Social inequality and wage gaps are synonymous with one another; while social inequality can be viewed as an umbrella term that consists of restricted voting rights, access to education, health care, and freedom of speech and assembly, it is also linked to the economic divisions present within a society. These divisions are usually established through discriminatory laws that are connected to various societal evils: racial inequality, gender inequality, and wealth inequality. As a result of these underlying relational processes, a person belonging to a particular race would be more at risk of being in poverty in comparison to another whom the society favours. In light of these assertions, one may ask: to what extent do social constructs hold influence over social inequality?
In terms of individuals, certain factors determine the amount of wealth distributed to them in the light of their country’s structural context to establish equality. A person having a low-paid or precarious job would have limited access to a decent income and social networks. Similarly, an individual with low levels of education and skills would find himself or herself lacking in the job market and thus, would be labeled as an anomaly in society. Though these factors are linked to an individual’s experience directly, there are certain elements they have no control over- elements that suffocate their chances of attaining social equality.
Social inequality can also be viewed through the lems of gender inequality; gender wage gaps refer to the cumulative difference in earnings between women and men. Women have been shown to consistently earn less than men, and this trend increasingly prevails amongst women of colour as well. There are differences in industries that keep women from attaining fewer benefits and lower paychecks in comparison to their male counterparts. This phenomenon has been illustrated by researchers as they highlighted the effects of occupational segregation and the funneling of women and men into different types of jobs per social gender norms and expectations; the supposed “women’s jobs” – jobs that were historically filled with majority female-workforces – such as home health aides and child care workers, tend to be less economically stable in comparison to “men’s jobs”, which usually consist of jobs in trades such as building and construction. These gender differences stand true across all industries and the vast majority of occupations – from frontline workers to mid-level managers to senior leaders.
It would also impose stiffer penalties for violations of the “Equal Pay Act” and require government studies of gender pay disparities. Additionally, more flexible work schedules could be introduced to facilitate women’s earning. Since the majority of women are more likely to work part-time than men, they holistically earn less in comparison due to working for fewer hours. Measures, such as those aforementioned would help establish a policy-friendly zone for both the genders to work within and be satisfied with what they earn. Although the issue of wage gaps still pertains to the modern-day era, newly reformed legislation and governmental incentives can help counter this social evil at large to curtail social inequality at large.
Although gender-based pay discrimination is illegal, it is still a prevalent, widespread practice in the modern-day era – particularly for women of colour. For instance, Hispanic women make less than white non-Hispanic men at almost every educational level; it has been projected that Latinas won’t achieve equal pay until the year 2197. Moreover, their unemployment rate rose from 4.8 percent to 12.5 percent between the years 2019 – 2020, indicating the unfavourable conditions of the job market for these women of color. This example shows that members of minority ethnic communities and immigrants suffer from factors such as racial discrimination, and thus, have a lesser chance to access employment; these socioeconomic conditions result in them being forced to live in substandard physical environments and have inadequate accesses to essential services— circumstances that define social inequality as a whole.
On the other hand, claims of existing wage disparities between men and women have been made throughout the era – with many saying that women are paid roughly 80 percent of what men acquire from the industrial sector. However, this figure depicts the overall amount of compensation given to men and women in the United States whilst ignoring various critical aspects involved in the entire process, such as occupation, skills, type of company, experience, hours worked, and a slew of other considerations that go into the company’s legislation. Hence, when these basic characteristics are taken into consideration, the pay gap between both the respective genders narrows dramatically.
Many also argue that paying women less is unavoidable due to the inherent nature of their labour; this is often seen in the guise of child care. Though men have the option to invest their time in the aforementioned activity as well, their decision’s influence on their employment carries minimal influence. According to research conducted by the telecoms provider “PowWowNow”, shared parental leave (SPL) was launched in 2015 but only 3.5 percent of families eligible for this option chose it in 2018. The data provided by the organization illustrated that one-third of men who did not take the shared parental leave asserted that they couldn’t afford it— provoking revolts from the masses for the administration to enhance constitutional paternity payment. Similarly, the notion that men and women who work at similar jobs for the same period are paid differently is still prevalent in the modern-day era. However, many claim this concept to be absurd and detracted from reality. It is to be noted that “men [work] longer than women – 8.4 hours compared to 7.8 hours,” as the Bureau of Labor Statistics states that “full time” is regarded as 35 hours of work: “Men work longer hours than women.”. Since women are far more likely to work fewer hours to accommodate for parental leave and other unpaid tasks, they get lower hourly paychecks and incentives in comparison to full-time employees.
Wage gaps do tend to rise as a consequence of social gender-based constructs. Even though our society is plagued by the likes of wage gaps and social inequality, certain measures can be taken to curtail the expansion of these problems. An example of this would be better enforcement of the “Equal Pay Act” passed by the USA in 1963 which required employers to pay men and women equal wages for equal work. Similarly, pay transparency should be encouraged between companies and their employees; a bill in the Congress called the “Paycheck Fairness Act” aims to stop employers from requiring their employees to keep their salaries a secret, retaliating against those who do not condemn this practice, and refrain them from using salary history to set wages.
It would also impose stiffer penalties for violations of the “Equal Pay Act” and require government studies of gender pay disparities. Additionally, more flexible work schedules could be introduced to facilitate women’s earning. Since the majority of women are more likely to work part-time than men, they holistically earn less in comparison due to working for fewer hours. Measures, such as those aforementioned would help establish a policy-friendly zone for both the genders to work within and be satisfied with what they earn. Although the issue of wage gaps still pertains to the modern-day era, newly reformed legislation and governmental incentives can help counter this social evil at large to curtail social inequality at large.
