1. The Gender Pay Gap: One
Thing the Government
Cannot Solve Alone
A paper and presentation by Annie Doyle
English 201: Advanced Writing
Professor Ryan Hudgins

2. Overview of the Pay Gap
 Has existed since women
joined the workforce
 Large gap between salaries of
men and women
 On average, women make
only 77% of what men make in
the US.
 Has not been proven possible
to eliminate

3. What is to blame?
Different experts blame different factors, such as:
 Quality of work
 Choice of occupation
 Differences in family obligations
 Discrimination – the most debated factor

4. Is discrimination a valid cause?
• Arguments that it is:
 Studies holding all other factors constant
 Process of elimination
• Arguments that it is NOT:
 Impossible to prove discrimination
 Women have lower quality of work

5. What has been done?
• Government intervention through passing laws
 Equal Pay Act of 1963
 Title VII of Civil Rights
• Progress of women
More women in higher education
Changing reputation of female gender

6. Why has Government action been
insufficient?
 Difficult to determine quality of work
 The basis of gender laws
 Not much recorded change since passed Acts
 Need more than laws to change for good
 Cooperation of businesses and citizens

7. What can be done?

8. 1. Enforcement of Legislation
 Enforcement will be better than new policies
 National Equal Pay Enforcement Task
 Equal Opportunity Survey

9. 2. Informative education for
US citizens
 Government has resources to spread information
 Information could lead to more efforts
 Emphasize the importance of gender equality
 Creating programs to establish equality

10. 3. Improving family leave policies
 US has one of weakest family leave policies
 Maintaining a job and family is difficult
 Government and corporations can fight for solutions
o Longer paid maternity leave
o Daycare on site
o More understanding policies

11. How can we stress the importance of
eliminating the gap?
 Collaborative efforts will be most effective
 Government, women, and employers
 Making gender equality a priority in politics
 Learning how our country will benefit
 More productivity overall
 Room to focus on other issues as a nation