The Rising Economic Importance of Women - Essay Example

rmination model with three component parts: the individual-level segment, which includes variables such as education and age; the structural-level segment, which includes variables such as hours worked per week, industry, and occupation; a gender-level segment, which includes variables such as sex, marital status, and with child under age six. Results indicate that, net of other factors, women earn $111.21 less per week than men in spite of having a higher percentage of college degrees and positions in white-collar high-skill employment.

Analysis of the results suggests that there are two potential means by which the pay-gap can be reduced. Women are typically, either by choice or because they are forced, selected into gender homogenous positions such as education or healthcare that are devalued. Women therefore need to select positions that will generate a more heterogeneous employment structure and pursue occupations in typically male dominated areas. Additionally, the enactment of a Pay Equity Act could further restore the balance and redistribute income by evaluating positions based on the value of their work and not based on sex, race, or other personal/individual attributes.

Four decades have passed since the enactment of the Equal Pay Act (1963), but are we any closer to gender equality? The Equal Pay Act was created as a result of the large income discrepancies that existed for individuals doing the same work and was termed pay discrimination. Throughout the years many justifications have been put forth for unequal pay based on gender with the predominant being the sex difference in productivity. Sex segregation, the division of labor based on gender, has existed from almost the beginning and is arguably one of the most profound reasons why the pay-gap still exists today.

The Equal Pay Act has done little to address this issue because it only addresses gender income differences for those individuals occupying the same positions. Another justification for