Income Equality for Women
The situation of professional women has changed dramatically over the past fifty years. A woman’s career aspirations have expanded and are no longer confined to the traditional teacher or nurse. Many women have been able to nudge into those male dominated fields like medicine and law, but this does not mean there is acceptance or equality for women today. Let us examine some issues that still plague women as they progress into other professional fields.
The world of business is very different today than when our Mother’s had to deal with it. Instead of baking bread on Sunday, women today are gearing up for the week in the war zone. Like most men they are in the board rooms and in the court room. As stated in Pearl Jacobs and Linda Schain’s article, “The typical American family today is the dual-earner family” (2009). In other words, women are spending their time out of the kitchen more now than ever.
There are a few difficulties that women have to work with and one of them is that they are believed to have a different leadership style. One that is more people-oriented than men who believe in a more task-oriented style leadership. Also there is stress which could be caused by role conflict or multiple roles. Social support has been found to reduce stress, such as assistance from another person. There is always the family conflict that affects working women. Jacobs and Schain’s article declares, “It has been determined that there is a relationship between the lack of job flexibility and depression. That when family responsibilities expand, mothers’ are more likely than fathers’ to change jobs, to work part-time, or exit the labor force for a spell because families cannot afford to lose father’s wages” (2009). It is usually up to the women to decrease their time at work for the family. This is also true in case of maternity leave or a child having a sickness that requires constant attention.
The career path or job choices that women tend to be employed at are not ones that require a college degree or other trade schooling. This also gives a bias favoring men as the breadwinners and that they should be paid more because of this. Women are valued less than men in the workplace and when they are thought of less than women are not taught how to negotiate their salaries as well as men do (Dias, 2011). The reasons are all debatable and the EEOC covers discrimination in the workplace, but the problem still exists. “If only women could earn as much as men, the poverty rate would be cut in half among working women,” as declared in Equal Pay for Working Families (Hartman, Clark, & Hayes, 1999). There are some organizations where it is forbidden to discuss your pay with another colleague. Such secrecy makes it difficult to find out if women are paid fairly and weakens the attempt to reduce the gender wage gap.
President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act of 1963 into law, more than 50 years later we continue to push for policies and legislation to encourage and enforce fair pay in the workplace. The Family and Medical Leave Act was implemented in 1993 and Patricia E. Cornish, past national president of the Business and Professional Women’s organization said during her installation of new officers, “Inequality does exist in this country and we won’t rest until we obtain workplaces where equal really means equal” (quoted in Waters). In January 2009, President Barack Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law. Also the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would give women additional and equal pay protections, was being worked on for passage, but the legislation failed in procedural votes in the House and Senate in the 113th Congress. But the Senate did vote to fully debate the bill in September 2014 (General assembly President, 2000).
Equal pay to women should be considered a family issue, because this is where the problem begins when there is not enough money to go around. As stated in Hallman’s article, “There are more women these days that are the sole breadwinners for their family. This gap in the wages makes for poor living conditions, unsuitable nutrition choices, and fewer opportunities for the children. There is more at stake than just pride for these families” (2015). According to R.L. Blumberg’s article, “In 2000, 189 nations committed themselves to achieving eight Millennium Development Goals to improve human well-being by 2015. One of those objectives was to promote gender equality and empower women. They have found that progress has been slower in raising women’s opportunities to earn income and participate politically than in increasing women’s capabilities, in health, and especially, education. (p. 423)” The article also finds that women’s earnings are linked to better education and economic growth.
To help, some organizations have come up with a few strategies, such as, flex time. This allows women more time at home where they are needed, so that when the women are at work they have less stress. There is also mentoring programs for women, specifically by women who are at the top of the corporate ladder mentoring those below. It is an excellent method of integrating women into the business world. Other changes that can help the wage gap between men and women lessen are:
- For companies.
The United Workers urges companies to conduct salary audits to monitor and
address pay differences found. They consider this good business. It also gives
them transparency in the workplace.
- For individuals.
Women could learn strategies to negotiate for a better salary. Improving on
these skills can help close the gap.
- For policy makers.
The President could issue an executive order banning federal contractors from
striking back against workers who discuss their salaries or ask about the
companies pay practices. Doing this alone could protect 22% of the nation’s
workforce. The local Family Fare Stores have in their handbook that an
associate can be fired if caught talking about their hourly wages to another
associate.
Watching the Oscar’s tonight, actress Patricia Arquette says in her speech, which she won for Actress in a Supporting Role, Boyhood, “We (women) have fought for everyone else’s equal rights. It is our time to have wage equality once and for all and equal rights for women in the United States of America (Arquette, 2015).” Hopefully in the future this will no longer be a problem. Although when in the future will be debatable, but not doing another 50 years would be a benefit to us all.