Yu Zhou
Dr. Kim
SOC 115
29 April 2017
The Cost of Being a Woman: Gender Wage Gap
Abstract
The gender wage gap has experienced a gradual closure in the past decades but a substantial gap remains. This research paper considers the history of the fight for equal pay and the trend of the gender pay gap, marked by the shifts of women’s participation in the workforce and the second feminist movement; the correlated factors such as job segregation by sex, less working hours and the experience gap, motherhood penalty and fatherhood bonus, as well as gender discrimination and bias; lastly, the solutions for gender wage gap on an individual level, on a corporate level, and with a Christian perspective.
History and Trend
The history of the struggle to achieve gender wage equality is marked by the shifts of women’s participation in the workforce and the second feminist movement. A major shift in the workforce occurred after the Civil War. According to Shah (2015), “African American women became a significant part of the labor force during this time because they needed to earn a steady income after they were freed from slavery. Middle class white women also started to enter the workforce in order to adequately provide for the entire family.” Another major shift occurred during World War II. Since a significant portion of the men in America left to fight the war, women took on the jobs of the men in the labor force. During that time women took on professional jobs that were once male dominated (Shah, 2015). Unfortunately, this didn’t last very long, because once World War II was over, most men pushed women out of their place; women either had to leave the workforce, or “return to their previous secretarial, teaching, and other feminine jobs.” During the second wave of feminism in the 1960s, several events highlighted women’s fight to gain equality in work, such as denial of access to better jobs and salary inequity. In 1963, Betty Friedan published The Feminine Mystique, crying out for a generation of college-educated housewives who felt unfulfilled in their mundane life – she identified the disparity as “the problem that has no name.” This was a call for people to consider women’s “ultimate destiny,” and women’s right to seek fulfillment from work (Collins, 2009). Also in 1963, John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act. It became illegal to pay women lower rates for the same job strictly based on their sex. However, it was not effective because it didn’t offer tangible rules. It gave a lot of leeway for enactment because there were many other reasons to justify unequal pay, for example, in seniority, merit, the quality or quantity of work, and so on (Beth Rowen, n.d.).
The shifts of women’s participation in the workforce and the second feminist movement paid off. In a long-term perspective, the gender wage gap has experienced substantial closure. Women earned 59% of the wages men earned in the1960s; as of 2016, they earned 80% of men’s wages. Female participation increased from 31.8 percent in 1947 to 57.2 percent in 2013. The gender gap in participation rates was further reduced by the steady decline in male participation rates over this period. However, since the 1980s, the convergence of gender pay has slowed significantly. Moreover, since then, the increase of female labor force participation rates and reductions in occupational segregation by sex have also slowed down (Blau & Kahn, 2016).
Factors Correlated with Gender Wage Gap
Job segregation by sex
A big factor of the wage gap is that men and women are placed into different occupations; some estimate that this accounts for up to 49.3 percent of the wage gap (Glynn, 2014; Blau & Kahn, 2016). According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the female dominated jobs are education, office and administrative support, and health care, while men are in construction, maintenance and repair, and production and transportation. Pay differences is one of the factors that differentiates these jobs. Hegewisch and Hartmann (2014) pointed out that jobs traditionally associated with men tend to pay better than traditionally female-dominated jobs that require the same level of skill. They analyzed median weekly earnings for workers working full-time, year-round in subgroups of gendered occupations in low, median, and high skill levels. They found earnings differences at every skill level, with predominantly female occupations having the lowest earnings and predominantly male occupations, the highest. In addition, without categorizing skill levels and gendered jobs, the research found that of the more than 100 occupations, there are fewer than five occupations where women’s median earnings are higher than men’s (Hegewisch et al, 2012). These statistics speak to the fact that women are disproportionally placed into jobs that offer lower earnings. A possible explanation is the Sexuo-Economics Relation Theory by Gilman. She pointed out that because of the unequal labor market, women are forced to rely on men to survive. Women work long hours in the household; their work is not measured in monetary terms, but rather to fulfill their familial duties (Gilman, 1966). According to Gilman, this dependence women have on men continues to perpetuate the unequal setup of the labor market and it becomes a vicious cycle to “prove” that women are not capable to work outside of the family.
Working Hours and the Experience Gap
Statistics point out that women have less experience than men (Blau & Kahn, 2016). According to some research, this accounts for 10.5% of the wage gap(Farrell & Glynn, 2013). In the recent decades, the experience gap has closed significantly. In 1981, men had nearly 7 more years of full-time labor market experience on average than women. By 2011, the gap had fallen markedly to only 1.4 years (Blau & Kahn, 2016). To account for this matter, Polacheck (1981) thinks the work that requires long hours and large human capital investments pushes women away. Women are expected to choose occupations that require less human capital investment, so they can minimize the skill depreciation when they return to the workforce. Examining this from another perspective, Goldin (2014) analyzes the lack of temporal flexibility in impacting the gender wage gap. Some pay differences arise because workplaces place more value on meeting deadlines, which usually requires longer working hours, rather than the amount of human capital lost in the few hours of less work. Different sectors place different values on temporal flexibility. Workers sort across workplaces according to the different temporal flexibility sectors provide; women usually need more flexibility than men. Goldin presents empirical support that some occupations make providing flexibility much costlier than others. She points out that in jobs that require meeting deadlines, the wage penalty for flexibility is higher, compared to jobs that require “being in contact with others to perform the job, maintaining and establishing interpersonal relationships, and doing work for which other workers are not close substitutes.” In addition to Goldin’s findings, some discover that longer hours and workforce continuity may show greater willingness to work hard, and greater motivation and commitment (Landers et al, 1996). Consequently, the employers discriminate against others who work less, which is unfair for women who are willing to work but must make time for familial duties.
Motherhood penalty and fatherhood bonus
Becoming a parent leads to different professional results for men and women. Many women who become mothers withdraw from work, or work less. A report found that 10 years after college graduation, 23% of mothers left the workforce, and 17% worked part time. But for fathers, only 1% left the workforce, and only 2% worked part time (Hill, 2007). For those who continue to work, mothers are also less favored than nonmothers. Correll et al (2007) conducted a laboratory experiment that produced fictitious job applicants and with only parental status being different. The research found that evaluators rated mothers as less competent and committed to paid work than nonmothers, and consequently, discriminated against mothers when they made hiring and salary decisions. Correll et al also used the same application materials to apply to over six hundred jobs, and found that prospective employers called mothers back about half as often as nonmothers. Furthermore, Crittenden (2010)found that for those under the age of 35, the pay gap between mothers and nonmothers even surpassed the gender pay gap. Two other studies found that employed mothers in the United States suffer a per-child wage penalty of approximately 5%, on average, after controlling for the usual human capital and occupational factors that affect wages (Budig & England, 2001) In comparison, fathers are advantaged over childless men. They are seen as more committed and they are offered higher starting salaries. Mothers are penalized in professional fields while fathers are not penalized and sometimes favored (Correll et al., 2007). Speaking from a rational choice theory standpoint, for-profit sectors work to minimize cost and maximize profit. Moms are already projected as less committed and less competent; hence, they are less favored and may face discrimination in the workplace. Practically speaking, the rational choice theory may be a pivot of making hiring and salary decisions; it is hard to force companies to make decisions against their own interests – hiring moms if they think moms are less ideal workers. To solve the real problem is to eliminate the false assumptions regarding moms and dads.
Gender discrimination and bias
How do we know that discrimination and bias affect women’s pay? Discrimination cannot be directly measured statistically; hence, some researchers search for the “unexplained” pay gap after measuring other factors. A typical approach is to statistically separate gender pay gap into two parts: one due to gender differences and measured characteristics, and the other “unexplained” and potentially because of discrimination. For instance, after accounting for college major, occupation, economic sector, hours worked, months unemployed since graduation, GPA, type of undergraduate institution, institution selectivity, age, geographical region, and marital status, Hill (2012) found a remaining 7 percent difference between the earnings of male and female college graduates one year after graduation. This gap jumped to 12 percent 10 years after college graduation. Other researchers have found similar results about gender discrimination and the pay gap (Blau & Kahn, 2007). These estimations of the “unexplained” part of the pay gap may be less than the actual discrimination percentage. To look gender discrimination and bias from the Marxist point of view, women are systematically placed into jobs with less pay because women are exploited by bourgeoisies as cheaper labor, in relation to men. Another explanation would be that women are exploited and oppressed by men who want to keep their power, so men exclude women from the center of power. Hence, there are disproportionally more men who hold positions of power than women. For instance, in 2016, the Fortune 500 female CEO rate dropped to 4.2% (Zarya, 2016), contrasting with a 52% female to 48% male population ratio from age 50-55, the Fortune 500 CEO average age group, according to the U.S Census Bureau (2016). Based on Marx’s theory, Marxist feminists may think the only way to fix the disparity in opportunities is to overthrow capitalism and create a new world where everyone owns the means of production — a way to guarantee that women and men share equal opportunities.
Solutions
On an individual level, a pragmatic way to resolve the gender pay gap is that women should learn to negotiate for themselves. AAUW(American Association of University Women) suggests that because most employers have some flexibility when it comes to salaries, negotiation may be affective. However, according to Carter & Silva (2012) negotiation is trickier for women because, traditionally, it has been socially expected for men to negotiate for raises because negotiating is in line with the stereotype of men as assertive. They show that some characteristics may work for men, like self-promotion and assertiveness, but they don’t work for women. Some tactics that have been shown to be effective for women are, according to Babcock et al (2008), “knowing what your skills are worth, making clear what you bring to the table, emphasizing common goals, and maintaining a positive attitude.” Even though this solution cannot solve the gender wage gap comprehensively, it can still contribute to the individual woman’s higher pay check and improvement in quality of life. However, the gathered force of women can change the outlook of the society too.
On a corporate level, transparency in pay can regulate pay practices and bring pay equality into the workforce. In 2015, Salesforce audited its pay practice and performed a comprehensive analysis of 17,000 employees. According to Salesforce’s CEO, this program resulted in a 33 percent increase in the number of women who were promoted that year (Zarya, 2016). This accomplishment not only shows that many women are treated unfairly, but also how tangible the results are if companies bring transparency into their salary practice. Inspired by Salesforce, the Obama Administration issued a call to action to America’s businesses to sign the White House Equal Pay Pledge. It is a pledge to commit to play a critical role in closing the national pay gap, conduct an annual company-wide gender pay analysis, review hiring and promotion processes to reduce unconscious bias and barriers, and so on. By the end of 2016, more than 100 businesses had signed the pledge, including Apple, Facebook, AT&T, General Motors, MasterCard, Microsoft, and more (“FACT SHEET,” 2016).
From a Christian perspective, churches should promote equality. Socially assigned gender norms feed a lot into the issues we are facing. Culturally, Americans remain doubtful about women working outside of the home. About 30 percent of Americans believe women should stay home full-time to care for young children (Cohn et al, 2014). These opinions affect how much “choice” some women feel they actually have, and represent the types of judgments women face for making these choices (Pearson, 2016). Perpetuation of traditional gender roles, which many churches are still doing today, is problematic. It could leave many women financially dependent, and they are very likely to be in poverty if the husband lost his ability to work, or if they are widowed. It could force a woman to give up her professional identity or kill a woman’s potential to grow professionally because her “ultimate destiny” lies within the family. It could also place pressure on men’s shoulders to support the whole family even if his wife can help him financially. It perpetuates inequality in the professional fields and brings inequality into the whole society. In order to combat these problems, churches should promote gender equality. Given that churches have a significant amount of social capital, churches should consider preaching that marriage is not the only way out for women. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 7:7-8, “I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another. To the unmarried and the widows, I say that it is good for them to remain single as I am” (EVS). People are bestowed with their own gifts from God, and societal norms such as traditional female roles cannot be generalized to every woman. Churches should also stress woman and man’s full and equal partnership. Many use Genesis 2:18 to back up their claim that women are less than men: “Then the LORD God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him’” (EVS). The word “helper” in the original language (ezer) conveys no implication of female subordination or inferiority. Husbands and wives are joint heirs together of the grace of life and they are bound together in a relationship of mutual submission and responsibility (“Egalitarianism,” n.d.).
Churches promoting equality not only contributes to the equality in familial division of labor, closes the gender wage gap, reduces women’s poverty, and enhances women’s quality of life and especially that of single mothers and widows; but also opens doors to women to realize their potential, helps them to pursue their professional identity, and ultimately transforms the world to be more equal and just.
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