Martha Arana

SOCIOLOGY 235 Gender Roles

A Survey of Information in the U.S.

Why this topic? I work for a financial institution and I had been working with

people for about three years. One of my duties is to make sure we have up-to -date information about our customers. One of the profile questions are about employment and salary, it came to my attention that men were getting pay more than women for the same type of jobs.

An interesting fact that has come to light in the research of this information is that the gender division of all cultures and the assigned and assumed work. The world has always seen the gender assignment of work but the valuing of it has been different through cultures and time.

It wasn’t until the end of the Second World War in the United States that the entrenchment of gender roles became the norm. During the major activities of the ramping up of the war machine, which the United States created during this era, life changed permanently for women.

Society asked women to change roles dramatically to support the war effort.

And then society asked them to change back to the norms of before and they did not.

This change back was the result of millions of men returning to the U.S. workforce and the need for women to be returned to the domestic household arena. Life had changed permanently for many women who had taken their place in the work force for the first time ever and were now being asked to give this up.

“The percentage of both women and men entering the labor force increased throughout the century but women’s rate of increase far outpaced men’s. The percentage of women working rose from 20.6% in 1900 to more than 60% in 2005 (men’s rates were 85% and 74%, respectively). Marriage and children slowed the entry, but the trajectory is still the same. Only 6 percent of married women worked outside the home in 1900; 61 percent do so today. And whereas only 12 percent of married women with children under 6 years old were working outside the home as recently as 1950, nearly 65 percent were doing so fewer than forty years later”.(Kimmel, 2011, p.250)

According to the Equal Pay Act that was enacted on June 10, 1963 it became illegal to pay men and women different rates of pay for the same work performed. It is not necessary that the jobs are identical, but must be substantially equal. It is the job content and not jobs the title that determines whether jobs are substantially equal. “Employers may not pay unequal wages to men and women doing jobs that require equal skill, effort and responsibility and are performed under similar working conditions within the same establishment”. (Equal Pay Act, 1963)

If women demanded equal pay for equal work, then they would be level on the wage earner scale. Gender based poverty could be eradicated.

The method that was employed in the research of this paper involved a comprehensive review of current and historical information regarding women and pay inequality.

This material survey research also involved an analysis of the long-term affects of this pay inequality over the average working lifetime for full time working men and full time working women.

The research methods were founded on the timeframes that outlined the historical perspectives in time on gender positioning and changes over time in the United States. The research was focused strictly on cultural, legal and historical perspectives from the United States.

The research also consisted of a combination of information from a variety of academic journals, pro-active women’s network publications, and updated government legislation reviews that are pertinent to the applicable subject laws in the United States. Also from United States Census Bureau data both current and historical that has been collected over the last ten to twenty years.

To further highlight the empirical evidence that is presented in this research paper the data below was examined. This information was calculated over an eleven-year timeframe and further highlights the disadvantage full time working-women still face. The results are amazing, the earning gap between men and women are very notable.

In the table below, I only included twelve occupations with the Highest Median Earnings by Sex: 1999

Results: continueMen Median (dollars)

Women Median (dollars)

Full-time workers------------38,000 Physicians and Surgeons---

140,000 Dentists----------------------110,000 Chief executives-------------95,000 Lawyers-----------------------90,000 Judges, magistrates----------88,000 Natural sciences managers-

84,000 Optometrists-----------------84,000 Actuaries----------------------80,000 Engineering managers------

80,000 Economists-------------------73,000 Astronomers-----------------71,000 Pharmacists------------------70,000

Full-time workers------------28,000 Physicians and Surgeons---88,000 Dentists----------------------68,000 Chief executives-------------60,000 Lawyers-----------------------66,000 Judges, magistrates----------50,000 Natural sciences managers--

55,000 Optometrists------------------65,000 Actuaries-----------------------56,00 Engineers, all others----------

51,000 Economists--------------------60,000 Astronomers------------------51,000 Pharmacists-------------------51,000

Results: continueWomen make only 75.5 cents for every dollar that men earn, according to a new release by the U.S. Census Bureau. Between 2002 and 2003, median annual earnings for full-time year-round women workers shrank by 0.6 percent, to $30,724, while men’s earnings remained unchanged, at $40,668 (Census)

The wage gap between the sexes ranges from 14 to 20%, being higher for more skilled positions. Today only 11% of women in executive positions and 60% are affected by the unregistered employment. As has been evident in modern society, women have the ability to cope with the same skills and success than men in almost every area; including media, sports, education and politics (Clarin).

Conclusion Unfortunately the finding in this research conclusively support the

hypothesis that the gender pay gap remains alive and well in the United States.

It seems that working women are penalized for their dual roles as wage earners and those who care for home and family.

It appears that working women today earn an average of 80 cents for every dollar earned by men. This pay gap has persisted for the past two decades, remaining relatively consistent from 1983-2000 and there doesn’t appear to be any quick fixes on the horizon.

Conclusion: continue

The world today is very different than it was in 1963, but sadly, it seems to me that one thing that has remained the same is the pay difference between men and women. After researching so many different studies, it seems that still, at the root of it, men get an extra bonus just for being men

It will continue to remain for the foreseeable future and has indeed widened over the last several years. This has a long-term affect on the existing poverty in our country with a particularly devastating affect on single female households and children.

Reference Kimmel, Michael. 2011. The Gendered Society, Fourth Edition.

New York, New York. Oxford. U.S Equal Opportunity Commision,1963 Act. “Equal

pay/Compensation Discrimination” Clarin,2009.”La Mujer y el Trabajo, y las diferencias de sueldo con

el hombre” Institute for Women’s Policy Research, 2010.The gender wage

gap,2009 from www.iwpr.org Weinberg,D.H (2004).Evidence from Census 2000 about earings

by detailed occupation for men and women.Census 2000 special report, 12.

Mason, N.(2009).Women of color policy network.Race,gender and the recession.