Today is Equal Pay Day. Why is it on April 28th? Well, this is the day in 2009 that the average woman in the U.S. will make as much as the average man made in 2008. Yes, it takes women on average 16 months to make what a man makes in 12 months.
Women in the U.S. make on average only 78 cents for every dollar men make. That number ranges based on what state you live in, from 63 cents in Wyoming to 93 cents in the District of Columbia. But before you DC residents decide to feel smug, that still means that women make less than men.
Some people think that women make less because of the occupations they chose. However, if you compare men's and women's salaries for the same occupation, the gender wage gap is present for the vast majority of occupations. To read about more how and why a few other explanations for the gender wage gap are incorrect, check out a couple of short articles by Hilary Lips (found here and here).
What can you do? Well, you can urge your senators to support the Paycheck Fairness Act. You can also check out the National Women's Law Center's Platform for Progess. And if you make the hiring and salary decisions where you work, then you can take a few moments to think about how your biases may be affecting the process. We'll all benefit from it if you do.
Posts
5 comments:
When I was a teenager, girls and women started at 3:15 an hour while boys and men started at 3:50 an hour. I never quite understood why that was. I was desperate for a job to pay for gas, however, so I didn't fight it. I was also 15 and stupid, so there's that.
I should have included that this pay was for a job at Hardees, a fast food joint in the Midwest.
I've always found this situation hard to understand. In part because when I look at studies it always starts by saying woman only get 78 to 80% of male wages. It then goes on to dispell the myth that it is down to 'choice of career' stating that a gap still exists once this is taken into account, but I've never seen what was taken into account or the 'gap' that remains.
But it clearly remains a problem and it is the same here in the UK to that described in the US.
I wonder how much of it is down to men demanding a higher wage from the start and women accepting a lower wage from the start. Once you have accepted a job, it is hard to argue that you should be paid more or equal to another person working there "on the basis of equality" and I think that is where the efforts to correct the inequality have failed. If I need to hire 10 employees and presuming equal capability and capacity should I be legislated to pay them all the same wage if some say they are happy at £50 per hour and others at £40?
I am not saying anna that the inequality does not exist or that it should not be corrected, but I fail to see how the new legislation is going to 'fix' the problem in the near term, if at all.
The flip side to this argument in the UK is that men struggle to get equality for 'chidcare needs' from an employer as opposed to what a female employee can obtain.
It strikes me that we should all be fighting for equality in the workplace which would make a male no more attractive as an asset than a female. But as long as both the myth and the imbalance exists, that men are less likely to need or to take time off to raise families or assist in childcare, employers will carry on with the incorrect assumption that 'men are worth more because they are more reliable."
"And if you make the hiring and salary decisions where you work, then you can take a few moments to think about how your biases may be affecting the process."
That's a wildly ironic statement coming from someone, "you", who has shown considerable bias (mostly political) in hiring processes. Another Faux (Angry) Feminist blabbing about personal issues rather than really standing up for equality and social justice.
Anon-
If you think I've ever made a hiring decision that was biased politically, then you clearly don't know me. The idea is laugh out loud funny. You also (likely appropriately) know the inner workings of that particular hiring decision, which was made by a group of people, not simply me. Let's just say that if a woman can't answer interview questions and a man can, then the man gets usually hired. Perhaps unfortunate, but true.
From now on, anonymous, attacking comments will be deleted immediately. If you want to attack me, have the guts to do it without hiding behind the internet. Besides, the internet is never completely anonymous... but I hope you are happy and having a good life in TN, regardless of how cowardly you are in your communications with me.
Post a Comment