Salary Disparities Between Men and Women in the United States

Salary Disparities between Men and Women in the United States

Name XXXX

Professor XXXX

Course XXXX

25 May 2008

Table of Contents

1 . Introduction

2 . Statistics on the Salary Disparity between Men and Women

3 . Reasons for the Salary Disparity between Men and Women

4 . Effects of the Salary Disparity in the Professional and Family Environments

5 . Government Laws and Policies Related to the Salary Disparity

6 . Difficulties in Overcoming the Salary Disparity

7 . Necessity to Solve the Problem

8 . Some Possible Solutions to the Problem

p 9 . Summary

Bibliography

1 . Introduction

This presents the statistics on the salary disparity between men and women , its causes , its effects on the professional and family environments , its related government laws and policies , difficulties in solving it , the necessity to solve it , and some solutions

2 . Statistics on the Salary Disparity between Men and Women

The salary disparity means the difference in the average salary earned by men and the average salary earned by women (Alexander , et al , 2003 The existence of a salary disparity suggests an economic inequity between men and women , and the size of the salary disparity indicates the extent of this inequity (Government of New Brunswick , 2003 . Figure 1 shows the trend of the female-male earnings ratio from 1960 to 2006 In the 1960 's and 1970 's , even after the Equal Pay Act was signed in 1963 , there were years that the salary disparity has increased , instead of narrowing . In 1973 , for instance , women made 57 cents only for every dollar men earned . The long-run declining trend of the salary disparity started in 1982 with an earnings ratio of 61 .7 and reached 76 .9 in 2006 . This means that the salary disparity has narrowed by about 5 .5cents per year starting 1982 . Currently , on average , women earn a little more than three-fourths as much as men

Table 1 shows the weekly earnings of ten selected occupations . In all ten occupations , there exists a salary disparity between men and women even in female-dominated occupations such as health care , education , and office and administrative support occupations . The lowest salary difference of only 8 (or 92 earnings ratio ) is observed in the office and administrative support occupations . The highest salary disparity of about 37 .7 (or 62 .3 earnings ratio ) is recorded in the sales and related occupations

Table 1 . Weekly Earnings of Ten Selected Occupations 3 . Reasons for Salary Disparity between Men and Women

The many reasons , underlying the existence of the salary disparity , are deeply rooted in the cultural beliefs of women 's role in society that have been reflected in business practices . These include the following

Family Responsibilities . Working women , especially married women , face competing priorities between work and family responsibilities . Since women often choose family over career , they prefer a work that is close to home , flexible in time , doesn 't need commitments to work overtime nor relocate , or work that one could quit from easily if required by the responsibilities of full-time motherhood (New Brunswick Wage Gap Roundtable 35 . The years out of the labor market directly lower the market value of women as they missed the opportunities of gaining more experiences and honing their skills . These could be translated to lower women 's wages and lifetime earnings relative to men 's (Deitrick , et al 16

Occupational Segregation . Historical viewpoints suggest that some occupations fit women better - teaching , clerical , and nursing , and others are for men - manufacturing , mechanics and that men and women must choose a job according to this societal work categorization (Boraas and Rodgers10 . Women crowd out into the labeled women 's work . The increased supply of women in a particular job put downward pressures on wages , creating a salary disparity between men and women (17

Under-valuation of Women 's Work . Jobs or workplaces with more women pay less than jobs or workplaces dominated by men - several researches term this as discrimination (New Brunswick Wage Gap Roundtable 41 . The reasons for undervaluing traditional women 's job include prejudices and stereotypes

Union Membership . Labor unions increase wages and benefits of union members compared to non-union members . Traditionally , men were likely union members than women , which contributed to the salary disparity (Deitrick , et al 17

4 . Effects of Salary Disparity on the Professional and Family Environments

Any salary disparity in the professional environments would dampen the morale of women who are receiving lower salary relative to their colleagues with similar qualifications . Effects of the salary disparity would include lower women 's job satisfaction , increased absenteeism lower intentions to remain in the workplace - that result to unsatisfactory work performance , which will lower overall workplace productivity . Furthermore , salary disparity will create a stressful and hostile working environment

The direct effect of salary disparity in family environment is the loss of potential income of women , which could help in the maintenance of family expenditures . In some households , salary disparity causes hostile relationships among spouses . In other households , salary disparity among family members is not issue

5 . Government Laws and Policies Related to Salary Discrimination

The following are some US laws and policies protecting the rights of female employees from any form of discrimination in their compensation and other employment terms

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 requires employers to give men and women equal pay for equal work in the same establishment ' - the jobs should be substantially equal , in terms of content , and not titles (US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission [EEOC]

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 , 42 USC 2000e prohibits employers to hire or discharge any employee , or to discriminate against any employee as regards compensation , terms , conditions or privileges of employment , based on employee 's sex , race , color , religion , or national origin (EEOC

Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 prohibits employers to discriminate against employees who are 40 years of age or older as regards any term , condition , or privilege of employment , including hiring , firing , promotion , layoff , compensation , benefits , job assignments , and training (EEOC

Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 bans private and public employers and labor unions from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities in job application procedures , hiring firing , advancement , compensation , job training , and other terms conditions , and privileges of employment (EEOC

Executive 11246 , Section 202 , as amended directs federal contractors and subcontractors not to discriminate employment and pay based on sex , race , color , religion , or national origin . It requires these employers to ensure equal treatment of employees during employment , and remedy any existing employment discrimination (Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs

Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO ) Act of 1993 authorizes the WANTO grant program to community-based organizations to prepare employers and labor unions to recruit , hire , train , and retain women in apprenticeships and nontraditional occupations ' thereby increasing employment opportunities for women (Women 's Bureau

6 . Difficulties in Overcoming the Salary Disparity

The following explains briefly why it is difficult to overcome the salary disparity

US Constitution . There is no full legal protection of women 's status in the workplace as the US Constitution does not forbid discrimination on the basis of sex (National Organization for Women Foundation 2

Data Collection on Women . Adequate information is needed to analyze and solve salary disparity problem . However , the Department of Labor has stopped publishing its Equal Pay Matters Initiative , deleted the salary disparity information from its web site , refused to employ tools to detect violations of equal pay laws , and removed overtime protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (8

Political Will . Governments at all levels lack the political will to enforce all equal employment opportunity laws and other related labor laws , and device a monitoring and audit system to identify violations of equal pay laws and penalize the violators

Exclusion . There are misconceptions and historical biases towards women in the workplace that serve as a glass ceiling , blocking women from getting better pays and moving upwards - thereby making it difficult to narrow the salary disparity . One is the fact that women still face the issue of being excluded from the old boy 's club ( HYPERLINK "http /www .suite101 .com /pro .cfm /boraharris2 " Hildebrand

Employers ' Belief . Another factor that perpetuates the glass ceiling is that many employers still believe that women will quit soon from the job to take care of the family , so organizations will invest less in women HYPERLINK "http /www .suite101 .com /pro .cfm /boraharris2 " Hildebrand br

7 . The Necessity in Solving the Salary Disparity

Although there are historical improvements in the salary disparity , it remains a global chronic problem . Hence , there is a need to solve it

Uphold women 's dignity . Addressing the salary disparity issue will boost the morale and uphold women 's dignity . It is an ethical mandate to recover the economic value of the women 's work . Wages should be paid in those occupations equivalent to the worth of the jobs in producing public or private goods and services (Acevedo

Protect women 's rights . Women have both human rights and legal rights for a fair treatment in the workplace , in any term , condition or privilege of employment , including hiring , compensation and benefits promotion , job assignments , security of tenure , and training (Acevedo

Increase women 's economic productivity . Reducing the salary disparity will increase the economic productivity of women . Since most households require the income of more than one worker , women 's earnings will substantially contribute to family maintenance . In addition , the number of households headed by women is increasing (Acevedo

Increase industry 's productivity . Narrowing the salary gap will increase workplace productivity that would benefit employers . Increasing women 's earnings will increase retention rate of staff , enhance recruitment efforts , improve workplace morale , lower absenteeism , secure a stable workforce , solve workplace skills shortages - these benefits can result to increased workplace productivity (Wage Gap Reduction Initiative

Save production costs . In addressing the salary disparity , employers will save on production costs on employee turnover , recruitment and hiring , training , declining productivity , and lost sales (Wage Gap Reduction Initiative

8 . Possible Solutions to the Problem

The solutions to the problem require collaborative efforts among all members of society : women , family , colleagues or co-workers , employers and governments

Address the cultural inequities . Since the root cause of salary disparity is the cultural belief of women 's secondary or complementary role in the production setting , a massive information campaign should be launched to re-orient people on the salary disparity issue , its causes and other factors that contribute to the gap , its consequences , and what needs to be changed (New Brunswick Wage Gap Roundtable

Close legal loopholes . Existing laws and regulations seem insufficient to address the persistence of salary disparity . They however demonstrate the need for stronger laws and regulations to ensure that women are paid equal wages for equal work . Closing the loopholes in the laws and regulations may require amendments , e .g , raising the minimum wage to better address the salary disparity (Wage Gap Reduction Initiative

Strictly enforce anti-discrimination laws . All laws related to wages and illegal employment discrimination should be strictly implemented . To improve enforcement , governments should conduct periodic monitoring and evaluations of compliance . Employers should be required to have a self-audit system to ensure implementation of anti-discrimination laws and rectify any internal violations (Wage Gap Reduction Initiative

Increase participation of women in the labor force . Areas requiring government interventions to increase women 's labor participation rate include (1 ) encouraging girls and women to pursue higher education , and non-traditional careers (2 ) increasing the number of women owning businesses (3 ) increasing the number of women joining a union (4 allowing women to work in mining , construction and other male-dominated industries (5 ) requiring construction industries to allow women to undergo apprenticeship and (6 ) increasing women to work full-time e .g , working full-time at home through internet (Alexander , et al

Support women 's productive and reproductive role . Women have both productive and reproductive roles in society . Actions required include shared responsibility by men in family affairs and domestic tasks , and government support on family services , like increasing child care availability so women with babies or young children can maximize labor force participation and work full-time (Acevedo , 2003

10 . Summary

The disparity in earnings between men and women has been declining , but remains a chronic condition in the labor force . On average , a woman earns 77 percent of a man 's earnings in 2006 . Across the ten selected occupations , salary disparity exists with varying degree , even in female-dominated occupations . The reasons for this disparity include women 's priority on family responsibilities over career , the crowding of women in traditionally women 's jobs which pushes down wages non-membership of women in unions which isolate them from union negotiated wages and benefits , and the discrimination against women in the workplace

There are several existing laws and policies protecting women against discrimination in the workplace . However , the salary disparity persists There are difficulties in closing the gap , because there is no provision in the US constitution guaranteeing women 's protection in the workplace lack of political will by the governments to strictly enforce these laws and punish the violators , no information and monitoring system on the salary disparities , and the continuing existence of the so-called glass ceiling

But it is necessary to solve this problem to uphold women 's dignity protect their rights , and increase their economic productivity , and increase industry 's productivity and production cost savings

There are several solutions to the problem . Among them are addressing the cultural belief of inequities through massive information campaign closing the loopholes in laws and regulations through amendments strictly enforcing anti-discrimination laws , increasing women 's participation in the labor force , and supporting women 's productive and reproductive roles in the society

Bibliography

Acevedo , Doris M . The Impact of Economic Restructuring on Female Employment : Labor Policy and Interactions between Government and Economy ' Women 's Health Collection . 1 Jan . 2003 . Latin American and Caribbean Women 's Health Network . 24 May 2008 br

Alexander , Anne M , Catherine R . Connolly , Martin M . Greller , and John H . Jackson . A Study of the Disparity in Wages and Benefits between Men and Women in Wyoming . The University of Wyoming . 2003 . 21 May 2008 br

Boraas , Stephanie , and William M . Rodgers III . How does gender play a role in the earnings gap ? An Update ' Monthly Labor Review (March 2003 : 9 - 15

Bureau of Labor Statistics . Table 39 . Median weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers by detailed occupation and sex ' 21 May 2008

Deitrick , Sabina , Susan B . Hansen , and Christopher Briem . Gender Wage Disparity in the Pittsburgh Region : Analyzing Causes and Differences in the Gender Wage Gap . University of Pittsburg : University Center for Social and Urban Research , 2007

Graham , Mary E , and Theresa M . Welbourne . Gainsharing and Women 's and Men 's Relative Pay Satisfaction ' Journal of Organizational Behavior 20 .7 (Dec . 1999 : 1027-1024

Hildebrand , Deborah S . The Glass Ceiling : Four Reasons Why it Exists and What to Do About it ' Suite101 .com . 27 June 2007 . 24 May 2008 br

Kahne , Hilda , and Andrew I . Kohen . Economic Perspectives on the Roles of Women in the American Economy ' Journal of Economic Literature 13 .4 (Dec . 1975 :1249-1292

National Committee on Pay Equity . The Wage Gap Over Time

In Real Dollars , Women See a Continuing Gap ' 21 May 2008 br

National Organization for Women Foundation . Sex-Based Employment Discrimination in the US ' 26 May 26 2006 br

New Brunswick Wage Gap Roundtable . Closing New Brunswick 's Wage Gap : An Economic Imperative . Final Report of the New Brunswick Wage Gap Roundtable to the Government of New Brunswick . November 2003 . 22 May 2008

Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs . OFCCP Laws Regulations ' Employment Standards Administration , US Department of Labor . 23 May 2008 br

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management Title VII , Civil Rights Act of 1964 , as amended ' US Department of Labor . 25 May 2008 br

Shack-Marquez , Janice . Earnings Differences between Men and Women : an Introductory Note ' Monthly Labor Review Online 107 .6 (1984 : pp 15-16 21 May 2008

US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission . Age Discrimination ' 4 March 2008 . 24 May 2008

_____ . Disability Discrimination ' 29 February 2008 . 25 May 2008 br

_____ . Equal Pay and Compensation Discrimination ' 4 March 2008 . 24 May 2008

Wage Gap Reduction Initiative . FAQ ' New Brunswick Executive Council Office . 21 May 2008 br

Women 's Bureau . Nontraditional Occupations ' May 2004 . US Department of Labor . 23 May 2008

Appendix

The Salary disparity Over Time

Year Women 's Earnings Men 's Earnings Dollar Difference Percent

Year Women 's Earnings Men 's Earnings Dollar Difference Percent

1960 16 ,144 26 ,608 10 ,464 60 .70

1984 23 ,453 36 ,842 13 ,389 63 .70

1961 16 ,272 27 ,463 11 ,191 59 .20

1985 23 ,978 37 ,131 13 ,153 64 .60

1962 16 ,587 27 ,972 11 ,385 59 .30

1986 24 ,479 38 ,088 13 ,609 64 .30

1963 16 ,908 28 ,684 11 ,776 58 .90

1987 24 ,663 37 ,389 12 ,726 65 .20

1964 17 ,368 29 ,362 11 ,994 59 .10

1988 24 ,774 37 ,509 12 ,735 66 .00

1965 17 ,852 29 ,791 11 ,939 59 .90

1989 25 ,310 36 ,855 11 ,545 66 .00

1966 17 ,874 31 ,055 13 ,181 57 .60

1990 25 ,451 35 ,538 10 ,087 71 .60

1967 18 ,241 31 ,568 13 ,327 57 .80

1991 25 ,457 36 ,440 10 ,983 69 .90

1968 18 ,836 32 ,389 13 ,553 58 .20

1992 25 ,791 36 ,436 10 ,645 70 .80

1969 20 ,156 34 ,241 14 ,085 58 .90

1993 25 ,579 35 ,765 10 ,186 71 .50

1970 20 ,567 34 ,642 14 ,075 59 .40

1994 25 ,558 35 ,513 9 ,955 72 .00

1971 20 ,691 34 ,771 14 ,080 59 .50

1995 25 ,260 35 ,365 10 ,105 71 .40

1972 21 ,185 36 ,614 15 ,429 57 .90

1996 25 ,919 35 ,138 9 ,219 73 .80

1973 21 ,397 37 ,381 15 ,984 56 .60

1997 26 ,720 36 ,030 9 ,310 74 .20

1974 21 ,419 36 ,456 15 ,037 58 .80

1998 27 ,290 37 ,296 10 ,006 73 .20

1975 21 ,297 36 ,207 14 ,910 58 .80

1999 27 ,208 37 ,701 10 ,493 72 .20

1976 21 ,738 36 ,114 14 ,376 60 .20

2000 27 ,355 37 ,339 9 ,984 73 .30

1977 21 ,743 36 ,901 15 ,158 58 .90

2001 29 ,215 38 ,275 9 ,060 76 .30

1978 22 ,617 38 ,051 15 ,005 59 .40

2002 30 ,203 39 ,429 9 ,226 76 .60

1979 22 ,446 37 ,622 15 ,176 59 .70

2003 30 ,724 40 ,668 9 ,944 75 .50

1980 22 ,279 37 ,033 14 ,754 60 .20

2004 32 ,285 42 ,160 9 ,875 76 .60

1981 21 ,830 36 ,854 15 ,024 59 .20

2005 31 ,858 41 ,386 9 ,528 77 .00

1982 22 ,367 36 ,224 13 ,857 61 .70

2006 32 ,515 42 ,261 9 ,476 76 .90

1983 22 ,961 36 ,106 13 ,055 63 .60

2007

Note : Earnings in 2000 CPI-U-RS adjusted dollars

Source : National Committee on Pay Equity Website Name PAGE 12 ...