To Vice President, Kamala Harris 

Petitioners: Sophia Eagan, Claire Masters, and Ema Mustafa

Description of The Issue at Hand

Within the workplace, there is a major issue surrounding employee salaries. Specifically, women are underpaid and devalued. Ever since the beginning of civilizations, Women have always earned less money than men, despite working the same job and hours. Countless efforts have been made to help this issue. Our community has indeed come a long way, but there's still room for improvement. It is promised by the United States Constitution that, “all men are created equal”, yet in the workplace, it seems that only men are treated this way. 

Statistics Surrounding Wages

• “For every 1 dollar a man makes, a woman earns 82 cents. Not only that, but African American women make 63% of what a white man makes, and Hispanic women make 54%  of what white men make.” (Equal pay for work of equal value)
• Our community values fairness, for a multitude of reasons. Creating a fair work environment allows workers to be appreciated and recognized for the efforts they make and their performance. Fairness would also mean that women and men begin on the same playing field and have equal chances for opportunities. Women are not paid fairly. Instead, women are set back due to things out of their control. Considering that you are born a certain race and there is nothing possible to change that, it is extremely unfair that skin color can have such a large impact on salary. This directly goes against what our country stands for. Fairness is not apparent in the workplace until women are treated with the same respect as men.
• “In retirement, a woman has 70% of the savings that a man has. (The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap) This causes more women to have lower lifetime pay.” (International Approaches to Closing the Gender Wage Gap)  
• We strongly value the idea of equality and believe women and men should be equal. Bringing equality to these women would mean that they would earn the same lifetime pay. Considering most of these women have spent a large portion of their lives working, it is devastating to hear that even as they are growing older, they still can not earn money comparable to men. The morally right decision would be to bring equality for these women. Giving men and women an equal retirement fund could serve as a chance to bring equality to women who never experienced it while working.

Mental Effects Of Devaluing Women

• “Family caregiving responsibilities bring different pressures for working women and men, and research has shown that being a mother can reduce women’s earnings, while fatherhood can increase men’s earnings.” (The gender pay gap in the U.S. hasn't changed much in two decades)
• As women, it is extremely important to us that women are granted justice while working. Women and men should both be validated and praised for their performance at their work. If there happens to be an imbalance between men and women, justice should be granted to them. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Considering that a man and a woman would be doing the same job, there is no reason that the man should be paid more. Being a parent to a child is extremely difficult, particularly while having a job. Handling both tasks can be extremely overwhelming and can even take a toll on a person’s mental health. Adding this pay gap would only intensify the struggles these women already face. Something like this can create a larger impact on women's mental health. If they are not appreciated by their peers in the workplace, the lack of validation can turn into self-hatred. It is extremely degrading for women to watch their male counterparts be rewarded for something that they are punished for. Providing justice for these women would prevent emotional damage and could even improve their performance with this confidence boost.
• “Women with a bachelor’s degree earn 74 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts with the same level of education. The pay gap between men and women only widens with more education.”(Gender Pay Gap Statistics In 2024)
• Our community believes that fairness should be granted to all employees in the workplace. If women and men have gone through the same amount of schooling and have the same knowledge, they should be treated as the same. In reality, if women have achieved the same amount of years or work in a certain field they are still being paid significantly less. This is extremely degrading to women and completely ignores the efforts they have made to get the jobs they have. With all the years of schooling that have gone through, they should be promised equal pay. This can be very upsetting to the women who work in fields that require many years of school work. Watching all of their efforts get completely ignored would not benefit a woman's mental health. Women might even question why they pursued their careers if they are not getting the salary they deserve. Creating a fair wage between genders would give women the recognition that they have worked so hard for. It would also improve the mental health of many women.

Gender Discrimination Within Hollywood

• “The first red flag came when Stratton and Kilgen were told that they'd have to split a single salary — a stipulation that didn't apply to the male writers on the staff.” (Olivia Singh)
• Part of the reason we are members of this group is that we believe that women in the workplace should constantly feel equal to their male co-workers. If this were implemented in the workplace, there would not be a constant comparison between men and women. On top of that, women would not always feel that they were any less than their male peers. Currently, the treatment of female writers is completely unfair. The issue with this is that it is challenging for women to feel this way when they earn much less than men. Our community values equality within the workplace, yet this directly contradicts that. Not only is it terrible to pay two writers for the price of one, but this tactic was intentionally used on women only. There is no reason a man should earn more than a woman for putting in the same effort. Creating equality in the workplace produces a better environment for all the people involved. This can avoid conflict between employees and can make the job more enjoyable for them.
• “After an Image awarding movie ‘The Color Purple’ Remake, starring Taraji P. Henson, a heavily achieved actor, came to a press interview with Sirius XM and Gayle King, where she opened up about the unfair pay for women of color in Hollywood. Stating ‘It seems every time I do something and break another glass ceiling, when it's time to renegotiate, I'm at the bottom again, like I never did what I just did, and I'm tired,’.” (Interview)
• As women, we strongly value equality among actors on the sets of films. No matter gender or race, actors should be given the same opportunities and the same recognition for their work. Expecting equality within movie sets should not be such a large request. Sadly it has become normalized to underpay women in Hollywood. The fact that unequal pay is happening in our community is a problem, and it should be fixed as soon as possible. It is not fair to Taraji P. Henson that she was discredited for her performance in “The Color Purple ''. This has a large impact on us. As young girls growing up, we should be ensured that we can enter a workplace where we are treated the same as men. As of right now, the only promise we have is that we will not nearly be as valued as the men we work with. Bringing equality to these sets would allow the women to gain the credit they deserve. This would even inspire more people to join the business if they know that they will be successful.

A Solution to The Issue at Hand

We ask that you address this problem. In our opinion, the most effective way would be creating a law causing women and men to earn the same salary while working the same job. Issues regarding women's pay would slowly but surely be eliminated with equal pay. Single mothers, retired women, and young girls in college would not have the burden of unfair pay, equal pay would prevent poverty or low income in a big family later on. The idea that women won’t be paid fairly until decades later when we have become mothers has encouraged us to use our voices to compel our community to change. This law would ensure that women were getting paid equally to their male counterparts, to do this auditors would make sure that the pay gap is little to none with the support of the law. We respectfully demand equal pay, because it is right for the women in our country to have the same rights as men. 

If change is made, this will help us live up to the idea that “All people are born free and equal.” This directly connects to the issue at hand since women are born equal, yet they are not treated this way. As of right now, only white men are treated with this democratic concept. When a man becomes a father, he is paid even more. When a man retires, he earns 30% more than a woman would. Lastly, when a man works, he earns 18 cents more for each dollar, than a woman would. Living up to this idea would allow women and men to earn the same amount of money. This motivated us to use our voices since it is evident that the people controlling this issue are not going to change anything anytime soon. If this problem is solved, the U.S. will truly be able to say, “All people are born free and equal.”