The Wage Gap
The Progressive Era:
At the beginning of 20th century, women made up only 19% of the workforce, and most women stuck to their stereotypical roles such as staying inside, doing household chores, and taking care of the children. It wasn’t until industrialization and the first world war did women begin to fill up more of the workforce. The issue of the wage gap arose right away because women at the time were seen as a source of cheap labor, and this mindset of women being inferior is what caused the wage gap. The women that were in the work force were met with poor working conditions and lower wages, so they decided to address it right away:
- The Women’s Trade Union League (founded in Boston in 1903) fought to raise wages and improve working conditions
- Issue of equal pay hit the headlines of newspapers, so they were able to spread awareness.
- There was a partnership between the middle class reformers and working class women, and they unified to support women’s strikes.
- There was the initiation of many strikes (one was where 20,000 workers walked out), though many were unsuccessful in achieving their goals. However, it did boost awareness and the union membership among women.
- In 1918, there was a strike for equal wages and the result was a settlement of a bonus in pay equal to that paid to men workers.
The Modern Era:
Present day, women are still being challenged by the wage gap, only earning 77 cents to every man’s dollar despite the many efforts that have been taken to reduce the gap. Women actually surpass men in educational achievement now (a higher education was thought to be a solution to the wage gap), however women still face challenges in the workplace. Women face the unfair balance of their work and family life, their underrepresentation in leadership positions, discrimination, and the challenge of obtaining higher-paying jobs. Women are having to decide between work and taking care of their families, and when they don’t have time to work, the whole family economically suffers. There is also the presence of discrimination in the workplace, mostly against minorities, and there is still the mindset that a job is devalued when a woman does it. Overall, women still have a hard time getting higher-paying jobs, so part of the problem is not that they can't obtain the same wages in the same job, but that they can only get lower-paying jobs in the first place.
Equal pay between genders was not officially set until the Equal Pay Act of 1970, stating that men and women are entitled to equal pay and terms for employment. It wasn’t implemented until 1976, and it never became a solution because employers found loopholes in the act. There definitely have been improvements to this wage gap, but the root of the problem still has not dissolved.
Statistics:
-25% of wage gap is due to occupational differences
-10% of wage gap is due to the fact that women are more likely to leave work force to provide family care
-41% of wage gap cannot be explained through measurable factors, it is just plain workplace discrimination against women
-Only 11% of women in the workforce belong to a union, and those women experience a decreased wage gap.
How to achieve equal pay:
-Strengthen and enforce equal pay laws
-Make better paying jobs more accessible to women by destroying social barriers
-Raise minimum wage for those women who are working in low-paying jobs
-Prevent pregnancy leave discrimination
-Provide fair schedules
-Ensure women’s access to affordable reproductive health
Between The Progressive Era and present day, women have accomplished a lot. From the time women began working, they immediately stood up for their equality by raising awareness, joining strikes, demanding equal pay, and joining unions and women's organizations. It took a long time for the government to respond, as the Equal Pay Act was only recently implemented in 1976. However, since then, women have achieved better wages, and most of the time, equal wages. Women still face obstacles and social boundaries that prevent them from achieving equality, but women have come a long way in fighting for equal rights.
The Women's Trade Union League - major supporters of women in the workplace and equal wages.
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A graph of the ratio of earnings between female and male workers. It shows a great incline from the Progressive Era to modern day, which means women are successfully fighting for their equal wages.
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An image of a protest demanding equal pay between genders.
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