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Emma Hutchins

Persuasive Speech
Mrs. Myslinski
11 December 2015
Equal Pay for Equal Work
Should Olivia Turner be paid the same as Evan Revis to do the same job? I hope all of
you would answer yes. It seems like common sense that men and women should be paid the
same wage for the same work, but this is not always the case. A White women earn 78 cents for
every dollar that a white man earns. Even worse African American Women earn 64 cents and
Hispanic women earn 53 cents on the White mans dollar, according to the U.S. Census (Hill).
In order to bridge the wage gap, our country must acknowledge that it exists.
Traditionally, women have been steered by a male dominated society into lower paying
jobs such as social work, teaching and nursing. Women have not been expected to pursue careers
in the STEM fields. Historically, they have been made to feel embarrassed or ashamed if they
wished to pursue a career in field which pays a higher wage. As women have branched out into
these other fields, they have found that their work is not valued as highly as a mans work as
evidenced by the unequal pay for the same work. A common misconception is that most of the
pay gap occurs between fields, but the reality is that there is the most pay inequality within
fields. If women were given higher paying jobs the pay gap would decrease by 30 to 35 percent
among college graduates and only 15 percent overall (Miller). The problem is more complex
than it appears at the surface.

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Some might argue that women take maternity leave and or stay home with sick children.
Therefore they are not as dedicated to their job, and that is why they earn less than men. In
reality women work the way they do for reasons that, for all but the most privileged, have very
little to do with choosing purely between work and family life. In fact, there is a cyclical
relationship between womens wages and unpaid care work within the home. The United
States is one of only a few countries in the world, and certainly the only advanced economy,
where mothers do not have the right to paid maternity leave after the birth of a new
child. (Glynn) Because women do not have this right, they may be looked upon poorly by an
employer This effects their wages and advancement opportunity.
Currently, there are laws in place to prevent this pay inequality. In 1963, President John
Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act. The intention of this Act was to end gender based wage
discrimination (FACT). The Equal Pay Act (EPA) prohibits pay discrimination based on sex
and states that men and women must be paid equally for substantially equal work performed in
the same establishment. When this Act was passed, women were earning 59% of what men
were earning for the same work (Cho). As you can see, progress has been made but at an
extremely slow pace. Because of the slow rate of change, some argue that new laws need to be
passed. The President has attempted to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, but it was defeated in the
Senate by two votes. He continues to champion the cause of Equal Pay for Equal Work
(FACT).
There are other reasons to pay women equally beyond the argument that it is
fundamentally fair. Many households are headed by or at least equally supported by a woman.
It makes economic sense to pay them equally for their work. Families would be much better of

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financially. Women make the decision in the purchases of 94% of home furnishings92% of
vacations91% of homes 60% of automobiles51% of consumer electronics. (Silverstein)
So it seems like the economy would benefit a lot from women having a few extra dollars in their
pockets.

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Works Cited
Cho, Rosa. "Everything You Need to Know about the Equal Pay Act." Re:gender.
Re:gender, Oct. 2013. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.
"FACT SHEET: Closing the Gender Wage Gap." Department of Labor, n.d. Web. 10 Dec.
2015.
Glynn, Sarah Jane. "Explaining the Gender Wage Gap." Center for American Progress.
Center for American Progress, 19 May 2014. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.
Hill, Catherine, Ph.D. "How Does Race Affect the Gender Wage Gap?" American
Association of University Women. Harvard Business Publishing, Sept. 2009. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.
Miller, Claire Cain. "Pay Gap Is Because of Gender, Not Jobs." The Upshot. The New
York Times, 23 Apr. 2014. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.
Silverstein, Micheal J., and Kate Sayre. Harvard Business Review. Harvard Business
Publishing, Sept. 2009. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.

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