Gender Pay Gap and Struggle for Equal Pay
- Introduction
Today, men continue earning more compared to women, despite the female workforce being nearly half in the United States. In 2019, the United States Census Bureau reported that the male to female ratio earnings is 0.82 (Americas-Women-and-the-Wage-Gap.Pdf, 2019). The statistics are even though women in America do similar jobs s their male counterparts. The gap persists. Women earn between 93-95% of their male counterparts’ salaries (McElhaney & Smith, 2017). Studies have shown that the wage gap in America, as well as the rest of the world, is based on various variables such as social and cultural norms – bias (Alter, 2015). As a result, these variables greatly contribute to the persistent gender inequality, gender pay gap, and further, the struggle for equal pay.
However, companies are concerned about the role they play in stigmatizing the campaign on equal pay and closing the gender gap pay. In 2014, for instance, Gap Inc. became on the pioneering companies to announce equal pay for their female employees, similar to that of their male employees across their multinational affiliates and subsidiaries (Cho & Kramer, 2013). Other fortune 500 companies and firms follow suit in preparation for the implementation of equal pay policy. They are Adobe, Apple, Amazon, Cisco, Delta Airlines, eBay, Intel, Go daddy, and others (Now.Org, 2020). The number of committed companies towards equal pay is dismal; thus, giving less hope for change in improved pay gap and reduced struggle in equal pay.
Primarily, the struggle in unequal pay has favored men compared to women from a historical and current perspective. The need to understand the concept of the gender pay gap and the consequent struggle is necessary rather than an option (Graf et al., 2019). The reason is that most studies on this topic have focused on specific variables such as race, culture, age, and gender ideologies. It is now paramount to address the social issue from a holistic approach. To this end, the present paper aims to provide a heuristic approach to understanding the concept of the gender pay gap and the struggle to equal pay. Primarily, the paper will focus on the evolution from history to legislative to current struggle and achievements in female equality in pay. The paper seeks to improve on the information on gender pay and its struggle by providing a wholesome approach to disseminating the problem.
- Legalization
The Equal Pay Act
The following section elucidates on the current legislative laws that govern equal pay and gender parity in pay. The Equal Pay Act is a labor law that prohibits gender-based wage discrimination in America (Connley, 2018). The Act was signed into law in 1963 under President Kennedy (Editors, 2017). The law was an amendment of the pioneering law on the Fair Labor Standards Act, which required employers to pay equally to all gender regardless of wages or benefits within the same job description and skill-set (Editors, 2017). The Act was the first employment law that cemented the successful legislation of the achievement of the struggle for equal pay.
The Equal Pay Act addresses the wage gap problem. Primarily, the purpose of the institutionalization of the Act was to address an eon of gender-based pay parity in America. By the 20th century, women made a considerable percentage of the American workforce, including the Second World War (Deakin et al., 2015). However, the discerning aspect was that women were paid less compared to men, even in cases where they worked in the same job description. Worse still, female employees were forced to contend with regulations that restricted working hours or prohibited them from working at night.
From a historical perspective, the need to include the gender pay gap into law escalated during the Second World War. American women worked in large numbers in place of men who were enlisted to fight the war. In 914, according to Editors (2017), the National War Labor Board recognized policies on equal pay in scenarios where women were directly replacing male employees. Soon after, Congress introduced a bill on Women’s Equal Pay Act, which made it illegal for companies to pay women less regardless of comparability to skill set or quantity output (Deakin et al., 2015). But, the success of the Act was no achieved, given that the bill was denied. By 1960, women earned two-thirds less than their male counterparts.
In 1963, the federal government approved the Equal Pay Act. Women’s rights movements were pivotal to the proclamation of the Act. In particular, Esther Peterson, chairperson of the Women’s Bureau of the Department of Labor, was a vocal supporter (Editors, 2017). Through her, the First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, who chaired the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women alongside representatives Kathrine St. George and Edith Green, lead the charge in the presentation of the bill in Congress (Editors, 2017). Despite the rowdy opposition from male representatives, Congress passed the Equal Pay Act in 1963 against the wishes of the Retail Merchants Association and Chamber of Commerce.
The premise of the legislation requires employers to provide equal pay to women alongside male workers based on skill, effort, and responsibility equality (Editors, 2017). The law, besides, provides tentative measures that give leeway to unequal pay under special circumstances. It includes senior workers, the quantity of products, and factors not determined by gender (Editors, 2017).
Other Equal Pay Laws
Due to the success in passing the Equal Pay Act, other significant laws have been passed. They include Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Editors, 2017). The Act rejected the banning of workers based on discrimination against race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, origin, and color. Subsequent law included the Educational Amendment of 1972, which was an amplification of the Equal Pay Act (Editors, 2017). In the law, it provided guidelines for differentiation between white-collar jobs, professional and administrative jobs. Laws regarding the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 were sanctioned to reduce restrictions on wage discrimination complaints alongside reduced discrimination against pregnant women in the workplace (Editors, 2017).
The impact of the landmark legislation of the Equal Pay Act allowed women and men to work alongside each other by safeguarding the interests of women in the workplace. The positivity that the momentous law has brought to the country cannot be disregarded (O’Reilly et al., 2015). In part, it provides an opening for a series of federal and state laws that provided job opportunities, salaries, and foundation for women movement in the struggle against their fundamental rights. As a result, it may explain why women’s workforce pressures are growing by the decade alongside that of men.
Another positivity that the law brought was the Civil Rights Movements Act, which allowed societal constructs including race, creed, origin, sexual orientation and gender to be included in the Equal Pay Act philosophy (O’Reilly et al., 2015). For instance, under President Lyndon B. Johnson, a sequence of Executive Orders were presented to safeguard women and other individuals from federal discrimination in the workplace. Overall, the impact has provided economic, financial, political, and socio-economic growth in America (O’Reilly et al., 2015). Women have gained prominence is boosting entrepreneurship, innovation, and job creation in the country.
- Upsetting Statistics
Nevertheless, the strides that history made in protecting the rights of women cannot justify the occurrences of today. Women still earn less than men. Worse still, discrimination in the workplace is rampant more than ever. Currently, it is reported that women earn 82 cents for every dollar their male workers earn. In other words, the wage gap stands at $ 10 194. On an annual basis, the U.S Census Bureau reports earning from women at $ 45 000 whereas, men earn at least $ 55 291 (Americas-Women-and-the-Wage-Gap.Pdf, 2019).
There are several facts and figures, as well as variables that contribute to this gender wage gap. According to the White House Report under President Obama’s administration, tangible consequences of ‘sexism and white supremacy’ and how systematically the country devalues women of color and their contribution to labor are ever-increasing (Equal_pay_task_force_progress_report_june_2013_new.Pdf, 2013). The persistence in the wage gap is brought on by factors of racial discrimination, gender, workplace harassment, segregation, and lack of workplace policies to support diversity for family-oriented workers.
Since the institutionalization of the Equal Pay Act and the Civil Rights Movement Act, emerging issues are noticed. Among them are the difference in the wage gap and the struggle therein based on color, race, religion, and origin. Women of color in the United States are paid 62 cents compared to their White male counterparts. As for Latin Americans, they are paid 54 cents, Native American women, 57 cents against the one dollar paid to their white male workers (Americas-Women-and-the-Wage-Gap.Pdf, 2019).
White non-Hispanic women are paid 79 cents while Asian American women are paid 90 cents for every dollar their non-Hispanic white men earn. It is worse for Pacific Islander and Asian communities of diverse backgrounds who get paid worse. From a geographical perspective, women are paid much less compared to men. In 424 out of the 435 congressional districts, the median pay for full-time working women is less compared to the median pay for men.
What these statistics indicate is that women have fewer earnings per year compared to men. It is estimated that in a year, more than $ 960 billion is lost due to the wage gap crisis in America (Americas-Women-and-the-Wage-Gap.Pdf, 2019). In translation, women with families have fewer earnings to support their families compared to men who have families. As a result, women have less change in supporting themselves, interests in savings, and investment. This is despite the fact that women contribute to nearly a quarter of the businesses countrywide, generating at least $ 1.2 trillion per year. Further, businesses owned by women account for more than 2 million in the country. As a result of the women-owned businesses, job creation has amounted to more than 1.2 million and payroll costs of more than $ 11 million per annum (Equal_pay_task_force_progress_report_june_2013_new.Pdf, 2013). The women-owned business includes maintenance, personal and laundry services, health care, and social assistance, scientific and technical services.
- Achievement So Far
On the bright side, the wage gap is narrowed since the legislation of the Equal Pay Act and consequent laws. Reports suggest that contribution of women to the national economy has greatly increased since 1960, which was estimated at 58.9% and now at 77% (National Committee on Pay Equity, 2019). The rise in female wages and salaries has led to the consequential drop in male earning with factors of inflation and economic recession counted. Male earnings have decreased by 35% since 1963, whereas female earnings have improved by 71% (Equal_pay_task_force_progress_report_june_2013_new.Pdf, 2013). However, arguments on whether the shift is contributed by the legislation against other factors remain debatable.
The volatility of the job market, shift from manufacturing industries to service-based industries are determined as contributing factors to decrease and increase in male and female earnings over the years. The discriminatory explanation is that service-based industries favor women more than they favor men (Deakin et al., 2015). Similarly, it is argued that it has been difficult for workers to navigate through the new skills and educational requirements in the current job market. As a result, this has been a contributing factor to the change of women’s proverbial stereotypic roles in the household to the mainstream job market since 1963.
Nevertheless, one fact remains clear- the wage gap between women and men is still noticeable to date. The persistence in wage gap based on higher-paying professions is a longstanding problem in America. For more than fifty years since the institutionalization of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, high-positions of managers and administrators among females were 64% of the total pay given to men in the same line of work and position (Equal_pay_task_force_progress_report_june_2013_new.Pdf, 2013). The scenario is worse for women of color and non-Hispanic white race. The perception is that men have more experience and participation rates compared to women in the labor market. Thus, this makes it easier for men to advance in leadership positions compared to their counterparts.
The persistence barriers for women to advance in top-level management and leadership positions have been continuous for a long time. The term ‘Glass ceiling’ best describes the struggle in equal pay and equal representation for women (Deakin et al., 2015). There are indications that women of all races and ethnicities find it difficult to rise to top-level management due to outright resistance and discrimination that prevents them from moving forward. It also involves women of high educational achievements and improved skill-sets.
- Role of Gender in Wage Gap
The fight for equal pay through the struggle of the wage gap has been fought from numerous frontiers. They are litigation, regulation, and legislation. The differences in equal pay between women and men has for a long time, been attributed to high-paying levels within an organization. Traditionally, women have played roles in the lower-management and working levels, especially at entry levels. The consequential stereotypic echelons are that women find it difficult to go up the ladder within organizations. Reports indicate that women still remain in lower-ranking positions with the organization. Currently, 85% of occupancy in lower-tier levels is by women whereas, 13% are in the top-tier management levels. The difference in representation may explain why women are paid less compared to men.
Occupational segregation is a contributing factor to the wage gap. The segregation can be observed in state administration and the federal government. The difference in wage gap primarily arises from the differential in occupancy between men and women based on employers and occupations in the labor market. On the one hand, it is argued that contributing factors of discrimination may not explain why women are at lower-tier levels and have little representation at the top-levels. In Virginia, for instance, 85.7% of the workers in administrative positions are women whereas, 30% are in official and administration support (National Committee on Pay Equity, 2019). Occupational segregation, therefore, is a contributing factor to wage gap diversity between women and men.
From a historical perspective, on the other hand, women have always gained entry into workplaces through lower-tier levels. There is no evidence to suggest that women never aim for top-tier levels of management in any organization (Rubery and Grimshaw, 2015). Confounding literature suggests that social factors of pull-push contribute greatly to the comfortability of women staying at lower-levels thus, explains the relationship between gender and salary (Rubery and Grimshaw, 2015). Socio-cultural factors of gender and suitability of occupation still loom in the workplace. For instance, in the public sector, women entering the workplace often confide in working for gender-defining roles.
The reason is due to the stereotypic ideologies that women who strive to break ranks and achieve success in top-level management are more liked compared to those in the lower-ranking levels (Rubery and Grimshaw, 2015). Male counterparts in the high-ranking positions were more liked. The consequence of this thinking is that the concept of breaking from the traditional concepts of female-role jobs limits women’s intent to achieve greater success. The negative feelings that women get from their communities force them to stick to the traditional definition of women in the workplace (Rubery and Grimshaw, 2015). As a result, it emphasizes on the stereotypic role that women are nurturing and caring human beings. Their role in leadership and management is associated with masculinity (Rubery and Grimshaw, 2015). Hence, the concept of gender stereotyping and occupational segregation continues to provide a struggle against unequal pay and the wage gap in the country.
Career advancement is another contributing factor to the wage gap and the struggle for equal pay. Gender segregation plays a critical role in the progress of women in top-tier management levels and the higher paying occupations (Polachek, 2019). A large pool of literature concurs that women are often limited in their career advancement due to traditional roles and responsibilities (Polachek, 2019). Traditional roles of domestic household management still echo in women’s contribution to society compared to their male counterparts. Women still perform twice as the household work compared to their husbands. Another report is that women spend more time conducting their female roles while men spend less time doing their male tasks.
As a result, women often take longer breaks, undertake less employment time, experience, and work less full-time compared to men. On average, men work at least 34.4 hours more compared to women on a weekly average, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2019). On average, it means that women earn $ 11.5 per hour, whereas; men earn $ 17.56 per hour. With every one-hour increase in the amount of work done by women in the household, their hourly salaries decrease. The effect of male work in the household has a limited impact.
There are other contributing factors to the reduced women wage gap. Organizational barriers, including workplace policies, mentorship programs, and career-development for women, are lacking or are limited compared to those that involve men (Polachek, 2019). It may explain why career progression in Fortune 500 companies by men significantly increased over the past decades compared to that of women (Polachek, 2019). This is despite the fact that both genders have similarities in educational background and skill. Literature indicates that mobility upwards for men occurs at a faster rate compared to women. According to the stereotypic framework, organizational culture depicts women’s perception of moving upward as inept compared to that of men (Polachek, 2019).
Concurrently, men are observed to be advantages in both pay levels and career development, which compromises the premise of equal pay within the organization. Studies show that in promotional cases, men are bound to have promotions compared to women. It is irrespective of male and female-dominated positions (Guillaume, 2015). The reason proposed is that societal norms and stereotypic ideologies are found within the boardrooms. As a result, making decisions often circumvent these ideologies limiting the advancement of women in their work positions compared to men.
Another proposed argument for lack of women’s career and advancement and ineptness in breaking the proverbial ‘glass ceiling’ is deponent on age, level of education, salary, and gender differences (Guillaume, 2015). Age, experience, and salary contribute greatly to how often women gain equal pay to their counterparts. Compounding the factors discussed, women tend to remain in lower-echelon positions based on cultural, societal, organization, and human capital reasons (Guillaume, 2015). Therefore, the segregation concept between women and men continues to widen even in modern society where feminism and equality in the workplace and positions are emphasized.
- The Solution
There has been significant progress made in protecting the rights of women in the workplace against segregation and discrimination. Laws and regulations have provided the platform from which the right to equal pay has been achieved (Holmes et al. 2016). Currently, as noted, Fortune 500 companies such as Intel, Apple, and Gap Inc. have taken the necessary steps at ensuring that women and men are paid equally. For instance, Gap Inc. ensures that for every dollar paid to male workers, there is an equal pay of the same dollar to women. Also, the Fortune 500 company, Apple, and Intel have indicated that for every pay raise for men per dollar, there is a balance of increase in pay for women. However, the struggle to achieve equal pay and narrow the wage gap is still profound in the current era (Holmes et al. 2016). The reality is that women are still struggling to enjoy perks of equal pay compared to men. As noted in the paper, women who work similar occupations and receive similar salaries struggle in self-investment from saving to improved investment portfolio (Holmes et al. 2016). Simultaneously, there are issues of occupational segregation in the workplace based on cultural, organizational, and gender disparity on female and male-bound roles and responsibilities. As a result, women often never aim for higher occupations that have higher pay incentives (Holmes et al. 2016). With this reality in mind, there is a lot that needs to be done to ensure that women can wholesomely enjoy the benefit of the Equal Pay Act without incorporating stereotypic discrimination based on gender, race, ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation.
There has to be a direct role played by women in safeguarding their rights and exploiting the opportunities that exist for them. Women’s participation from 1963 to date has significantly increased over the years (Ebrahim, 2016). Studies show that occupational parity from a generational perspective has significantly narrowed the wage gap and reduced the struggle on equal pay (Ebrahim, 2016). Cohort groups of below 35 years of age have less struggle when it comes to equal compared to the older cohorts (45 and above) from a historical point of view where women’s suffrage movement was immense (Ebrahim, 2016). The lesson to be borrowed from the older cohort is the increasing amalgamation of resources to improve workplace equality, reduce the wage gap, and attain equal pay.
There has to be equal participation in all genres of women. They include married, single, divorced women, non-Hispanic women, and white women, as well as outlying differential factors in women (Ebrahim, 2016). From a historical point of view, the women’s suffrage movement encompassed all women irrespective of their race or ethnicity. The continuity in the struggle is still evident through women’s labor force organizations (Ebrahim, 2016). There are a lot of factors that favor continued support for equal pay in the current millennium.
There is the supportive political, economic, and social climate for increased women participation in the workplace. Resistance in occupational segregation and discrimination against women needs to be at the forefront. A focused strategy is the increased participation of women leaders in fighting for the rights of equal pay for women alongside the larger labor force (Ebrahim, 2016). Organizations and unions should thrive in clarifying the difference between the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The decision made in the 1981 court case, County of Washington v. Gunther allows women to continue fighting for increased pay through state and local coalitions (Ebrahim, 2016). The ruling indicates that Title VII should not be limited to equal pay at the workplace for women. There are factors to consider when it comes to equal pay. These are increased career development options and mentorship programs.
Women’s and civil rights movements can challenge the current organizational culture and policies from large corporations to small-medium enterprises on the representation of women on equal pay. In addition to this, factors on sexual harassment, hostile workplace, and continued racial discrimination can be supported under the unions and organizations (Hawkins, 2017). Further, enforcement of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 should be emphasized (Hawkins, 2017). Hostile working environments for pregnant women and ailing employees are often too inconsiderate to women compared to men. The law stipulates that women are allowed to seek work leave for more than 12 weeks under the job-protection clause, can have unpaid leave for employees with serious illness, or if their spouse or child is sick and following birth or adoption of a child (Hawkins, 2017). There is a myriad of issues that continue to exasperate the struggle for equal pay and to narrow the wage gap.
Company policies should permit women to seek further career development through educational and workforce opportunities. From a generational disparity, younger cohort groups enjoy opportunities for improved levels of education while older women are now engaging with the need to seek further or higher levels of education (Hawkins, 2017). As a result, there is an upward change of women-to-male ration in higher levels of education. Despite this trend, the achievement of women at top-tier levels is still a struggle. There has to be an improved holistic approach towards pressurized forces that require organizations to promote women to top-tier levels (Hawkins, 2017). Increased educational attainment alongside improved opportunities for upward mobility for women can help narrow the wage gap and improve equal pay. The hope is that improved women participation at the top will provide more hope and motivation for women at lower-tier levels as well as those with limited levels of education.
Also, continued campaign for women equal pay and workplace comfort can improve married women and single parent participation in the workplace. The participation of women with children will allow them to contribute to the workforce during prime childbearing years and child-rearing years as well (Hawkins, 2017). Also, it may reduce gender and race parity among women in their representation and contribution to the workforce.
- Conclusion
There is a need to continue the struggle on equal pay, and narrowing the wage gap is a necessary good and evil. It presents numerous opportunities for the country to improve economically, financially, socio-economically, and socially. Closing the gap may entail the inclusion of a lot of factors that may not have been discussed in the paper, including poverty, economic class parity, and improved disposable income among women alongside men.
There is a need to address discrimination and occupational segregation in the workplace. Continued emphasis on such factors will continue exasperating the efforts to improve the participation and contribution of women in the labor market. As such, there is a need to cater to the struggles that women still endure in the job market as a means to realizing the opportunities in narrowing the wage gap and increasing improving equality in pay, as emphasized in the Equal Pay Act of 1963.
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