Introduction
This letter is addressed to Senator Alan Hays in order to demonstrate the support for the died Bill, which has not received committee hearing – Equal Pay (SB 0098). Just like the identical bill (H 0025), it was ignored by the Senate, thus making it impossible to eradicate employment discrimination and gender inequality in American society. Therefore, this letter is an attempt to prove that similar bills should be passed, as they are determined as county priorities and have a direct influence on the wellbeing of the citizens of Miami, Florida.
Analysis
According to the American Association of University Women (2015), there is a wage gap between working men and women. In this way, women in Florida are paid only 79 percent of men’s average earnings regardless of their educational background, job-related experience, skills, and occupied positions. In the reports of the same organization and different studies, it is stated that the mentioned wage gap exists at all levels from doctors to senators regardless of various bonus programs and system of rewards for productivity (American Association of University Women, 2015; Roth 2016). Still, except for the dignity issues and preserving discrimination in modern society, the challenge of wage inequality is closely connected to the inability to finance decent living and, what is even more critical, medical aid.
Access to professional and high-quality medical aid is one of the most severe problems in the United States of America. The modern-day society operates under the pressure of bias, thus making it extremely complicated to guarantee equal access to timely care. Race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic background are just some of the determinants, justifying inequality (Wang, Shi, Nie, & Zhu, 2013). With the extreme situation in the health care sector, it seems illogical and unjust to create additional artificial barriers for access to professional help.
Even though there is no significant difference between men and women in seeking medical aid, it is critical to point to the fact that women face more health-related risks. For this reason, they should be provided with adequate care. Risks connected to unsafe abortions, childbirth, HIV, sexually transmitted diseases, and gender-related violence are just some of the challenges, which point to the increased need for medical help (Wagner et al., 2013). At the same time, women are forced to spend more resources on satisfying this primary need. In addition, women’s requests are often connected to preventative care as well as helping children under five years old (Wagner et al., 2013). In this way, an ordinary woman, especially a single mother, is responsible for two lives, which becomes extremely complicated in case of limited access to healthcare due to insufficient financial resources and inequality in wages.
Conclusion
That said, it is critical to recognize that unequal pay is not only a violation of fundamental human rights. What is more detrimental, it is the negative investment in the future of the mighty United States because the existence and legal justification of wage gaps lead to inadequate and insufficient health care not only for women but also their children, who are the tomorrow of the country. That is why the request expressed in this letter is to review Equal Pay Bills, especially SB 0098, and pass them in order to show the county’s respect for and care of citizens’ welfare and wellbeing.
References
American Association of University Women. (2015). The fight for pay equity: A federal road map. Web.
Roth, L. (2016). A doctor’s worth: Bonus criteria and the gender gap among American physicians. Social Currents, 3(1), 3-23.
Wagner, A. K., Graves, A. J., Fan, Z., Walker, S., Zhang, F., & Russ-Degnan, S. (2013). Need for and access to health care and medicines: Are there gender inequities? PLoS One, 8(3), 1-10. Web.
Wang, T. F., Shi, L., Nie, X., & Zhu, J. (2013). Race/Ethnicity, insurance, income and access to care: the influence of health status. International Journal for Equity in Health, 12(1), 29-35.