Throughout the history of our nation, women have struggled to be held equally to men on a gender standpoint. Since the first women's rights movement in Seneca Falls 1848, the Women's Equal Rights Movement has made immense gains in the recent century. This progress can be seen by the passing of the nineteenth amendment, ability to choose any career, equality in American liberties, and overall right to happiness. In spite of the improvement seen in gender equality, wage problems in the workplace still exist which deny women equal pay for equal work in comparison to men.
The immense disparity in wage equality between males and females is apparent by analyzing the status quo. The Equal Pay Act was passed in 1963, which "aimed at abolishing wage disparity based on sex " (NPR). Although the severity of the situation lessened, "in 2007, women's median annual paychecks reflected only 78 cents for every 1 dollar earned by men. Specifically for women of color, the gap is even wider: In comparison to men's dollar, African American women earn only 69 cents and Latinas just 59 cents" " (National Organization for Women). According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the biggest difference in salary gap between men and women occurs in jobs in retail, physicians, and surgery. The inequality is evident but the logical reasoning behind it is not. Is it the lack of educated women in the workforce? "Women are almost half of the workforce They receive more college and graduate degrees than men. Yet, on average, women continue to earn considerably less than men" (IWPR). Since the logic is insufficient and the argument for wage inequality is flawed, there should be no income difference between men and women in the workforce for the following reasons: modern feminism, importance of financial independence in a familial household, and the vitality of egalitarianism.
Before dwelling upon the three-pointed argument supporting wage equality, it is important to analyze the only counter-argument: the maternal wall.