Wage Gap

(noun)

The difference between male and female earnings expressed as a percentage of male earnings.

Related Terms

Examples of Wage Gap in the following topics:

  • Learning the Gender Gap

    • In order to determine whether the gender gap is a result of implicit or explicit discrimination, we can look at the adjusted and unadjusted wage gap.
    • The remaining part of the raw wage gap that cannot be explained by variables that are thought to influence pay is then referred to as the adjusted gender pay gap and may be explicitly discriminatory.
    • The total wage gap in the United States is 20.4 percent.
    • Statistical analysis that includes those variables has produced results that collectively account for between 65.1 and 76.4 percent of a raw gender wage gap of 20.4 percent, and thereby leave an adjusted gender wage gap that is between 4.8 and 7.1 percent. " Thus, only a relatively small part of the wage gap is due to explicit discrimination .
    • Discuss the impact the gener pay/wage gap can have on both men and, in particular, women, in the economic world

  • Income Distribution

    • The United States has a high level of income inequality, with a wide gap between the top and bottom brackets of earners.
    • Inequality between male and female workers, called the "gender wage gap," has decreased considerably over the last several decades.
    • During the same time, inequality between black and white Americans, sometimes called the "race wage gap," has stagnated, not improving but not getting worse.
    • Nevertheless, data from a number of sources indicate that overall income inequality in the United States has grown significantly since the late 1970s, widening the gap between the country's rich and poor.

  • Barriers to Organizational Diversity

    • Companies seeking a diverse workforce face issues of assimilation into the majority group and wage equality for minorities.
    • The implementation of a more diverse workforce faces obstacles in both the assimilation of new cultures into the majority and wage-equality and upper-level opportunities across the minority spectrum.
    • The consistency of the gap between wage and education levels in males and females offers concrete evidence that the barriers to diversity in the workplace still exist.
    • Though this gap highlights gender inequality in particular, the strength of the empirical data suggests that a glass ceiling could apply to any minority group.
    • Wages grouped by gender and education reveal a "glass ceiling" for women in the workplace, and the wage gap between men and women only grows as educational attainment increases.

  • Women in the Labor Force

    • The 2008 edition of the Employment Outlook report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found that, while female employment rates have expanded considerably and the gender employment and wage gaps have narrowed virtually everywhere, women still have 20% less chance to have a job than men, on average, and they are paid 17% less than their male counterparts.
    • Women in the workforce earning wages or a salary are part of a modern phenomenon, one that developed at the same time as the growth of paid employment for men; yet women have been challenged by inequality in the workforce.
    • The gender pay gap is the difference between male and female earnings expressed as a percentage of male earnings, according to the OECD.
    • The 2008 edition of the Employment Outlook report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found that, while female employment rates have expanded considerably and the gender employment and wage gaps have narrowed virtually everywhere, women still have 20% less chance to have a job than men, on average, and they are paid 17% less than their male counterparts.
    • Gender Pay Gap in 19 OECD countries according to the 2008 OECD Employment Outlook report

  • Inequalities of Work

    • Women are frequently treated unequally at work, often through sexual harassment and/or wage discrimination.
    • Beyond sexual harassment, the most obvious instance of inequality in the workplace is wage discrimination.
    • This explanation of the pay gap invokes the notion of the pink-collar worker.
    • However, not even this acknowledgement explains the entirety of the wage gap, for even women working full time in higher-paid industries earn less than their male colleagues.
    • The larger schema into which the gender pay gap fits is the notion of a "glass ceiling" for women in the workplace.

  • Job Discrimination

    • Beyond sexual harassment, the most obvious instance of inequality in the workplace is wage discrimination.
    • Frequently referred to as the gender pay gap, this phenomenon observes that women are consistently paid less for performing the same tasks as men.
    • Part of the pay gap can be attributed to the fact that, more often than men, women tend to engage in part-time work or work in lower paid industries.
    • This explanation of the pay gap invokes the notion of the pink-collar worker.
    • However, not even this acknowledgement explains the entirety of the wage gap, for even women working full-time in higher paid industries earn less than their male colleagues.

  • Growing Gap Between Rich and Poor

    • Economic inequality (also known as the gap between rich and poor) consists of disparities in the distribution of wealth and income.
    • The income gap between highly skilled workers and low-skilled or no-skills workers;
    • In the capitalist market, the wages for jobs are set by supply and demand.
    • When there is high supply and low demand for a job, it results in a low wage.
    • The gap in wages produces inequality between different types of workers.

  • Impact of Unions on Unemployment

    • If the labor market is competitive, unions will typically raise wages but increase unemployment.
    • This is illustrated in the graphic, in which a union successfully raises the wage rate above the equilibrium wage.
    • The gap between the point where the new wage rate intersects the demand curve and where it intersects the supply curve represents the resulting unemployment .
    • In this case, wages will rise without a resulting rise in unemployment.
    • If a union is able to raise the minimum wage for their members above the equilibrium wage, then wages will be higher but fewer workers will be employed.

  • Family and Gender Issues

    • Social expectations that women manage childcare contribute to the gender pay gap and other limitations in professional life for women.
    • In the United States, there is an observable gender pay gap, such that women are compensated at lower rates for equal work as men.
    • The gender pay gap is measured as the ratio of female to male median yearly earnings among full-time, year-round (FTYR) workers.
    • Traditionally, women are expected to stay at home and take care of the children, while men earn wages to financially support their families.
    • Recall at least three reasons why there might be a gender pay gap

  • Tax Loopholes and Lowered Taxes

    • In the United States, the IRS estimate of the 2001 tax gap was $345 billion.
    • For 2006, the tax gap is estimated to be $450 billion.
    • Rather than W-2 wage earners and corporations, small business and sole proprietorship employees contribute to the tax gap, because there are few ways for the government to know about skimming or non-reporting of income without mounting more significant investigations.
    • In the United States, the IRS estimate of the 2001 tax gap was $345 billion.
    • For 2006, the tax gap is estimated to be $450 billion.