Question

•Name one economic issue that you have heard discussed by your friends, coworkers, or on the news that you wish you understood better •Research this issue. Find two explanations explaining this issue. One can be a video or popular press article, but one must be a journal article. •In 500 – 750 words, summarize your findings on this issue.

Answer 1

Equal Pay Issue

The gender pay gap is the difference between male and female earnings. This difference is expressed as a percentage of male earnings. The gender pay gap reduces women’s lifetime earnings and also affects their pensions - this is one of the significant causes of poverty in later life for women.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) collects data on earnings in the UK which it uses to calculate gender pay differences. In 2016, the average pay of women working full-time was only 90.6% of men’s pay. This means that compared to men, women stopped earning on the 10th November 2016 – they were effectively working for no money after this date, which is referred to as Equal Pay Day. On average, a woman working full-time in 2016 earned £5,732 less a year than a man When part-time employees are included, the gender pay gap was 18.1% in 2016. The pay gap varies across sectors and regions, rising to up to 55% in the finance sector. In 2012, 64% of the lowest paid workers were women, contributing not only to women's poverty but to the poverty of their children.

Though the gender pay gap is gradually decreasing over time, there have also been recent reversals in progress on this issue. In 2013, compared to the previous year, the average pay of women working full-time fell by .9% to 84.3%. For all workers – both part-time and full-time – the gender pay gap was 19.1 % in 2013, having risen from 18.6 per cent the previous year. This means for every £1 earned by a man in the UK, a woman earned only 81p. Gender pay gap is higher when part-time workers are included because of the low hourly rates of pay in part-time work and the concentration of women in these jobs due to the occupational segregation of the labour market

The gender pay gap is a complex issue with many causes, which are often inter-related.

• Direct discrimination explains why women sometimes still earn less than men - when women are paid less than men for doing the same job. But because of the success of equality legislation over the years, this factor only explains a limited part of the gender pay gap.

• Women’s competences and skills are undervalued, so women frequently earn less than men for doing comparable jobs - that is, jobs of equal value. Pay scales for jobs requiring similar skills, qualifications or experience tend to be lower when they are predominantly done by women.

• Another way in which women’s competences and skills are undervalued could be reflected in the promotion rates in an organisation - gender stereotypes mean that women may be perceived as less competent or 'managerial' - or that their status as mothers may mean that organisations question their commitment to work

• Traditions and stereotypes may also influence the choice of educational paths and employment patterns. Research shows that school career services often encourage girls and boys into traditionally gendered occupations.

• Gender pay gap also reflects the gendered division of household labour, whereby caring for the sick and elderly, bringing up children and housework are considered women’s work. Because domestic work is not equally shared between men and women, women have more frequent career breaks, mostly to bring up children. This, in turn, has a negative impact on their careers.

Forty years after the first equal pay legislation, women can still expect to be paid less than men. The law has made a big difference - the gap between men and women’s wages has declined over the years. However, it still remains very difficult for women to gain equal pay. A woman has to first find out that she is being paid less than a man in a comparable job - people are often secretive about how much they are paid. It also takes a lot of money and time to bring a case against an employer who will have far more resources than an individual employee. Where women are members of trade unions, they have been helped by their union to take their case to the employment tribunal.