' CNNMoney.
5. Imbornoni, A.-M. (n.d.) 'Women’s Rights Movement in the U.S.' Infoplease. 
6. Maatz, L. M. (2014) 'The Awful Truth Behind The Gender Pay Gap.' Forbes.
7. 'Paycheck Fairness Act (S. 84).' (n.d.) GovTrack.us. 
8. Preiss, A., Caiazza, T., and Kiene, C. (2009) 'Six Reasons Why Equal Pay Is Still Important.' Center for American Progress. 
9. Press statement no. 96 from 17th of April 2015, p.2.