The age and gender pay gap

The age and gender pay gap

Being paid the same wage for the same amount of work in spite of gender or age: is this a dream or possible reality. Although many people think that this is already the case today,  we have got a long journey ahead of us before we reach wage equality. This equality has many different aspects , which will be discussed in the parts to come. 

First of all the fact that men and women don’t get paid the same amount for the same work is absolutely ridiculous. For every dollar a man earns, a woman earns 80 cents on average. The reason behind all of this comes from the 20th century. Women were considered not as strong as men, which may result in them not being able to perform as good in their job as the other sex. For this reason they have been paid less for a long time. Now however, women are smart enough to know that this not the case and that they can be just as good at their jobs as men, sometimes even better.  This should result in wage equality.

This economic emancipation of women is already happening in some countries but definitely not in all of them. Even in the country with the smallest pay gap - New Zealand -women still earn 5% less than men, which is why wage equality should be supported more.

As long as this is not the case, the difference between men and women working will be emphasized and women will not be seen as equal to men in the workplace. I think that this medieval way of thinking is not somenthing we wish to have in the year 2017. Therefore we need to acknowledge the problem and do something about it.

Another parameter that determines the salary of people is age. Whereas I have a very democratic opinion on gender based wage equality, my opinion on different wages based on age is very different. Usually when people hire someone older, this person has a lot more experience in the field and may be better at the job than a younger person. In my opinion this thought is completely accurate. Other than the few exceptions, most people who have just graduated and have never really worked in the field won’t be that great at their job. While they’re still getting to know the job, an older person already knows all the tricks of the trade hence it’s only suitable that that older person earns more.

All things considered, as human nature is, people will always want to earn more money. And with the current differences in wages they will it more.

We have a long journey ahead of us to make this equality happen, but if there ever will be a middle ground is not certain.

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