Change Your World Week Winter 2022 (Archived)

The gender pay gap has been an ongoing struggle for women across the United States throughout. The pay gap first became a problem when women were first allowed to be apart of the work force. They were given jobs that were available because these were the jobs that men did not want to take. The men did not want to take these jobs because of how low the pay was. The government could not resist the cheap labor of women, so many women filled these very low paying jobs. At this time, the late 1800s, men and women were not allowed to work together because the temptation was "too great". So the women were objectified and often got excluded out of the higher paying jobs which were held by men simply because their gender made them too tempting to their male counterparts.  Since then, the gender pay gap has continued to be a persistent issue. The cost of living is constantly raising over time, and women have not been able to catch up to the men. This is an extremely outdated issue that needs immediate solving. A person is a person, regardless of their gender, and deserves to be paid the same for the same work. 

• On average, women make 82 cents for every dollar that a man makes.
• The Covid-19 Pandemic has worsened the pay gap, adding 36 years to how long it is expected to take for women to receive equal pay. 
• It is now estimated that it will take 136 years to close the pay gap at its current rate. 
• In 40 percent of United States households, the woman is the primary earner. Having a gender pay gap makes it extremely difficult on many American families when the woman of the house is expected to make the money for the family. 
• Some occupations that typically pay less than others, such as social work, teaching, and nursing, are often times occupied by women. However, when men still earn more in these primarily woman dominated fields. 
• Jobs where woman make up 58 percent of the profession, they are still only paid 80 cents for every dollar a man in the same field makes. 
• Most women with advanced degrees earn less than white men with only a bachelors degree. 
• Women with a Doctorate earn 32 percent less than men with a Doctorate. 
• Women with a Masters degree earn 29 percent less than men with a Masters degree. 

Women of color in the United States, experience the nation's tenacious and prevalent gender pay gap to the most extreme. This gap represents the ever-present issue of sexism and white privilege in the United States, and how our country continues to devalue and undermine women of color and their labor. A gender pay gap amounts to more than just a few cents lost: 

Latinas and the Gender Pay Gap:

According to nationalpartnership.org, Latinas are frequently paid just 57 cents for every dollar paid to a non-Hispanic, white man. The median annual income for a Latina in the U.S. who holds a full-time, year-round job is $38,718 while alternatively, a white man who holds a full-time, year-round job is $67,629 a difference of $28,911. If the wage gap were eliminated, on average a typical Latina working in the United States would have enough money to pay for approximately:

• Close to 37 months of childcare
• 19 additional months of premiums for employer-based health care
• 3 additional years of tuition and fees for a four-year public university, or the full cost of tuition and fees for a two-year college

Black Women and the Gender Pay Gap: 

Black women are paid on average just 64 cents for every dollar paid to a non-Hispanic, white man. The median annual pay for a Black woman in the United States who holds a full-time, year-round job is $43,209, while the median annual pay for a white, non-Hispanic man who holds a full-time, year-round job is $67,629 a difference of $24,420 per year. If the annual wage gap were closed, a typical Black woman working in the United States would have enough money to pay for approximately:

• More than two and a half additional years of tuition and fees for a four-year public university, or the full cost of tuition and fees for a two-year college
•  More than 31 more months of childcare
• Nearly 16 additional months of premiums for employer-based health insurance.

White Women and the Gender Pay Gap

White, non-Hispanic women are typically paid 79 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men. The median annual pay for a white, non-Hispanic woman in the United States who holds a full-time, year-round job is $53,731, while the median annual pay for a white, non-Hispanic man who holds a full-time, year-round job is $67,629, a difference of $13,898 per year. If the annual wage gap were eliminated, a typical white woman working in the United States would have enough money to pay for approximately:

• About one and a half additional years of tuition and fees for a four-year public university, or the full cost of tuition and fees for a two-year college;
• Nearly eighteen more months of child care;
• More than 9 additional months of premiums for employer-based health insurance

Women Overall and the Gender Pay Gap

Women in the United States are typically paid 82 cents for every dollar paid to men. The median annual pay for a woman who holds a full-time, year-round job is $50,982 while the median annual pay for a man who holds a full-time, year-round job is $61,417, a difference of $10,435 per year. If the wage gap were eliminated, a typical woman working in the United States would have enough money to pay for approximately:

• More than a full additional year of tuition and fees for a four-year public university, or the full cost of tuition and fees for a two-year college; 
• More than 13 additional months of child care;
• Nearly seven additional months of premiums for employer-based health insurance.

Below is a graph of the median weekly earnings for women separated by race/ethnicity and education compared to a white, nonhispanic men. As you can see, across each level of education, white men earn more than women of the same education level.

Numerous factors drive the pay differences within the gender pay gap. Factors include, but are not limited to, differences in industries or jobs worked, differences in hours worked, and differences in years of experience. Other reasons consist of the effects of discrimination and bias within the workplace. 

Differences in industries or jobs worked

Researchers see the effects of occupational segregation, or the funneling of women and men into different types of industries and jobs based on gender norms and expectations. So-called women’s jobs, which are jobs that have historically had majority-female workforces, such as home health aides and teachers, tend to offer lower pay and fewer benefits than "man's" jobs, which are jobs that have predominantly male workforces, including jobs in trades such as building and construction. These gendered differences are true across all industries and the vast majority of occupations, at all levels, from frontline workers to mid-level managers to executive leaders.

Differences in years of experience

Women are disproportionately driven out of the workforce to accommodate caregiving and other unpaid obligations and thus tend to have less work experience than men. Access to paid family and medical leave makes women more likely to return to work and more likely to return sooner. However, as of March 2019, only 19 percent of workers had access to paid family leave through their employers (American Progress) and only 40 percent had access to short-term disability insurance benefits to deal with their own medical needs (American Progress).

Differences in hours worked

Women tend to work fewer hours to accommodate caregiving and other unpaid obligations, they are also more likely to work part-time, which means lower hourly wages and fewer benefits compared with full-time workers.

Discrimination

Gender-based pay discrimination has been illegal since 1963 but is still a frequent, widespread practice, particularly for women of color. It can thrive especially in workplaces that discourage open discussion of wages and where employees fear retaliation. Beyond explicit decisions to pay women less than men, employers may discriminate in pay when they rely on prior salary history in hiring and compensation decisions; this can enable pay decisions that could have been influenced by discrimination to follow women from job to job.

The gender gap in pay has remained relatively stable in the United States over the past 15 years or so. In 2020, women earned 84% of what men earned, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of median hourly earnings of both full- and part-time workers. Based on this estimate, it would take an extra 42 days of work for women to earn what men did in 2020.

As has been the case in recent decades, the 2020 wage gap was smaller for workers ages 25 to 34 than for all workers 16 and older. Women ages 25 to 34 earned 93 cents for every dollar a man in the same age group earned on average. In 1980, women ages 25 to 34 earned 33 cents less than their male counterparts, compared with 7 cents in 2020. The estimated 16-cent gender pay gap among all workers in 2020 was down from 36 cents in 1980.

1. Raise the minimum wage

Women make up a disproportionate share of low-wage workers, and estimates show that differences between women’s and men’s occupations could account for nearly one-half of the gender wage gap.

2. Raise the tipped minimum wage

The gender wage gap is particularly prominent among tipped workers. The federal tipped minimum wage, which hasn’t been changed since 1991, only pays workers $2.13 per hour. 

3. Support fair scheduling practices

Women, especially women of color, are more likely to work in low-wage jobs and often have rigid, unpredictable schedules that can change with little notice, making it difficult for working parents—especially mothers—to anticipate their schedules and arrange for child care.

4. Support pay transparency

When women are not able to discuss their salaries with their colleagues, they often cannot tell when they are making less than their male colleagues for doing the same job.

5. Invest in affordable, high-quality child care and early childhood education

Each day, 11 million children spend time in the care of someone other than a parent. Among children under age 6, 65 percent either live with only a single parent who works or two parents who both work. 

6. Pass paid sick days legislation

Everyone gets sick, but not everyone has time to get better. Almost 40 million U.S. workers, or about 40 percent of the private-sector workforce, do not have access to any paid sick days. 

7. Pass a national paid family and medical leave insurance program

Because caregiving responsibilities most often fall to women and mothers, women are more likely to have to leave the paid labor force to provide family care.