The Battle for Equal Pay: Democrat vs Republican Views

“Equal pay isn’t just a women’s issue; when women get equal pay, their family incomes rise, and the whole family benefits. -Mike Honda. As years pass by, the wage gap either keeps growing or stays the same. Both parties have different opinions of the wage gap. Some support the wage gap, and some don’t. Women need support from the party, so the government can make a law to make equal pay. Making equal pay benefits families. Some family lacks a parent, and children only have their mother. If women had the same wage as a male, they wouldn’t be financially struggling.

Everyone has an opinion of the wage gap, whether it’s good or bad. Utah Republican, James Green, argues the wage gap is good because traditionally, the male work and women stay home, and we shouldn’t change the tradition. According to the Washington Post, Mr. Green wrote, “If businesses are forced to pay women the same as male earnings, that means they will have to reduce they pay for the men they employ, simple economics.” (Phillips, 2017) When the Washington Post released the article, Mr. Green received some backlash, and friends distanced themselves from Mr. Green. (Phillips, 2017) Later that year, The Trump administration blocked the Obama program for private businesses to report their pay data according to sex, race, and ethnicity. (North, 2017)

According to Vox, blocking this program caused women and colored people not to get paid the same as a white males doing the job. (North, 2017) The pay data are important because businesses must show how much everyone’s wage is, and the government can force businesses to pay women or colored people the same as a white male, or the data can help the government to pass a bill for business to pay women and color people the equal to a white male. According to Vox’s Sarah Kliff, she explained a study showing $1 a white male makes, a woman or a colored person will only make an average of 71 cents. (North, 2017) When a white male makes $1, a Hispanic woman makes 57 cents. Not all Republicans think the same. According to the Vox post, three Republicans support the program. (North, 2017)

The Democrat party has favored equal pay. Recently the Democrat party has been pushing to renew for equal pay bill. According to ABC news, Obama signed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law ten years ago, and the act hasn’t helped women get paid the same. (Parkinson, 2019) Democrat has been saying that there is progress toward pay equality for women and colored people. According to Ms. Ledbetter, “I’m here because equal pay for equal work is an American value, and it’s time that we have American reality.” (Parkinson, 2019)

As the government was shut down in January, Nancy Pelosi (Speaker of the United State House of Representatives) is pressing on the Paycheck Fairness Act. The Democrats are hoping that this act will help close the wage gap and allow people to get paid what they are worth and work for. According to a study by the American Association of University Women, full-time women workers are getting paid an average of 80 cents to one dollar a white male makes. (Parkinson, 2019) The study still shows Latinas, and black women are getting paid the lowest. Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortex supports the Paycheck Fairness Act stating the act is “a powerful message that says women matter, that people of all gender identities should be treated equally.” (Parkinson, 2019)

In conclusion, women are still fighting for equal pay, and most Democrats support the idea that every race, sex, ethnic is paid the same as a white male doing the job. With the Democrats fighting for the new equal pay act, the smaller the wage gap is going to be, and the new law will show the next generation of women and colored people matter. If you work and put in your strength, you should be paid what you are worth. Not all Republicans have the same mentality, and some support pays equality. We need to understand people in the government all have different opinions, but if we believe something is wrong, we need to fight for it.

Works Cited

1. North, A. (2017, September 14). Vox. Retrieved from Vox: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/9/14/16307190/gender-pay-gap-equal-pay-republicans
2. Parkinson, J. (2019, January 30). ABC News. Retrieved from ABC News: https://abcnews.go.com/beta-story-container/Politics/dems-renew-push-equal-pay-equal-work-time/story?id=60725100
3. Phillips, K. (2017, February 19). Washington Post. Retrieved from Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/02/19/utah-republican-argues-against-equal-pay-for-women-its-bad-for-families-and-society/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.8cef27c06115

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