The United States is making progress when it comes to closing the gender gap, according to a new report from the World Economic Forum. However, the U.S. still trails 18 countries, and on the critical question of wage equality, we didn't make the top 50.
The Global Gender Gap Index ranks 134 countries on how they are doing at eliminating inequality between men and women in the areas of economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival and political empowerment. For the first time in the index's five-year history, the United States cracked the top 20, moving up 12 places to 19, driven by high levels of educational attainment for women.
Digging a little deeper into the numbers, the U.S. ranked a dismal 64th on wage equality for similar work, which is consistent with recent research in the United States showing that progress closing the pay gap has slowed for women and stalled completely for working moms.
A study that I requested from the Government Accountability Office, focusing on the representation and pay of women and men in management across 13 major industries, found that the pay gap for childless women managers narrowed two cents between 2000 and 2007, but management moms made no progress during this time.
At a time when women's jobs are increasingly important to their households' overall income, a growing body of research shows that women's paychecks take a big hit when they become moms. Indeed, Dr. Michelle J. Budig, a sociologist at UMass Amherst, concluded that the wage penalty for mothers costs the typical woman worker $1,100 per child, per year.
Even worse, the penalty is greatest among low-wage workers, with those at the bottom of the income ladder paying the steepest price.
Skeptics of the pay gap say the difference in pay between men and women, and fathers and mothers, results because male workers are more educated and more experienced. But when you adjust for education and age and other factors, you are left with the unexplained differences -- you are a left with a persistent pay gap.
In fact, while women have been making consistent progress in closing the education gap, it hasn't translated into a narrowing of the pay gap.
Something else is at work here. Conversations with men and women from all kinds of work settings together with the best available research suggest that working moms continue to face discrimination -- sometimes blatant -- and at other times, more subtle forms that play out in hiring, compensation, and promotion decisions.
Part of addressing the persistent pay gap is aggressively challenging gender stereotypes wherever they appear -- in the media, our workplaces, our communities. But there is also a need to strengthen the law that addresses gender discrimination.
When Congress returns after the election for its lame duck session, the Senate should pass the Paycheck Fairness Act and send it on to the President. It will strengthen the original Equal Pay Act by:
Families are increasingly dependent on wives' incomes, with wives' earnings now accounting for 36 percent of total income. But, as much as equal pay is about family economics, it's also about our country's values. People -- whether they are women or men, moms or dads, black or white -- should be paid the same amount for the same work.
So, let's celebrate the progress women have made in the U.S., as reflected in the new Global Gender Gap rankings. But let's also take actions to ensure that the progress continues.
Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney represents parts of Queens and Manhattan in the U.S. House of Representatives where she is the Chair of the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee.
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"Prohibiting employers from punishing employees for sharing salary information with co-workers.".
How n earth are we supposed to know what our jobs are worth if we can get fired from finding out?
A study that I requested from the Government Accountability Office, focusing on the representation and pay of women and men in management across 13 major industries, found that the pay gap for childless women managers narrowed two cents between 2000 and 2007, but management moms made no progress during this time
In that study that she cites it also stated that female managers on AVERAGE worked fewer hours, had less experience, and less education. Which would explain why on AVERAGE they made less money. Studies have shown that if you take in all the other factors that go into a person's pay that women DO NOT make less than what men make. In some situations they even make more than what men make.
It isn't like that information is unknown to Democrats in government. So why do politicians like this Congress woman insist on making a non-issue an issue. They want more government control period. That is the Democrat party's solution for every problem heck it is their solution to things that aren't really problems. They try to create the sense that their is a problem so that people will be willing to turn more power over to them.
Symptoms of pregnancy, for most jobs (and the exceptions are usually not high-paying ones), is not any more intrusive than any other family crisis that a male or female worker might have. What is seen as intrusive is the leave to take care of the child- but it is blatantly sexist to assume that it is the woman and woman alone who must be the one to take this leave. In all fairness, this should even out by the probability of men fathering a child and taking leave to help raise the child (or even leaving the workforce to be the primary caregiver).
Using statistical probability to discriminate is profiling that is unethical, possibly illegal. For instance, paying black men lower wages because they are statistically "more likely" to commit a violent crime is racism.
So obviously paying women less because they are statistically more likely to leave the workforce to care for a child is sexist. And such a scheme only perpetuates the stereotype by making it harder for women to work their way up.
If anything women should be paid more because they are also expected to put extra labor into "beautifying" themselves (I'm joking... kind of- this is another ridiculous double standard in corporate America).
What have you to say about the OUTRIGHT DISCRIMINATION against males in the awarding of federal contracts??? When women are given advantageous "priority points" in federal contracting MERELY FOR BEING FEMALE, that is outright DISCRIMINATION in black and white letter of the law. Why are you not fighting against ACTUAL FEDERAL DISCRIMINATION against men?
This sickens me and hardens my resolve to actively work against you.
From the department of labor - read the report. It is time for this wage gap MYTH to die
Click on the link to the report made FOR THE DEPT OF LABOR ITSELF
http://www.the-spearhead.com/2010/03/08/department-of-labor-gender-wage-gap-a-myth/
I do not know if there is a way to put that into the statistics, but it is real.
If the trend keeps up, there will be no men anywhere except on the millionaire level left in the work force.
It will be interesting to see what happens then.
Ummmm...where do the men go? Oh, right...they go to that million $$$ job.
So these guys are unemployed and freaking out.
My community, until recently, had a very large manufacturing base which paid (mostly male) unskilled laborers $25 - $35/hr. Those jobs are gone and the men are not only out of work but many are now out of benefits. The jobs available now are all minimum wage jobs and employers tend only to hire women for those jobs because they have the idea that even unskilled male workers won't work for minimum wage.
My husband was one of those workers and fortunately for him, he qualified for a program that paid to allow him to go back to school to become a nurse but most of his co-workers are still out of work... luckily, their wives have all managed to find minimum wage jobs.
The really sad fact is the one that soon the gender gap will be closed because wages are only rising on the upper job levels. With so many out of work now, employers are beginning to reduce wages and men and women are working for less.
Employers reduce wages when they are losing money. Maybe it takes owning your own company to understand these simple facts.
if you dare.....
This "gender gap" is totally bunk. It doesn't exist, and EVEN if it did, government has no legitimate role trying to enforce a subjective notion of fairness on voluntary economic transactions.
If businesses really could get "equal" work from women for less pay, then they would never hire men.
It's true many women want to dial back their work commitments when they have young kids at home. But it's also true that many don't and shouldn't have their careers dictated by antiquated notions of what it means to be a good mother.
I don't think there are many antiquated notions of motherhood/workforse lately. You get what you produce. I'm sure there are a few exceptions, but the vast majority of bosses want great, productive employees and if you keep your personal life out of the office they don't care if you have 10 kids and 20 cats at home. I think you know that a lot of new moms bring their personal problems into the office and do sluff off work. Most co-workers have about had it with this type of person...and tell them to buzz off if they want to leave early or can't stay to finish a project when everybody else rearranges their personal life to get that project done.
Maybe father should be fighting for the right to take time off to attend school plays and sick children so we can have child care parity. That will level the playing field for moms, expecting more men to be more involved with parenting.
For those fathers in the workplace who are already involved parents, i. e. single custodial parents or who have good family sick leave policies, I salute you.
Fathers usually don't like the role you describe. Bully for those that do, but most don't and won't. You can expect a man to clean and cook and take little Snotleigh to the doctor but most men just don't want to.
A woman has to make decisions about having kids and how that will affect a career if she wants one. The boss is going to promote the most productive. Nobody cares about your personal life or how difficult it is to juggle work/kids. Men aren't going to turn into women. It's in the woman's court as to how she wants her life arranged....what is most important. Nobody else really gives a hoot.
You can try to legislate this "equality" all you want. But if a woman leaves the workforce for a large chunk of time or keeps working, but is less "there", she will not get the promotions and high salary. And most men in reality have no desire to do the major child care. It's called reality. Better to get a grip and realize this instead of demanding special treatment because of your personal choices.
First off, companies have the right to pay employees whatever they want - whether it's an exorbitant amount or very little. It all depends on what the company thinks the employee is worth.
Likewise, employees have the right to leave any company they think isn't paying them what they're worth.
This equal pay garbage is just that. If two people make widgets, but one person is better and faster at it than the other, plus he or she puts in longer hours, and perhaps contributes in other ways, then by all means the better person should make better money. If not, they're free to make widgets for someone else.
Making laws regulating pay is very dangerous territory. And dare I say, unAmerican.
Should he get paid more because they are more afraid of him?
But it's the company's fault for paying him more. If they don't like his intimidation, they should can him and find someone else, man or woman. One problem with that, however, is it's often very difficult to find good people. So many companies put up with less-than-perfect employees because of the difficulty in finding decent people.
Perhaps the woman should go in and demand more money. If she doesn't, that's her fault.
When it comes to productivity, intelligence, and initiative, are all human beings really equal?