Women Catch Up With Men's 2006 Earnings Today

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Equal Pay Day, on April 24, is not quite a national holiday. In fact, it's something of an anti-holiday, marking how far into 2007 a woman must work to earn as much as a man earned last year. Although women have made gains over the last century, by the most basic measure -- pay -- they continue to earn 77 cents on the male dollar, even if they have similar educational levels and work in similar kinds of jobs as their male counterparts.

The gender pay gap should be a concern to all Americans, not just women. The typical wife in the United States brings home about one-third of her family's income, and over the past generation, families with a working wife have been more likely to move up the income ladder. When women are short-changed, the whole family suffers.

This embarrassing fact -- hidden in plain view -- tends to trigger a barrage of objections from economic and cultural conservatives. Aren't women just making poor choices? they ask. Their argument is that even if most women probably don't "choose" to be paid less than their male colleagues, they do continue to choose to work in different jobs than men and take on the role of primary caregiver at home. Let's look at the reality. Women are disproportionately represented in lower-paid occupations like nursing, teaching, retail sales, and clerical work, and are more likely than men to work in the nonprofit sector. Women who attend college continue to choose majors that prepare for them for less-well-paid professions (but even within occupations, in the first year out of school, men earn more). And confronted with the reality of anti-family workplaces, women continue to not only do the most caretaking but also bear the economic brunt through lowered lifetime earnings.

So clearly, women, through their choice of occupation, college major and, ahem, "sensitivity" to the well-being of the young and defenseless, are making "bad" choices. If policymakers want to do something about this aspect of the inequality, they'll pretty much have to focus on getting high school guidance counselors to steer women into nontraditional, higher paid jobs.

So it's women's fault, right? Not quite. A sizeable chunk of the pay gap remains unexplained (41 percent, according to economists) by such basic life decisions. This means that if women worked in the same jobs as men and had the same educational and the same experience levels, they would still be making only 90 cents for every male dollar. How do we close this final gap?

First off, the remaining gap is not because women are choosing the jobs that allow them to balance work and family. Contrary to this myth, the reality is that mothers are actually less likely to be employed in jobs that provide greater flexibility (see PDF, here, for details). Only about a quarter of today's work force reports having any workplace flexibility, and it's the better educated, white and male workers who generally have more flexibility to run out of the office for a family emergency, take the afternoon off to take their child to the dentist, etc.

We need to encourage -- or even mandate -- that employers offer workplace flexibility (when possible), and paid parental leave and sick leave. Mothers and caretakers are discriminated against in the workplace -- they earn less than nonmothers even in the same jobs with the same experience and education. Men who take on care responsibilities are also often discriminated against, passed up for promotions or not seen as "dedicated" to the job.

Women -- and all workers -- need to be able to take some time off from work when they have to provide care. Yet, only about half of all U.S. workers have access to anticipated, unpaid leave (under the Family and Medical Leave Act), and even less have paid leave. And, of course, the less a woman earns, the less likely she is to have any leave, paid or unpaid. Highly educated women, who are more likely to have paid maternity leave than less educated women, have smoother transitions back to work after their child is born and are significantly more likely to return to their same employer. Unfortunately, this is the exception, not the rule.

Better leave policies can make workplaces more family -- and woman -- friendly. Nearly two-thirds of workers (both full-time and part-time) do not have access to paid sick leave to care for a sick child. The share of employees without paid sick leave for themselves or a child's illness rises to 84 percent in construction and nondurable manufacturing and 94 percent in accommodations and food services, an industry that disproportionately employs women.

We can close the gap in pay between men and women. But it will require that we expect employers to acknowledge that most workers are also caregivers and that this means that workers need some flexibility to be able to be both good workers and good parents. Size (of women's pay) does matter, and not just to women but to all of us.

http://alternet.org/workplace/50947/

[Sinergy 3]

I make more than most of the men at my job, so im content

[Fandango 1,440]

I make more than most of the men at my job, so im content

omG took the exact words outta my mouth....

[Sinergy 3]

I make more than most of the men at my job, so im content

omG took the exact words outta my mouth....

Good minds think alike

[Jasman0717 9]

I am in IT and it definitely is equal opportunity and pay

[Sinergy 3]

I am in IT and it definitely is equal opportunity and pay

It depends, depends on who is certified and who is not. The main reason i went to get microsoft certified is to make more money in the IT department at my company. I was told i can be brought in with my associates degree in computer science, but if i had certs, id make almost double. And i know for a fact there are 4 IT dudes with a college degree and no certs.

The IT career is more certified and knowledge than worrying over who has equal pay

thats why i love the IT industry

But i think its great you dont have probs in your company

[mawilson 2,133]

Equal Pay Day, on April 24, is not quite a national holiday. In fact, it's something of an anti-holiday, marking how far into 2007 a woman must work to earn as much as a man earned last year.

And that's a bad thing? I thought they were still catching up with 1980's wages

[russ 1]

A lot of what you get paid is how much you ask for. Being in business for myself, I know that if customers are not complaining about my prices, I'm not charging enough.

It depends, depends on who is certified and who is not. The main reason i went to get microsoft certified is to make more money in the IT department at my company. I was told i can be brought in with my associates degree in computer science, but if i had certs, id make almost double. And i know for a fact there are 4 IT dudes with a college degree and no certs.

The IT career is more certified and knowledge than worrying over who has equal pay

thats why i love the IT industry

But i think its great you dont have probs in your company

[Sinergy 3]

A lot of what you get paid is how much you ask for. Being in business for myself, I know that if customers are not complaining about my prices, I'm not charging enough.

It depends, depends on who is certified and who is not. The main reason i went to get microsoft certified is to make more money in the IT department at my company. I was told i can be brought in with my associates degree in computer science, but if i had certs, id make almost double. And i know for a fact there are 4 IT dudes with a college degree and no certs.

The IT career is more certified and knowledge than worrying over who has equal pay

thats why i love the IT industry

But i think its great you dont have probs in your company

how did that have anything to do with my statement??

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

In my nuclear field it's equal work, equal pay. Sadly it's 95% male still.

Edited April 24, 2007 by LuckyStrike

[Jenn! 918]

How does everyone know what their coworkers are making? I have no idea.

[almaty 19]

i know more about what my clients make than my co-workers

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

How does everyone know what their coworkers are making? I have no idea.

Ask them. That's how we know.

[mawilson 2,133]

How does everyone know what their coworkers are making? I have no idea.

Ask them. That's how we know.

That, or buy the sysadmin a drink and he will give you a copy of the spreadsheet where the boss keeps everyone's salaries.

[Sinergy 3]

How does everyone know what their coworkers are making? I have no idea.

one person says what they make, then you have this:

[in valley girl accent] "oh my god, you make more than me,thats just so not fair!!"

[manly man voice] "yo, thats f***ed up, you make more than me?"

and this just goes around the room i stay outta these conversations, i dont want ANYONE knowing what i make.