Today is National Equal Pay day ― this symbolizes how far women generally must work to earn what men earned in the previous year. If you are a woman reading this, you should probably pour yourself a cocktail because we have not yet equalized the same work for the same pay. The “non-holiday” brings to light several concerns over gender / wage inequity. On average, women earn 79 cents to a dollar for men, and their median annual earnings are $10,800 less than male counterparts. According to the US Census Bureau, the pay gap has only decreased by 1% since 2007, which supports the dour prediction that women will not reach pay parity with men until 2058.
What’s to blame? Industry matters ― the largest gaps appear in technology-based spaces such as videogames, IT and engineering, as well as finance and insurance. In the healthcare industry, it’s 23%. In addition, survey evidence shows that women ask for less money and employers comply: on average, employers offered women about 3% less than what they offered men for the same role. There’s also the “glass ceiling”, meaning it’s harder for women to break into more senior roles, and they therefore face a shorter wage ceiling.
More importantly though, what can help? Yes, “leaning in” and asserting yourself in financial conversations are beneficial ― that’s how I was able to maneuver my roles and responsibilities into management positions at Searle Pharmaceuticals more expeditiously than many of my cohorts. We also need to encourage women to ask for what they’re worth with an aspirational mindset, and encourage their bosses to create an environment where this conversation is welcomed. Adrian Furnham, a professor of psychology at University College of London analyzed 30 international studies and found that women, across the world, tend to underplay their intelligence, while men tend to overstate it. He explained that the conundrum is “perceived intelligence, and what we call the male hubris versus female humility.” We need to counteract that!
However, there’s another less-spoken way that working women can achieve pay equity: having access to quality, affordable birth control. Contraception doesn’t close the pay gap per se, but rather the opportunity gap. By giving women control over their personal lives, they have the time, energy and ability to focus on their careers without worrying about unexpected pregnancies. Delaying a first birth by a few years can reduce the pay gap that typically exists between working mothers and those who have decided to delay having a child during their careers. It can also combat the fact that women in the workforce face a decline in salary once they have children ― a so-called motherhood penalty (while men receive a bump in pay once they become fathers ― a so-called fatherhood bonus. These differences are evident even when controlling factors like hours worked, industry and spouse salaries). In fact, Mother’s Equal Pay Day occurred nearly two full months after Women’s Equal Pay Day last year.
As women increasingly enter and become leaders in the workforce, they deserve equal compensation as their male peers ― let’s empower them to do so, and fight for ways to close that gap.