Gender Wage Gap Analysis

The gender wage gap is mostly a penalty for bearing children. Studies show that there is a dramatic drop in women’s earnings after the birth of their first child, in which there is no comparable wage drop for men. Research from an economist at Princeton, retrieved from the article, “A stunning chart shows the true cause of the gender wage gap”, Henrik Kleven, studies the gender wage gap, specifically regarding the pay drop after women employees give birth to their first child.

His research resulted in the findings that women ended up earning a whopping twenty percent less than their male coworkers after having a baby (Sarah, 2018). All in all, this study dug deeper than the obvious notion that men earn more than women. Kleven set out to find out why men earn more and the theory of wages dropping for women once with-child makes a pretty solid case.

The Power of Lump Sums

The article, “The Power of Lump Sums”, presents an investigation into the daily use of capital that Brazilian women receive form programs, like Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs), which is a gender-targeted social program for rural areas. The author of the article identifies conditional cash transfers as a significant factor for fighting poverty in countries with low income. Moreover, this benefit is seen as a tool for tackling gender equity and poverty at the same moment (Morton, 2019). It is offered in exchange for receiving vaccines, exchange for money, as a way to comply with critical human-capital situations (Morton, 2019). The author, therefore, researched in Brazil how CCTs have become essential tools for poverty eradication among two villages called Rio Branco and Maracuja. As suggested by the author, the programs aim to bridge the gender wage gap among these rural areas, where women do not have employment opportunities and valuable assets, unlike men.

According to the author, both villages have small scale farmers who keep livestock and grow crops on the dryland by relying on rainfall. They plant crops like coffee, beans, and manioc, and have rare access to wage employment. The article presents a stronger element in wage gap equality by showing the differences in asset ownership among the households. In both communities, men and women have possession of assets that have long-term values. Women’s assets hold value since they are durable and have significant impacts, as they become more lasting. In contrast, men’s assets are more valuable since in most cases they are reproducible like cows. Their products, calves, can be sold or slaughtered. Therefore, while men’s assets can reproduce and give additional income, women’s assets slowly decrease in value over time (Morton, 2019). This pattern is a major method of asset gendering in these families that are preferred across generations.

By expanding on the author's idea, it is possible to conclude that even when it comes to minimum wage gaps, the difference is created from the value of a woman on a long-term basis, a reason why as women age, their wages decrease. The lump sum policy could be the principal policy that could be beneficial to women in such a region. It will enable them to have more valuable assets if they use the capital appropriately. The author thus suggests that with the use of mental and institutions accounting can be the remedy for these women to convert the lump sums to more income-generating assets (Morton, 2019). However, it is generally clear that men have more assets as everything in a household is traditionally theirs. Such an element can be comparable to the vast wage gap among men and women. Even in the workplace, men are associated with the majority of activities and processes, while women are just given portions. As a result, it is common for men to be compensated highly as opposed to women.

The article relates to Kleven’s study on gender-wage gap, especially pertaining to women losing their value after giving birth to their first born. Typically, women are seen to be productive before giving birth, since they have complete focus on the job. After giving birth, they experience a sharp reduction in their performance and productivity, seeming as though their mind is now more geared towards the family (Morton, 2019). They can no longer execute their duties as needed, a reason why even if they are allowed to continue working, their wages depreciate. Just as mentioned by the author, women’s significant assets are majorly in-house household items that have no significant influence on the family’s income. Men remain at the top of the chain regarding wages since they control a considerable part of economic processes whether at home or the workplace.

The Gender Wage Gap

The article, “The Gender Wage Gap”, gives an overlook of the U.S. gender wage differences that have repeatedly shown the persistent gap, even with a decrease in recent decades. Based on the authors’ ideas, decompositions have become major indicators towards modification in gender inequalities in experience and education, and also union status and occupation leading to the reduced gender pay gap (Blau & Kahn, 2017). Besides, there has been a decrease in the role of human capital elements due to reversed factors in education and experience gaps between men and women. Also, the author observes that even though there was a decrease in the unexplained gender gap in the 1980s, the gap is still largely stable.

Nevertheless, labor force participation is seen as a significant factor to comprehending the development in a woman’s wage. One key issue that the authors Blau and Kahn note, is that there is increasing women labor in the workplace after World War II, which has been driven by rising participation rates among married women under their quiet revolution. The revolution is gender-based towards their underlying roles to bridge the wage gap and other elements of opportunities (Blau & Kahn, 2017). Critically thinking, women are pushing too hard for workplace equality. Therefore, the executives are forced to accommodate them while ensuring that they have lower pays. Besides, it has been found that married women who have children are majorly behind labor unions that advocate for women’s rights. Typically, these unions are the leading contributors to wage gaps since instead of looking for experience, women rely on verbal means to seek wage increment.

Moreover, the article recognizes that wage gaps majorly result from labor-market experience. Usually, there are different types of occupations. Some occupations require high-skilled personnel, a factor that women are seen to be lacking. In relation to Kleven’s research, this article brings a new overview of women’s experience especially after giving birth. It will usually take time for a woman to recover and go back to work normally. The maternal period women are always given is always enough for any business to experience dynamic changes. Therefore, when they are ready to resume work, they will still need to learn the current introduced business models. Based on their level of experience, therefore, it is practical that their wages be reduced as their skills cannot meet the competitive business environment (Blau & Kahn, 2017). To women, it does not seem a fair policy, as they tend to be more focused on the wages more than their value at the workplace. Therefore, instead of taking such incidences as a challenge and making improvements, they focus on debates on how men have to lead to their stereotyping as inexperienced.

Additionally, there was a critical finding in the article that suggested that the narrowing of the gender wage gap will be traditionally achieved through the convergence of human capital factors, such as education. Women are seen to be exceeding in education achievement to eliminate the wide gender gap. Even though education seems like an issue that bridges the wage gap, there are more external forces that contribute to the difference. For example, the author narrates that education is essential, but needs supportive elements especially fundamental work skills that women lack (Blau & Kahn, 2017). Women tend to believe that everything can be learned through education and it surprising that even the workforce prefer skilled men over educated women. Besides, when these two categories are employed, men will have higher compensation than women.

The Widening Black-White Wage Gap Among Women

The text, “The Widening Black-White Wage Gap Among Women”, examines the wage gap among women themselves, the black and white wage gap. The author identified many factors that have been contributing to the wage gap among women, which included the stagnant male wages from the 1970s, delay in childbearing and marriage, the rise of birth control methods, and welfare reforms (Fisher & Houseworth, 2017). Nonetheless, the author focuses on the various reasons for labor force participation that creates the wage gap primarily due to differences in races of women. The article thus establishes that married white women always form a significant part of the labor force, while single black women, especially with children, create a considerable part of the labor force. Also, education plays an essential role in their participation in labor. Educated white women with children, as well as unmarried white women, have joined the workplace. The author relates this participation and differences to modifications in earning opportunities and decreasing rate of childbirth.

As a result, the article continues to illustrate that the increase in wage gap is adequately understood if one integrates social and economic forces. For instance, the changes in social attitudes contributed to the highly educated white women remain or enter the labor force. Also, the state and federal welfare reforms were important in encouraging the low educated black women to seek labor force, as there was a decrease in benefit generosity and time limitations that would favor this group (Fisher & Houseworth, 2017). Therefore, social effects are significant elements in the workplace as they limit or encouraging the participation of women based on their ethnicity. However, the wage gap still is visible due to some evident factors. Education is a crucial issue, as white women seek education opportunities more than blacks. Therefore, they land into better job opportunities than low educated women.

Besides, there is the issue of children that increases the wage gap. Typically, it is common that women with children form a significant part of the workforce, whether married or single. They have to provide for their children, a major factor that drives them to offer labor force (Fisher & Houseworth, 2017). However, while seeking job opportunities, the level of desperation that employers witness among these women could be the major issue that creates the gap. For educated women, they have earned the appropriate skills needed for the workplace and qualify for better wages. However, for low educated women with children, they can be offered job opportunities based on their needs, but the wage would be minimal since the company does not entirely rely on their capabilities. Therefore, even among women, there are wage gaps that exist and are linked to certain factors, as mentioned by the author.

Nonetheless, the article touches on some elements of the gender wage gap as mentioned by Kleven’s research. Kleven suggested that women remain at the bottom of wage pay due to factors like birth. In this case, the article focused on women against women. However, they introduced other gender gap elements, which were the men’s age modification. Men continue to be compensated highly for their duties. For a moment, these articles suggest that typically, wage gaps concerning women is a factor that is not gender based, but is female-based. Implying that wage gap challenges are not attributed to men’s influence, but are indeed contributed to by the social and economic aspects that surround women.

Legal Reform

The law article, “Gender Wage Gap and Domestic Violence”, gives a theoretical approach towards understanding wage gap based on domestic violence. The author's theory suggests that male prominence is a sociological matter that predicts that as any woman’s financial independence arises, violence against women increases (Aizer, 2010). Based on the reading, freedom of a woman is a form of challenge to the cultural prototype of male dominance and stereotype of female dependence. Therefore, when a man lacks dominance, violence becomes the only means of reinstating authority over the woman. Thus, the theory anticipates that any slight increase in a woman’s wages will lead to automatic violence and remains a challenge since it assumes the value of constraints that women face in such abusive relationships. The author also focuses on familial ties. However, offensive aspect wages can be applied to the workplace, which can lead to the establishment of necessary reforms below.

In the workplace, women need to be given equal opportunities to advance. Often, women receive few or no feedback on their performances, access limited high-profile tasks, and have few opportunities to sponsorship and mentorship. Therefore, the workplace must ensure that women are given equal opportunities to grow their careers and not be tied to the unbalanced amount of office work (Hare, 2019). Naturally, it implies flipping the script, like moving away from compensating women on their performances, and compensating them for their potential like in men.

Besides, there is a need for organization transparency. Companies should provide equal pay to all men and women at each organization level. Women should also be able to speak and ask for fair compensation like their fellow male coworkers, including the full package like vacation and equity (Hare, 2019). However, at this point, it is crucial to ensure that the hiring and promotion phases are fair. For example, the auditing processes and reviews regularly carried out by the company should not focus on promoting men quickly and giving them better reviews. Managers must be trained to understand the gender inequality effects when making their decisions. As such, they are needed to ensure they practice clearly and consistently to eliminate bias in decision making.

Lastly, there is a need for defining workplace expectations. Paying men and women equally for their work does not begin by making each person’s salary equal. It starts by setting work expectations, since it is impossible to pay a CEO and a junior employee the same wage. Therefore, regardless of the position held by men and women in the organization, they should be compensated based on those roles.

References

1. Aizer, A. (2010). The gender wage gap and domestic violence. American Economic Review, 100(4), 1847-59.
2. Blau, F. D., & Kahn, L. M. (2017). The gender wage gap: Extent, trends, and explanations. Journal of Economic Literature, 55(3), 789-865.
3. Fisher, J. D., & Houseworth, C. A. (2017). The Widening Black?White Wage Gap among Women. Journal of Labour, 31(3), 288-308.
4. Hare, D. (2019). Decomposing growth in the gender wage gap in urban China: 1989–2011. Economics of Transition and Institutional Change.
5. Morton, G. D. (2019). The power of lump sums: Using maternity payment schedules to reduce the gender asset gap in households reached by Brazil’s Bolsa Família conditional cash transfer. Journal of World Development, 113, 352-367.
6. Sarah K. (2018). A stunning chart shows the true cause of the gender wage gap. Vox. Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/2018/2/19/17018380/gender-wage-gap-childcare-penalty

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