Gender wage inequality is a reality that has seen women earn significantly lesser than their male counterparts despite having the same skill set and experience. The perspective that news articles take is mostly sentimental, while scholarly articles favour scientific evidence and extensive research. In most cases, news articles are framed in ways that create a bigger social disruption which may create the publishing of exaggerated information so that it can be interesting to the audience. On the other side, scholarly articles are based on facts and conclusions that are derived from the findings of scientific research. Gender wage inequality persists to the detriment of the physical and psychological well-being of women.
The pandemic has increased the wage gap inequality. The United States currently has a wage gap inequality issue, with women suffering the most at the expense of men. Over the past decade, research shows that the wages for women have only increased by $0.8 cents despite the inflation rate increased by an even greater rate. Most of the prestigious jobs are still held by men, with women having to languish doing lesser jobs with much lesser pay (Weiner, 2022). Even when men and women are doing the same job, it is evident that women are lowly paid compared with men. A New York Times post by Taub (2020) shows that the pandemic may undo all the work that has been done in support of women towards wage equality. The author argues that the pandemic will affect women – both wealthy and poor – because they will be the ones expected to take care of the children. That is, with schools being forced to close, it is the women who will have to sacrifice themselves to take care of the family while the men continue employment with the alternatives available. The restrictions put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic meant that there would be job losses or remote working: the greater chances are that men will be the ones that will be expected to work while the mother protects the family to ensure they do not expose them to the deadly virus. A scholarly article published by Dang & Nguyen (2021) follows that line of argument, stating that the effects of the pandemic will affect women to a greater extent. The authors argue that the discrimination that was out of favour against women will be compounded as they will be expected to make some compromises for the sake of their families. The two sources agree on the fact that gender wage inequality will suffer from the effects of the pandemic because women will have to sacrifice their ambitions so they can support their families.
Motherhood is the reason for the increased wage inequality. A Daily Mail Post by Paget (2021) shows that there exists a “motherhood penalty” which makes mothers earn lesser than their counterparts. The author states that after one year since birth, the wages of that mother are lower by up to 28% compared to those women who did not break for maternity leave. The data continues to show that, over the next six years, the wage inequality gap with their counterpart will grow to 45%. Having a family can divide a women’s attention since they have to commit themselves fully to both of them if they are to be considered successful and appreciated. Research has shown that women have to work much more to get the same recognition as men; this is why men get more compensation for work done than women. The data showing that remaining childless puts a woman in a superior position working mother shows that there is a greater burden on career women when they decide to have a family. To put this in the perspective of employers, when a woman goes on maternity leave, they are likely to be out for approximately three months – a lot can change in three months since the employer may find ways to replace or scrap the work that the missing woman was involved in (Fan, 2022). Thus, when they come back, they are no longer at the core of the organization, which means that they are not valued as much and yet paid poorly as well. Additionally, working mothers have to endure the burden of having to squeeze their office hours so that they can be at home in time for their child or children. Thus, in the end, the employer may find that the contribution that the woman makes is not as reliable as that of a man, therefore, leading them to compensate the man much better.
Binder (2021) takes on a different approach from Paget (2021) by stating that the effect is further based on one’s socioeconomic status. That is, women of higher socioeconomic status have lesser experience with the “motherhood penalty” compared to those from lower socioeconomic status. The effect is the daughters of mothers of higher socioeconomic status also embrace the same values similar to the daughters of low socioeconomic status. The result is a vicious cycle where mothers from low socioeconomic status carry a great burden of family and work compared to their richer counterparts. This is mainly because women from low socioeconomic status have to work so that the income from the husband and wife can fairly support the family. On the other side, the husband from a higher socioeconomic status will provide enough money to comfortably support the family, which means that the burden on the wife is lessened. Therefore, the news article and the scholarly article take a different perspective on the effect that the “motherhood penalty” has on women, with each taking a different conclusion.
Gender gap inequality starts from as early in the career of women, and it persists throughout their lifetime. Two publications, one in the Wall Street Journal and the other published in the Frontiers in Sociology, show that inequality begins in an early year and it lasts throughout the time they are alive. The Wall Street Journal authors Korn et al. (2022) used data from federal tax records to highlight the inequalities among peers who graduate at the same time. For instance, the men undergraduates in accounting received 55% more salary compared to women who graduated the same degree and year. This is a similar case for law students from the University of Michigan, where men earned an average of $165,000 while women earned $120,000 on average after three years. The story is not different in the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio dentists, whose average wage between men and women was $37,000 after three years. The data tallies with the generally held knowledge that gender gap inequality is a reality in the United States, and it has not been addressed over the decades despite the multitude of documentation on the same. The authors allude to the “motherhood penalty” that may affect most of the women who decide to start families and settle down a few years after they graduate. A Pew Research study shows that men marry at an average age of 29.5 while women get married at around 27.4 years. The difference in the desire to get married shows that women have greater pressure to get married at a young age compared to men. This means that for peers who graduate at the same time, women will most likely be married earlier, thereby creating the reality of early motherhood that brings about additional responsibilities. Toczek et al. (2021) also agree that the wage gap inequality continues, and it follows women throughout their lives. Therefore, wage inequality is an issue that should be addressed from the early years of employment, with an emphasis on creating a management system that values gender diversity in the workplace.
In conclusion, gender gap inequality is an issue that is real and is affecting women of all, irrespective of race or class. Research shows that there is a disproportionate rate of gender wage inequality in society that has caused the “motherhood penalty”, where women feel like they are punished for becoming mothers. Society needs to include training in gender equality and impart the skills from a young age so that when they become managers and leaders in future, they will be tolerant and value both men and women alike.
Reference List
Binder, Ariel J. 2021. “Rising Inequality in Mothers’ Employment Statuses: The Role of Intergenerational Transmission.” Demography 58(4):1223–48.
Dang, Hai-Anh H. and Cuong Viet Nguyen. 2021. “Gender Inequality during the Covid-19 Pandemic: Income, Expenditure, Savings, and Job Loss.” World Development 140:105296.
Fan, Wen. 2022. “What It’s like When She Earns More: Does Race Matter?” Work in Progress. Retrieved December 8, 2022 (http://www.wipsociology.org/2022/11/17/what-its-like-when-she-earns-more-does-race-matter/).
Korn, Melissa, Lauren Weber, and Andrea Fuller. 2022. “Data Show Gender Pay Gap Opens Early.” The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 8, 2022 (https://www.wsj.com/articles/gender-pay-gap-college-11659968901).
Paget, Antonia. 2021. “Women Face ‘Pay Penalty’ of 45% in Six Years after Giving Birth to Their First Child, Study Shows .” Daily Mail Online. Retrieved December 8, 2022 (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9834047/Women-face-pay-penalty-45-six-years-giving-birth-child-study-shows.html).
Parker, Kim and Renee Stepler. 2020. “As U.S. Marriage Rate Hovers at 50%, Education Gap in Marital Status Widens.” Pew Research Center. Retrieved December 8, 2022 (https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/09/14/as-u-s-marriage-rate-hovers-at-50-education-gap-in-marital-status-widens/).
Taub, Amanda. 2020. “Pandemic Will ‘Take Our Women 10 Years Back’ in the Workplace.” The New York Times. Retrieved December 8, 2022 (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/26/world/covid-women-childcare-equality.html).
Toczek, Lisa, Hans Bosma, and Richard Peter. 2021. “The Gender Pay Gap: Income Inequality over Life Course – a Multilevel Analysis.” Frontiers in Sociology 6.
Weiner, Jennifer. 2022. “Why It Matters That J. Lo Is Now J. Aff.” The New York Times. Retrieved December 8, 2022 (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/23/opinion/jlo-jennifer-lopez-ben-affleck.html).
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