Should Woman Earn The Same Salary As Men Who Do The Same Job?

Inequality in payment is hardly a new thing. There have been cases of this for quite some time and less than a century ago, women in most countries had an even bigger problem in the workplace: they were prohibited entirely from seeking out jobs. This is a situation similar to what many African Americans encountered in the years after slavery when European migrants were given preferential treatment in the services they were skilled in providing. For some, this wage disparity is not that much of a problem at all while for others the situation is intolerable. This essay therefore seeks to answer the question, should women earn the same salary as men who do the same job?

No, they should not

For people who take this stance, the motivation is usually a religious one at least in part. They believe that men are to be the heads of households because God has decreed it to be so. As a result, women need to be at least partially dependent on the men they married to for finances. Some people who are of this opinion would also prefer for women to not work at all but accept income inequality as a workable substitute. Other arguments state that because women can get pregnant and are often the primary caregivers of offspring, they cannot devote as much time to their jobs. In this case, an employer who picks both a man and a woman to do the same task will get more from the man in real terms than the woman.

Yes, they should

People who believe that income equality should be made a reality through legislature tend to approach the situation in terms of basic fairness. If two people are doing the same job and delivering the same quality of work it should not matter what gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation they possess. Even the religious basis can be countered by the fact that a man can lead a household in which he is not the primary breadwinner. Even pregnancy and childcare do not need to incapacitate a woman. Many women are able to work until they are very close to delivery and some women never conceive. No employer should withhold payment based on pregnancies that may not occur.

It seems that over time the wage differences between men and women will reduce but until they do, this argument will continue to rage on.