Gender pay gap is the difference in the amount of money between women and men often for the same job, expressed in percentage of the men’s earnings. Although women have come a long way, considering they could not even vote at the beginning of the twentieth century, they still are far from being equal socially and economically with men. It was only after the Nineteenth Amendment that women got the right to vote, and it took another 30-50 years for the women’s movement to take place, and to this day still goes on. Women had to fight about their political rights, reproductive rights, sexual harassment, sexual abuse, discrimination, and cultural and social equality. Although this economic and socially outrage continues, more females are bringing pay scales into line, and financial equity should come for this generation of fierce women.
On June 10, 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law and declared an end to the ‘unconscionable practice of paying female employees less wages than male employees for the same job.’ (Bellows, Laurel). That happened 50 years ago, and at that time, women earned 59 cents to every dollar earned by men. Today, a woman who works full time earns just 77 cents to a man’s dollar. Women have achieved only 18 cents in 50 years. This wage gap continues to persist across all professions, for all races, at all different educational levels and in all geographic areas within the United States. (Bellows, Laurel)
First, let’s take a closer look of what are some of the main factors that cause this inequality. Some of the industries that women work, as shown in the chart below, from maids and housekeeping cleaners, hair stylists and cosmetologists to administrative assistants and registered nurses, all of these tend to pay less than industries than men work.
Even after all their emancipation, the number of women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM jobs), is still very low compared to men working for the same occupations. In other industries men tend to get higher paid jobs than those that women get. Sadly, what is also noticeable from this chart published but the United States Census Bureau, is that does not matter if we talk about industries where are predominated by women or man, the difference is always there. The gender wage gap should concern us because it is an evidence that we do not have a gender-equal society. (Shawn M. Burn Ph.D.) The closest pay gap from the chart is bakers and the biggest gap is for the financial managers.
Another main factor that contributes to the economic inequality is the paternal and maternal leave. USA is one of the few countries in the whole world that does not have legislation that enforces companies to give paternal and maternal leave, although there is a federal law that guarantees certain employees twelve weeks of unpaid leave each year without threatening their jobs, known as the FMLA act. Most companies still expect their employees to use their regular vacation time. Just a few of them have paid maternity leave programs on their own this is not required by any law. Paternity leave is almost non-existent among most of the US companies. Being in this situation, a lot of women are forced to leave their jobs and dedicate to child rearing.
Coming back in the workforce a few years later, the gaps in the employment and the lack of the same work experience as men would cause women to get a lower pay. Women are less likely to be employed once they have a child, particularly in comparison to men: in 2014, the employment rate for mothers with a child under age 18 was about 23.5 percentage points lower than that for fathers with a child under age 18 (US BLS, 2015b). Sometimes it feels like the current legislation is made to set women to fail.
Furthermore, considering that childcare is unaffordable for many people, a lot of women find part-time jobs to be flexible and make more time caring about young children or elderly parents and fulfill other commitments. According to Adema, Clarke, and Frey less than two-thirds of working-age women are in employment compared to almost three-quarters of working-age men, and women who work are far more likely to be in part-time or reduced-hours employment than their male peers.
Another factor is salary negotiation and raises. As a matter of fact, women ask less often for raises throughout their career, and that creates a cumulative effect. By the age of sixty-five, the average woman will have lost $431,000 over her lifetime as a result of the earnings gap.
Why does it happen?
What can be done to lower this pay gap? Making policies and the necessary legislative changes for both paternity and maternity leave would be one of the main solutions.
“Paid parental leave and subsidized child-care help to get and keep more women in the workforce, contribute to economic growth, offer cognitive and health benefits to children, and give parents options in defining their preferred work-life strategy.’ (Willem Adema, Chris Clarke, and Valerie Frey).
As in now, California is the only State that offers paid maternity leave. A federal program should be in place to ensure a paid paternity leave nation-wide. The evidence analyzed in the article by Adema, Clarke, and Frey shows that paid family leave increases the likelihood that women work, both by giving them an incentive to work prior to childbirth and by offering them employment protection to facilitate their return to the same job.
In addition, there is already a federal law that requires transparency for the wages of all the government employees, although it did not eliminate the wage gap, it helped to lower the gap among these employees. (Canales, Bilma). What if the same law would apply to all industries, to private corporations and companies? There should be policies into place that enforce the wage transparency for the private companies, for the same reasons that the federal government requires wage transparency for federal employees, which, would not only lower the wage gap but would also facilitate salary negotiations for women. It would also encourage them to ask for raises more often making sure they are being paid fairly according to the market rate.
Another way of attracting more companies and businesses to embrace paid paternity leave would be tax breaks for the ones that offer it. Also, women and families, especially the lower income ones, should have an easier access to childcare, which is currently unaffordable for many households. A subsidized and more affordable childcare would reduce the number of women who take lower pay and part-time jobs just to be flexible for the child-rearing.
As we mentioned earlier the number of women who are employed in STEM jobs is very low to compare to men working in the same industries. That number can actually be increased by providing more accessible and less expensive programs for women. A suggestion would be offering a lower college tuition for all women who study STEM major.
Women have been waiting for generations, and the last decade the changes in the gap are insignificant. It is time for this generation to make a change, more awareness and informative programs should be done across the country. The gender gap does not affect only women, affects society as a whole. The lower gender wage gap, means lower poverty line, higher quality and more access to childcare, and a higher quality education. “Gains that women could make through equal pay could contribute to gains in the GDP at a rate equivalent to adding another state the size of Virginia. Each woman, including those that would gain nothing, would earn $6,251 more annually on average. This would reduce poverty by half for all families with a working woman as well as working women who live alone.” (Valerie Martinelli)
References
- Adema, Willem Clarke, Chris Frey, Valerie International Social Security Review. Apr-Jun2016, Vol. 69 Issue 2, p29-51. 23p https://web-b-ebscohost-com.ezp.tccd.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=4&sid=91d57027-19b3-4e72-b664-9ce96fbb5653%40pdc-v-sessmgr05&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=117923619&db=a9h.
- Canales, Bilma. Houston Law Review. Symposium 2018, Vol. 55 Issue 4, p969-997. 29phttps://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=e0160c72-9f49-471a-855d-4500abce52ca%40sessionmgr101&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=a9h&AN=129505492
- COVERT, BRYCE. New Republic. Jul/Aug2018, Vol. 249 Issue 7/8, p4-6. 3p. 1 Color Photographhttps://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=2b306876-6d69-49dc-869a-a6604c91d828%40sessionmgr102&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=130105671&db=a9h
- Shawn M. Burn Ph.D. Psychology Today Apr 10, 2014 https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/presence-mind/201404/the-gender-pay-gap
- Bellows, Laurel ABA Journal. Jun2013, Vol. 99 Issue 6, p8-8. 1p. 1 Color Photograph. https://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=88c0de60-9a89-4ed1-b945-cd9f3fa2dd40%40pdc-v-sessmgr06&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=87975301&db=a9h
- Valerie Martinelli, The Gender Pay Gap, Careers in Government, Oct 9, 2015 https://www.careersingovernment.com/tools/gov-talk/career-advice/on-the-job/closing-the-gender-wage-gap-benefits-the-economy/
- https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/2018/comm/womens-earnings.html
