The New York Times • Opinion

“Unequal pay hurts women. It hurts their families. And it hurts us all.”
— Lilly Ledbetter, whose lawsuit against the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. led to the signing of the Fair Pay Act of 2009

By: Abigail Costello

A woman holds a sign calling for equal pay during a Los Angeles (Getty Images/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Ronen Tivony)
Photo credit to Getty Images.

The gender pay gap is an issue affecting women all over the world. Everybody deserves equal wages for equal work, despite gender or race. To decrease the poverty rate among women and help them achieve economic security, we need to commit to pursuing steps toward equal pay.

Over the past few decades, women have entered various careers in the workforce in record numbers as they made great strides in educational achievement. A wage gap causes women to make less than their male co-workers. Women are more likely to hold low-wage jobs, which makes them more likely to live in poverty. These gender-wage disparities can harm multiple factors of a woman’s life, such as her educational career, occupation, etc.

As a college student working towards a degree, I worry about my future enough as it is. However, as a woman, the wage gap increases my concerns regarding my future career. How will the wage gap affect me financially in the future? Since my income will be lower than my male co-workers, I will receive less social security and pension when I retire. Will I be economically secure enough to retire at my desired retirement age?

I recently read an article called ‘Closing the pay gap and beyond,’ a report by Alyssa Davis and Ellie Gould that shows strategies for improving economic security for every woman suffering from the wage gap. The report was keen on reversing the decades-long trend of stagnant salaries for the vast majority of workers. Davis and Gould explain how gender wage equivalency does not improve women’s economic opportunities to the greatest extent if wages for men and women remain equal but stagnant. They state that in order to maximize women’s monetary security, claiming “to maximize women’s economic security, we must raise wages by pursuing policies that intentionally tilt bargaining power back toward low- and moderate-wage workers, and we must end discriminatory practices that contribute to the gender wage gap.”

The gender pay gap has narrowed significantly over the past few years, so reductions in the pay gap driven by equal approaches will bolster progress to economic equality amongst men and women.

Despite notable advancements regarding gender equality in the workforce, women get paid 83 cents for every dollar men make, which continues to harm our nation’s workers and the natural economy. Through the SUNY New Paltz library database, I discovered an article called ‘Closing the gender pay gap: when and how?’ The report states that recent estimates by the World Economic Forum state that at the pace we are moving with closing the pay gap, the pay gap will take 217 years to shut. Around 90% of trusts favor men, which is repugnant because women also deserve economic empowerment, especially since we are doing the same work as men. The article calls out how, despite people raising awareness of the issue, there has been a lack of commitment to pursue steps for improvement.

Personally, I feel the first and one of the most crucial steps to closing the wage gap is raising awareness of the issue, as we can’t close the gap if people aren’t aware of the gap. However, we are doing nothing for the cause if we raise awareness and don’t act out in attempting to close the gap. As important as it is to speak out to the media about these issues, it will not be enough to close the gap.

Many people have the opinion that the wage gap is a myth. They say things such as, “Men pick higher-paying jobs! Men work longer hours!” While it’s true that women are more likely to work lower-income jobs such as education and health care, the pay gap also persists in those professions. Unequal pay harms women and their families, and their job choice is the least consequential reason for the pay gap.

I read an article called ‘Womansplaining the Pay Gap,’ where Jessica Bennett, a New York Times’s gender editor and author of the book “Feminist Fight Club,” demystifies some typically misconstrued elements of the pay gap. In this article, Jessica Bennett states, “..while it’s true that women are more likely to work in lower-paying fields like education and health care, the pay gap also persists within those fields.” So, while it seems just to blame the pay gap on the fact that women typically take on lower-income jobs, the pay gap persists even in female-dominated careers.

PPD's UK Gender Pay Gap Report 2021 | PPD Inc

Photo credit to Shutterstock.

Managing work and home is a commitment traditionally passed on to women, especially after they have children. Women’s salaries often suffer when they return to work after having children. However, even in their first year out of college, childless women earn 93 percent of what their male peers do, even with similar G.P.A. and are working in the same fields. Women ask for raises as often as men. However, they are less likely to receive them. As much as I would love for the gap to close, it seems it will take decades to shut it (and I’m not exaggerating). Women and their families have suffered financially for enough time, which is why I feel strongly about eternally barring the gap.

I could go on and on about how we need to take action to close the wage gap, but what measures do we take to close the gap? How do companies help narrow the pay gap? Gender equality is crucial for associations that hope to function at the most heightened levels, which requires ensuring that women and men have equal opportunities and receive adequate incomes.

Unequal Career Advancement Fuels Gender Pay Gap

Photo credit to iStock

The article ‘EqualPay Counts: What Companies Can Do’ explains how employees paid equitably are more committed because they are more likely to put in more effort and have better job performance, which contrasts with employees who will probably quit their job and look for a new one if they feel the company they work for has been underpaying them. While backing their stance that “closing the pay gap isn’t just the right thing for companies to do, it’s the smart thing to do,” the article explains that for companies to heighten employee job performance by keeping an equal and secure work environment, they can take the four following steps:

The first step is to conduct a pay audit. As stated before, raising awareness of the issue is the first step to solving a problem. Investigating compensation by gender and race can help companies notice and address pay gaps.

The next step is to ensure that hiring and promotions are fair. Only 29% of companies set gender targets for external hiring, and only 9% set these targets for women of color. Managers need to understand the impact of gender bias on their decision-making and put clear and uniform benchmarks in place to reduce bias in staffing decisions and performance reviews.

Third, we must ensure women have equal opportunities for advancement. As stated, women ask for promotions and raises just as frequently as men. However, women receive promotions more unhurriedly and are paid less than men. These problems are worse for women of color. Guaranteeing women in your institution have equal opportunities to speed up their careers will further improve work functions in the company. We could do this by making it a norm for women to negotiate. People expect women to be giving and collaborative, so when they advocate for themselves, people rarely see them in their favor. Women who negotiate are more likely than men who do to receive feedback that they are ‘rough,’ ‘forceful,’ or ‘overbearing.’ This social pushback can negatively impact the results of women’s negotiations—and their careers. A negative impact on your female employee’s career will negatively impact your company. Encouraging women to negotiate and do what’s best for their careers will improve job performance within your company.

Closing the pay gap isn’t just the morally correct thing for companies to do, but it’s the wise thing to do.

People can claim that the wage gap isn’t real, but that simply makes them foolish. The wage gap is a real issue affecting families all over the world. Everybody deserves equal pay for doing equivalent work regardless of gender and race. In the future, I deserve no more or less economic security as my male co-worker with the same education and occupation as I. It is crucial to raise awareness on this issue, as you cannot make change without attention, but it is also vital to stay committed to fixing this issue. Everybody deserves equal pay for equal work, which is why the wage gap needs to close immediately.

 

 

Works Cited Page

Report • By Alyssa Davis and Elise Gould • November 18. “Closing the Pay Gap and beyond: A Comprehensive Strategy for Improving Economic Security for Women and Families.” Economic Policy Institute, Accessed October 25th, 2022 https://www.epi.org/publication/closing-the-pay-gap-and-beyond/.

Author links open overlay panelThe Lancet, and The Lancet. “Closing the Gender Pay Gap: When and How?” The Lancet, Elsevier, 12 Apr. 2018, Accessed October 25th, 2022 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673618308377.

Salam, Maya. “Womansplaining the Pay Gap.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 2 Apr. 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/02/business/equal-pay-day.html.

“Four Steps Companies Can Take to Close the Gender Pay Gap.” Lean In, Accessed October 25th, 2022 https://leanin.org/what-companies-can-do-about-equal-pay#!