Comparable Worth

Persuasive Essay # 116062

Business > Human Resources
Gender and Sexuality > Gender Studies
Women Studies > Women and Society

Comparable Worth

A look at why women are earning less than men in the United States.

1,136 words () | 2 sources | MLA | 2009 United States

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses the major reason behind the existence of unequal pay for equal work in the United States, that is rampant discrimination on the part of men who virtually control every aspect of the workplace. The paper looks at statistics provided by the federal government that highlight the unequal pay for women and then explores why discrimination exists. The paper considers the viewpoint of those who oppose all forms of comparable value but argues that action should be taken to eliminate unequal pay for equal work.

From the Paper:

"According to Jo Freeman, a staunch advocate for the rights of working women in the United States, the concept of "equal pay for work of equal value," nowadays known as comparable worth, has become in modern-day America a very heated issue, yet there appears to be little or no effort currently being done by the federal government nor by state and local governments to solve this enduring social and economic problem.
"However, as June O'Neill relates, those who support comparable pay for working women, also referred to as "pay equity," have in recent years "won important political support" from the U.S. Congress, state governors and the mayors of many large American cities. Not surprisingly, any policy that advocates equal pay for equal work for American women workers is bound to have wide appeal, due to the fact that many working single mothers, either divorced, widowed or never married, often have children to raise by themselves which always requires large expenditures in the form of food, clothing and shelter."

Sample of Sources Used:

Freeman, Jo. "Comparable Worth." In In These Times. Aug. 22-Sept. 4, 1984. Internet.Retrieved from http://www.jofreeman.com/lawandpolicy/compworth.htm.
O'Neill, June Ellenoff. "Comparable Worth." The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics.Internet. 2002. Retrieved from http://www.econlib.org/library/ENC/ComparableWorth.html.