The US gender pay gap: the way forward

The purpose of this paper is to examine why the gender pay gap (GPG) – with its significant social costs generated through disadvantaging half of the population – persists in the USA despite decades-long efforts toward eradication.

A social provisioning approach, rooted in heterodox economics, is used to examine institutions that create and maintain the US GPG. The GPG is not a natural phenomenon, and, thus, must be examined within a specific social and historical context.

The analysis finds that the institutions of capitalism and patriarchy have created and perpetuated the GPG; however, mainstream economic theory does not consider these institutions and goes as far as explaining away the problem. Current US policies are formulated from this mainstream economic perspective, and, thus, are inherently flawed. The authors propose a reorientation toward a social provisioning theoretical perspective to analyze the GPG, which provides a more meaningful and practical foundation for policy formulation.

This paper provides a comprehensive examination of effective and ineffective theories and policies for addressing the GPG. Additionally, the authors provide concrete policy recommendations to eradicate the GPG.