Did you know that on average women make 77 cents for every dollar a man makes, according to Employee Benefit News?
Shocking right? Why do women who have the same experience, and work the same amount of hours in the same job as their male co-workers make less? It just doesn’t make sense, and it isn’t fair.
Gender plays into pay and so does race. The Employee Benefit Network says that black women are paid 64 cents for every dollar a man is paid. Even worse Hispanic women make even less at 55 cents on the dollar. It’s bad enough that women are paid less because of their gender but it’s even worse that their race comes into play as well.
It’s still confusing why pay discrimination is even happening! ABC News states, more working women hold college degrees than men. This rules out education cause of the gender pay gap. In addition, the White House notes that women make up half of the breadwinners in families in America. Shortchanging women is shortchanging their families. The Economist reports that women make up 51 percent of the workforce. All of these statistics are surprising and a little empowering. Women are dominating in education, and at work, but they are still being grossly underpaid. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, pay discrimination is a silent offense. Many of the women this happens to don’t even know it. Not knowing about it means not being able to fix the problem.
What is the real cause of this discrepancy in pay? There is no definitive answer to this question.
According to Bloomberg Businessweek, the gender pay gap may be a result of women having gaps in their employment history and women tend to enter lower paying fields. However, these claims do not really hold up; just because someone works a lower paying job doesn’t mean they are being discriminated against.
Others like June and David O’Neil say, “The gender pay gap is attributable to choices made by women concerning the amount of time and energy to devote to a career,” (Bloomberg.com). An interesting point, although I don’t exactly believe that this really accounts for the gender pay gap; while some women do work part time to be able to stay home with their families, men do the same thing. However, these are only some of the explanations out there.
While the government has tried to help by passing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (which allows anyone who has ever experienced pay discrimination file a claim against the discriminator), it has only counteracted what President Kennedy did while he was in office. He passed the Equal Pay Act, which allowed anyone who experienced pay discrimination to file a claim within 180 days after the first time they were discriminated against. Unfortunately, many women don’t know they are even being discriminated against, making it very hard to file a claim within that time frame. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act removes the time limit on when the claim can be filed, fixing the Equal Pay Act’s flaw.
Why does this affect me? I’m sure many of you reading this are probably thinking that you will never experience pay discrimination. Wrong! According to USA Today, it has been reported that women have earned less in every occupation except bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks. New statistics from the National Partnership for Women & Families show that all 50 states still have pay discrimination within them (Employee Benefit News). According to Employee Benefit News, the statistics also show that large cities like Seattle, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and Detroit have the largest gender pay gaps. Yes ladies you heard me, Detroit! Pay discrimination hits everywhere, especially home. When you are paying the same amount of money to go to college as men, shouldn’t you expect to get to make the same as them in the workforce? It only makes sense.
While many other efforts have been made to rectify this current predicament, none have truly succeeded. Don’t lose hope! The key to achieving pay equality lies in all of us! We have the power to end the gender pay gap.
Someday we will see fair pay; to insure it there are many things we need to do! Such as spreading the word about the gender pay gap; tell your friends or use social media to promote women’s fair pay. In addition, the National Committee on Pay Equity suggests writing to your government officials and let them know why it’s important to you, and why they should be out there working towards equal pay.
Women, we are dominating in education and in the workforce, but that is not reflected in our pay. Today women are paid much less than their male co-workers for doing the exact same job. While no one knows why the gender pay gap exists, it can easily be fixed, and you hold the power to fix.
Sources:
Bloomberg: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-13/don-t-blame-discrimination-for-gender-wage-gap.html
The Economist: http://www.economist.com/node/15174418
The White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/equal-pay
Bloomberg Businessweek: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-06-21/equal-pay-plaintiffs-burden-of-proof#p1
USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2012/10/24/gender-pay-gap/1652511/
The National Committee on Pay Equity: http://www.pay-equity.org/cando.html
Employee Benefit News: http://ebn.benefitnews.com/news/gender-pay-gap-persists-do-you-live-one-worst-areas-2732289-1.html