Question

You are at a political party with some friends. A candidate for state office states that working women earn about 70 cents for each dollar that working men earn. The candidate says, "This is clearly evidence that employers discriminate against women. The gap between the earnings of men and women will never close because professions women tend to choose are traditionally low paying and the professions men choose are traditionally high paying. I propose that the government create a panel to decide what jobs should pay so that people of similar skills and education earn the same amount." Do you agree or disagree with the candidate's idea? What are the consequences of creating such a panel? Should we let the market mechanism to solve any wage discrimination? Discuss and justify your opinions on the subject matter.

Answer 1

Answer, Yes, I agree with the candidate’s idea. The discrimination and inequality in the labor leaves a lot to be desired. The government should create a panel to decide what jobs should pay not only for the women but also the minority groups. Often times, people of similar skills and education earn different amounts, something which is not fair. Equal pay should be made depending on the skills and the level of education.

Most times, there has been discrimination in the labor market in the form of earnings discrimination. The earnings of equally materially productive workers depend on their group affiliations. Creating such a panel will ensure that there is no discrimination and prejudice in the labor market of any kind. The panel will ensure that there is equality in the allocation of earnings irrespective of the age, gender, economic status and the background. This will boost the general productivity of the workers in the economy

While the market mechanism do offer solutions to the wage discrimination, it should not be used. The market mechanism will not answer all questions as far as the wages are concerned. The market mechanism only works effectively in the control of prices and the demand and supply of the factors of production but won’t work for the case of the inequality in the earnings.