Marcella Jardine English Paper #3 Do women earn less than men in the same occupation? Many would think that the answer to that would be no with so many women in the workplace. Even though many would say that women should be earning the same as their males counterparts it is unfortunate that this is not the case. If women are doing the same amount of work their pay should be reflective of that. According to a recent White House study women still earn 25% less than their male counterparts in the same position. Another study done by the 2007 Census Bureau surveyed that women earned less than men in all 20 industries.

One of the arguments for the discrepancies in pay is that women tend to live in lower paying areas. Some others argue that women work less hours and take off more time than men. Many economists and advocates of equal pay speculate that the discrepancy is being caused by discrimination. Some of the discrepancy could be caused by the fact that some women choose part time jobs that are close to home which limits the choice in jobs for women leading to lower pay. This still does not explain the White House study where they only surveyed the women with full time jobs.

Some other studies show that when workers are compared side by side there are differences that cannot be explained by maternity leave or how many hours are worked in the week it is discrimination plain and simple. While women do certainly make less there is no reason why they still should there are more women in the workplace now than there have ever been. If more women are working side by side with men the deserve equal compensation for the work they do. There is no reason after the women’s movement that anything less than equal pay should be acceptable. Unless women stand up for themselves this discrimination will continue.

Works Cited Whitbourne, Susanne. “Risky business? Why women earn less than men. ” Psychology Today. N. p. , 29 March 2011. Web. 18 Oct 2011. <http://www. psychologytoday. com/blog/fulfillment-any-age/201103/risky-business-why-women-earn-less-men>. Longley, Robert. “Why Women Still Make Less than Men. ” About. com. N. p. , 18 Oct 2011. <http://usgovinfo. about. com/cs/censusstatistic/a/womenspay. htm>. Fitzpatrick, Laura. “IF YOU MUST KNOW Why Do Women Still Earn Less Than Men?. ” Time. N. p. , 20 April 2011. Web. 18 Oct 2011. <http://www. time. com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1983185,00. html>.