In two years when I graduate college and enter the workforce I will be met with the reality that, as a woman, I will not make the same amount of money as my male coworker. The gender wage gap isn’t just a social justice hindrance it is also an economic speed bump.
The push for women in the work force began during World War II when the men were away. Women took up jobs in factories, schools, hospitals, and anywhere else. They made up more than 60 percent of the work force during the war and during this time they had the same wages as men. But this changed drastically when men returned from the war and women were forced out of their jobs as well as given lower wages to make an incentive for them to leave.
In the United States, April 14th has been dubbed Equal Pay Day because of the 1963 Equal Pay Act signed by John F. Kennedy. Though the name may perhaps bring forth a sense of security for women’s economic future, women in the United States are still faced with a daunting truth: we aren’t making the same as men. As of 2013 women earned seventy-eight cents to every dollar a man makes. In 2014 this changed to 82.5 cents. According to the research conducted by the Economic Policy Institute in 2014 women higher up the ‘ladder’ experience the largest wage gap. On the other side of the spectrum men and woman who do not graduate college have the smallest wage gap.
There’s one profession that is leading the way in the gender wage gap war. Female pharmacists make on average 99 cents to every dollar a man makes according to Bloomberg correspondent Victoria Stilwell. The education necessary to become a pharmacist has grown in price thus turning people away from the job. With four years of an undergrad and three more to become certified the career track is becoming less appealing. This increase in demand could be a reason why the gender wage gap is becoming much less in this profession.
But that doesn’t explain why female Software Engineers aren’t making the same as their male counter parts. Since entering the digital age the need for computer scientists, software engineers, and IT personnel has increased but the gender gap hasn’t lessened. Even with programs like Google’s ‘Girls Who Code’ girls aren’t attracted to the profession. Women are turned off by the commonly male dominated profession due to the ‘glass ceiling’ argument, but that’s not the only reason. Bloomberg Business just released an article on May 14th called ‘Girl Code’, which was written by Claire Suddath, who is a frequent writer for the website. According to Suddath’s research, ‘over one million jobs will be created in computer related fields by 2020; less than one percent of those will go to American women. Female software engineers make sixteen cents less an hour than a man makes. I cannot determine any reasonable explanation for this. In the case of a pharmacist the gender wage gap has been bridged to an extent on necessity. But when it comes to those who can write the next Apple IOS, women are being turned away from computing careers.
Let’s take a step back and set the stage for a moment. In one situation we have two Harvard Law graduates- one male and the other female. Both graduated in the top ten percent of their class, both work at the same law firm, both have the same benefits, and both work the same amount of hours. Logically speaking the two should have the same annual salaries; that’s simple economics and common sense. But when it’s broken down the woman will make only eighty-two cents to her male coworkers’ dollar.
Some may scoff at the twelve cents that’s missing from her hourly pay but over the course of the year that twelve cents adds up. Over the course of one year if the woman consistently works fifty hours a week at a base pay of forty dollars an hour she will be losing three hundred and sixty dollars a week. That translates into 18,720 dollars which is missing from her yearly pay. That money that the woman is missing will be kept from generating economic progress.
Basic economics states that one person’s spending is another person’s income. This is how revenue is generated and how an economy can stay afloat. The money that the lawyer is missing will be kept from generating economic gain. Many studies have shown that women are more likely to spend money on luxury items- or just spend in general- then men. According to a study conducted by Illinois Wesleyan University, bridging the wage gap between males and females would cause a 2-4% influx in the economy each year for the next fifty years.
So why isn’t this happening?
Yes, it is true that statistically women are more likely to leave a job because of domestic demands, but while they’re in their careers their pay isn’t the same. Women insist that having paid sick days But taking away the thirteen cents that women lose across the board takes away from economic gain. The average middle class woman is missing 6,250 dollars; that missing money could be used to generate a $450 billion increase in the country’s GDP. This would also work towards making the 1 in 3 woman who feels like she teeters on poverty feel more economically secure.
People who feel they are more economically secure are more likely to spend their money. Ray Dailo, one of the most respected hedge fund managers on Wall Street, said ‘that an economy is simply the sum of the transactions.’ This is a simple concept to understand. People- ie women- would be more inclined to make transactions when they feel more secure.
More transactions means more economic gains. Women making the same amount as their male coworkers means that more transactions can be made, and now we come full circle; more transactions means economic gain. This is why the gender has to be fixed, not just for the benefit of the working woman but for the economy as a whole.
