What is the gender wage gap? The gender wage gap is the average difference between what a man earns, and what a woman …show more content…
Right now, the gap is $0.204 cents in man’s favor. Another way to phrase that, is a woman earns $0.796 cents for every dollar a man earns (Chalabi, Mona: Equal Pay Day: A Wage Gap Fact Check). Though the statement does not seem to be compatible with logic, history proves that this statement could be true even now in the 21st century. In 1869, the United States employed 500 women in the Treasury Department. These women were paid half of what their fellow male colleagues were making. The women were making $900, and the men were making $1800 (Alter, Charlotte: Here's the History of the Battle for Equal Pay for American Women). A letter was written to congress about this situation, and a resolution was created. The resolution was approved by the senate in 1870, but the resolution had become so thin that the law passed was almost ineffective. 13 years later, a massive trike against the Western Union Telegraph Company froze communications countrywide. The people on strike were fighting for equal pay of men and women. This was an unsuccessful attempt at securing what people desired, but it was the first time a shock was felt by everyone of …show more content…
“John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Law into effect, overcoming opposition from business leaders and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who were concerned that women workers were more costly than male ones.” (Alter, Charlotte: Here's the History of the Battle for Equal Pay for American Women). As of June 10th, 1963, it was now illegal to pay a woman less than what a man was earning for the same