Won't there always be a gender pay gap?
By rjl1989
@rjl1989 (190)
November 12, 2009 7:06pm CST
Men and women are not evenly distributed between careers, some are male dominated (e.g. engineering and some are female dominated (eg Nursing). Different careers pay different amounts. Therefore even if everything else is the same eg equal pay for same jobs, same experience level etc, its likely there will be differences in male and female pay, either men will earn more on average or women will earn more on average.
The other key factor is that usually in a couple it's the mother that stays at home with the children, giving up years of job experience, possible promotions, further training etc. Until its roughly 50% of couples where the father stays at home, women won't be able to advance their careers as far, and therefore on average will be paid less.
Therefore if the gender pay gap is still an issue, surely the best approach would be encouraging more men to stay at home with their kids whilst their partner goes out to work, and designing policy to encourage this, such as equalising paternity and maternity leave, or allowing maternity/paternity leave to be allocated to either partner. Thus making it easier for women to go back to work.
2 people like this
6 responses
@anotherxidentity (1434)
• United States
13 Nov 09
I think that there is still a pay gap but I think that it will slowly begin to narrow but it is going to take forever for there not to be a noticeable one and a few things have to change. People just need to realize that men are always going to hold the big jobs at the moment because women are just slowly getting into the workforce and they don't have the years in the workforce.
Also I think that as long as its more socially acceptable to be a stay at home mom than dad then of course employers should be leery about how much they can trust in a woman with children. They are going to be the ones calling last minute saying they can't come in because of a sick child or they have to leave early and go pick them up. It's completely acceptable to see this point of view and I don't think they should be granted special permissions. If we want equalness women with children can't get this special treatment.
1 person likes this
@sid556 (30959)
• United States
13 Nov 09
I am a single mom and I have never been out of work for any reason. Think about it . A single mom in the work force is probably your most dependable employee. Being a single mom, I could not afford to take time off for any reason. Where I work there is one guy working with us. I will say that he takes more time off than any of us girls. Women have been strong in the workforce for years now.
@anotherxidentity (1434)
• United States
13 Nov 09
That is your experience.
Where I work, I've worked with 3 mothers. And all of them have had to take off of work early multiple times because of their kids. And its always them that I'm getting calls from to cover for them than the other employees. And also we have a cellphone policy where you can't have it on you because people tend to text, all 3 of them think they are above the policy because they have kids. I don't know how many times one of the mothers gets called from her kids because something ridiculously small happened at home. And another thinks its completely fine for her husband to drop off her child at work while she is still working cause he has to work and she only has an hour left.
Its absolutely ridiculous.
@Slewis77 (47)
• United States
13 Nov 09
LOL!!! Well for a couple reason this has been sort of the unspoken rule in woman's pay. Woman typically have more health problems (Cramps, check ups, school) than men, so they are expected to miss more days from work. The bosses knowing this, tend to reflect the extra time with less pay. Men will make more, but miss less days. Of course you will never get anyone to confess since it might land them in court.
The other is, salary is negotiable! Men, since they have more experience in the work place know what they are worth and tend to demand more. Woman who are perceived as naive when it comes to this, will get low balled unless they know the game. Woman have to know what they are worth (What someone else will pay)in the market and learn to counter with a higher salary if the feel it's low.
1 person likes this
@sid556 (30959)
• United States
13 Nov 09
I can't believe people still think this way. I am a woman and have been in the workforce since I was 15. I am now 53 and except for giving birth to my children, have not missed work due to illness. My ex, however, missed plenty of time. I did not....could not count on his help in raising the kids. Woman may get cramps and all but most don't call out of work for them. My ex was in construction and he missed all sorts of time. Also his work, while it paid great was seasonal and he was often out of work.
@rogue13xmen13 (14402)
• United States
14 Nov 09
I think that thanks to the economy, the gender pay gap is dying, but I know that it still exist in some places. I think that people should be paid according to job, how well they do on the job, and education, but that's just me!
@sid556 (30959)
• United States
13 Nov 09
Hi there,
I'm sorry but I'm not really following the connection between maternity leave and pay scales here.I do agree that different jobs have a different pay scale.Jobs like construction should get paid more than some other jobs because they are hard physical labor and the person risks their life to do much of the job. I don't agree with swapping and having the man stay home on maternity leavy and the women go to work as a solution altho I am not oppossed to the man staying home. It all depends on what the couple decides. Let's not forget that the woman is the one that just gave birth and it is for her best interest to stay home for a few weeks after the baby is born. there is some healing involved. Then it is a personal choice between the husband and wife as to whether both of them should return to work or one should stay home with the kids. It is different in each family and each family should make the decision that is best for them.
@shell2784 (752)
• United States
13 Nov 09
I don't think that at all. I think that anymore there is a fair enough amount of women in the work place that most things balance out quite equally. In certain positions a woman may need to prove herself more to get the job, jsut as so a man might have to prove himself a little more in certain positions - but everything is pretty fair now a days.
If I wanted to strive for some great occupation, then I'm not living the life I told myself I wanted.
So no - I don't feel there will always be a gender gap, and I don't think the gender gap is really out there quite as much as it used to be. There are a lot of well educated woman and men in all fields - and if a woman does decide to be a stay at home mom for awhile, it doesn't mean she's doomed for life by any means.
@Natrina (37)
• Portugal
13 Nov 09
Well, I believe it is still out there: women discrimination is, probably less, but pretty much like race discrimination, it's not socially visible anymore because the media portrays it as a "politically incorrect" thing to do. Of course we're way better than the past, but I think there's much word to be done. I'm unsure how it'll end up, it's possible it'll disappear, but that would require either a full destruction of the menwomen idea or a strong fiscalization.
@shell2784 (752)
• United States
13 Nov 09
I'm not saying its not out there at all... and even race isn't as big of an issue anymore. I think if everyone would just shut up about it (I don't mean tht rudly) that it would all even itself out."A woman can do anything a man can do"... crap. I wish I didn't have to go to work everyday! I'd love to stay home and be a stay at home mom/house wife. If all the woman out there would have shut their mouths, I would have never had to work full time. I'd be sitting at home sipping coffee with my friends while our children run around together... wearing an apron and cooking home cooked meals everyday.
Maybe we should make the pay gap bigger again so more woman can go home and take care of the most important thing in their life.. their family. lol
@71149301 (51)
• China
13 Nov 09
Right now,men and women are treat different in careers which descide the role they play in the daily life.But,in the other side,women are more protected in some fild.Some dangorous job only for men.Men have more oppotunities to earn money and even more.but they have more pressure in this world.they need to work hard to feed their family.
