Causes
There are few contributing factors to the pay gap between men and women. For "what causes the remaining gap of more than 10 cents on the dollar—or $4,465 per year among workers making the median wage—between men and women? This is less clear but perhaps more troubling. More than 40 percent of the gender wage gap is “unexplained,” meaning that there is no obvious measurable reason for a difference in pay. This leaves us with possible explanations that range from overt sexism to unintentional gender-based discrimination to reluctance among women to negotiate for higher pay “What accounts for the difference in earnings between men and women? According to the literature, observable factors that affect pay—such as education, job experience, hours of work, and so on—explain no more than 50 percent of the wage gap”. That means that the other 50% of the pay gap has absolutely no reason behind it.
Effects
The effect that this pay gap has on women is that women are ultimately not equal to men. If women do not have the same opportunities as men then they will never be equal to men, and society will not progress. When progress is put to a halt then we will never move forward, and isn't that are point in life, to move forward and do what we can for this world? The effect of women being paid less then men goes much deeper than women just not being able to have the same fancy cars or houses. The gap between men and women is the very reason behind this society not being able to move forward. Closing the Gender Gap is our worlds next step towards equality. Our next step toward progress.