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Women and Pay

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Women and Pay
“A Women’s Right to Equal Pay – Does the Equal Pay Act Work in a Women’s Favor?”
Keisha L Boyd
Total Compensation HRA-360-DL01_2011SP2
April 24, 2011

“A Women’s Right to Equal Pay – Does the Equal Pay Act Work in a Women’s Favor?”
The issue of women and pay has stroke many controversies since time immemorial. Between the years 1950 and 1960, statistics show that men were getting between a percentage on 50 and 60 dollars more than the women were. It is also evident that most employers would prefer men than women. This is because of the fact that most jobs are more masculine than feminine. Since 1963, the statute books have been keen in explaining the events, which have occurred in the development of the pay conditions of women. Between 2007 and 2008, the gap between the pay between woman and men had greatly decreased. In the United States, for instance showed that women were getting earning between $700000 and $2 million, up from the previous pay, which was below $500. Women, during this year were getting an average of 40%, when compared to that of men.
Several laws and regulations have been put in place so as to try to harmonize the issues of women and men equalities in pay and although some countries have managed to curb this problem, some countries still portray disparities in how men and women are paid. Since the World War II, women have been participating in activities, which have been earning them some pay. The rise of the industries during this time allowed many people to obtain jobs, some well-paying, and some poorly paying. The jobs were further divided into hard and simple jobs and women mostly participated in the simple jobs. This is because of the reason that women were associated with feminine activities, which were simple to, and earning less (Barnum, et. al. 1995).
In the United States of America, the issue of unequal pay for women was addressed first by the National War Labor Board. The Board requested all the employees to report the



References: Berger, G. (1971). Equal Pay, Equal Employment Opportunity, and Equal Enforcement of the Law for Women. New York: New York Press Blau, D., and, Kahn, M Charlotte, G. (2000). Equal pay for equal work: struggle for justice by women in the affected world. New York: University of Virginia. Dollar, D. and Gatti, R. (1999). Gender Inequality, Income, and Growth: Are Good Times Good for Women? The World Bank Development Research Group. Policy research report on gender and development Donald, T Ferree, M. and McQuillany, J. (1998). Gender-Based Pay Gaps: Methodological and Policy Issues in University Salary Studies. Gender & Society 12:1 (February 1998), pp. 7–39. Harkness, S. and Waldfogel, J. (1999). The Family Gap in Pay: Evidence from Seven Industrialized Countries. Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, London Macpherson, D Martin, J. (2009). Feminism, Its Fallacies and Follies. BiblioBazaar, LLC, pp 24-67 Muller, M Repa K. B. (2007). Your Rights in the Workplace. Nolo: Nolo Press Waldfogel, J

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