Shocking News: Women Paid Less than Men for the Same Job

BKate

I have read and seen news stories everywhere on the recent study about the gender pay gap. I have to wonder where the "news" is in all of this. Every working women knows women are generally paid less than men for the same work, and for women of color, the gap is even larger. What would be really news worthy--real changes in the system!

Bridget1

What is so interesting to me is that this issue has been raised again and again, and yet it only seems to be getting worse. Maybe with the new "family responsibilities" discrimination cases coming up, compensation will also start to be a related claim. The US Department of Labor seems to be focussing on compensation discrimination more -- maybe this will help too. The days of the man (alone) supporting the family are over, so the excuse that men are paid more because they are the breadwinner are OVER!

IrisD

I just read a book, "No Seat at the Table" about women CEOs and Board Members, and the pay inequity and other discriminatory practices (some directed against pregnancy and maternity issues) extend all the way to the top of the ladder.

SFbay

People try explaining away the gender gap by saying women leave the work force to raise kids. OK, that might explain part of the difference. But studies like that one find the main reason .... discrimination.

countrygirl

I can't agree with BKate more. Today is Equal Pay Day. When are we NOT going to need a day to recognize that women are paid almost one third less than men!

A recent study shows that men are four times more likely to negotiate their pay. So, something women can do (besides continuing to fight discrimination, which really is the reason for the gap) is to negotiate their salaries and ask their bosses for a raise. Women need to realize they are valuable and deserve to be compensated!

ntk104

Women do leave the workforce more to raise the kids, but it's time that the father's started doing their fair share.  Women need to stick together.  There is definite discrimination out there, but the day's of women being titled "the weaker sex" should come to an end.   

kyliefan

There was a report on ABC national news last night that said from DAY ONE out of college, women are earning 95 cents to the dollar of men.  They were pointing out that life events such as having children could not account for this difference (since this their first job right after finishing school).  Suprisingly, they attributed much of it to the fact that women do not negotiate salary in their job interviews as aggessively as men do.

And, ABC news posted an article on its website yesterday (to accompany the news story) about how to negotiate salary (directed towards women), noting that "men are four times more likely to haggle over pay than women".  You can find the article http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/TakeControlOfYourLife/story?id=3074877&page=1

tca408

After graduating college in 1978, I took a job with a large, Fortune 500 company. It was an eye opening experience. I soon learned it was common knowledge in this company that women were paid less and not given same opportunity for raises and promotions because they would "just get pregnant and quit." Throughout the 80's, the company went through several downsizings and women who had recently returned from pregnancy leave were always the first to be cut. Never mind their returning from pregnancy leave flew in the face of they'll "just get pregnant and quit." In 1984 when I was married, upon return from honeymoon, male co-workers made statements that my husband, who worked for the same company, would be getting a raise because now he would have a wife and family to support. Within a week he had received the predicted raise. Although company's are no longer this blatant, the mentality and resulting discrimination persists. BTW, because 1/3 of women earn more than their husbands does not mean women are not discriminated against. Let's compare apples to apples. If their husbands had same qualifications and job, would the women still out earn their spouses? Probably not.

BKate

Thanks TCA. I too recall a time in the late 80's when a man was given a raise because he got married and his new wife was expecting their first child. Never saw the same thing happen when a woman was expecting a child or got married. Your point is well taken--1/3 of women may earn more than their husbands, but this doesn't mean they are paid equally with men who have the same training, experience, and job responsibilities.

kyliefan

I just wanted to follow up on what I'd written a few months ago. BLR just ran a poll asking HR professionals whether or not--in their experience--men were more likely to negotiate pay than women. The results were 87% yes and 13% no---265 people responded.Looks like there's something to the theory.

BLR also had an article online where one group advocates for educating women on pay negotiation--see http://compensation.blr.com/display.cfm/id/155720

 

CTCarter

It looks like this concept is getting around! The "Dilbert" comic strip worked the topic of negotiation and women into their Oct. 17 strip:

http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/archive/dilbert-20071017.html