Gender Wage Gap in the Labor Market

Gender discrimination or gender wage gap is a significant problem in the United States of America (USA). Based on the neoclassical economics approach, the demand and supply are the primary driving forces of the production, consumption, and pricing of products and services. Heidi Hartmann and Jessica Milli assert that the three major features of women’s labor in the USA include females receiving less pay than men, income inequality, and occupational segregation (Hartmann & Milli, n.d.). Despite women providing similar services and working in the same working environment as their men counterparts, they are not compensated equally. For a long period, many organizations believe that females are not best suited for specific jobs or careers, particularly the ones involving technical activities. In that light, the demand for talented or highly skilled males in such areas overweigh that of females. Other companies have the notion that men are the family breadwinners, which is why they should be paid more than women, even if they are in the same job positions and the scope of work. Gender wage gap remains an issue that is driven by various causes. Besides, it does not merely mean that females cannot handle jobs that were meant to be males only in the past.
Marxist or radical political economics approach shows how capital, politics, and labor enhance the production of goods and services. Capital is crucial since the invested money is expected to make profits. On that note, gender discrimination occurs since the capitalists or investors put their money where it will make more profits. These individuals control numerous factors of production, including who they are going to hire in their companies. Traditionally, women’s primary duties were to stay at home, give birth, and take care of their husbands and children. They were not expected to work. Except currently that females have made significant changes in the labor market by proving that they can take duties that were believed to be those of males, some employers still believe that women are not better than men. In addition, some leadership positions are not perceived as good fit for females despite their academic and professional qualifications. These are some of the challenges, based on the radical political economics approach that have contributed to the problem of gender wage gap. Women labor force participation significantly started to change in the mid-1950s (Goldin & Mitchell, 2017). However, regardless of many females joining education institutions and acquiring knowledge and skills, gender discrimination limit their capabilities and compensation in numerous workplaces in the USA.
Gender wage difference in the labor market can be examined using the institutional economics approach. In particular, institutional economics show how organizations affect the economy. Institutions significantly affect the development, performance, and functioning of the economy. Occupational segregation of a specific gender-race group exists in the labor market (Alonso-Villar & Rio, 2017). For instance, African American females are compared to their white counterparts. In many higher education institutions, males’ capabilities, including talents and knowledge acquisition, are mor...