The Wage Gap

The wage gap refers to the discrepancy in compensation for working men and women. It usually refers to the median yearly salary of all women who work full-time compared to that of men. Going off this ratio, women earn approximately 80% of what men do. It is commonly said that white women ear seventy-eight cents to ever white man's dollar, but if you look at statistics of black and Hispanic women, they earn even less. The wage gap has stagnated since 1982, and another way to understand the gap is that women work for free 10 weeks out of the year. It is the same to say that women are under-compensated as it is to say that men are overcompensated.

The wage gap differs in different sectors of the economy. The pay gap is highest in the knowledge economy. Importantly, the gender breakdown in different industries further contributes to the wage gap. Women are more likely to take up domestic work that is lower-paying -- women's work is undervalued.

Critiques of the wage gap say that women choose to go into lower-paying industries and leave their jobs to raise families voluntarily, but these claims do not match up to reality.