Gender Gap In The United States: A Case Study

As women increasingly enter the labor market in the US, equity and anti-discrimination issues between genders are addressed great importance, especially the earning gap. The earning difference between women and men is narrowing down, however, the ratio of the wage gained by women to that by men still triggers discussion about the cause of this gap. The ratio in 1955 was 64 percent, and by 2007 the gap had closed to the degree where the ratio was 78 percent. While traditional social explanation ascribed this gap mainly to discrimination from employers and male employees, many scholars apply economic theories to tackle the issue. This essay aims to explain the lower wage of women compared with men by leveraging the human capital model. Institutional influences on female’s choice of human capital assimilation in this period will also be outlined to further analyze the earning gap. At last, a policy to improve women earnings relative to their male counterparts will be recommended and analyzed.
Developed in the Neoclassical
For instance, when a working woman stops work to give birth for the first time, the allowance would be what she would earn if she delivers no birth. Extra job trainings are provided for them when they come back to jobs. Every time the woman stops work to give birth or take care children, the allowance and trainings would lower down by 30 percent to 40 percent. At the same time, the establishment of baby-caring centers in working places are recommended. Since less human capital assimilation instead of discrimination accounts for the lower wage, policies influencing women’s choices to invest more on education and trainings are necessary. The policy mentioned above can offset females’ expectation that they cannot enter the occupations that require high standard of education and training. Therefore, the wage gap would be