Why the gender wage gap is harmful

Background of the Gender Wage Gap

There is a storied history of the gender wage gap in the United States. The gender pay

gap refers to the difference in salary for men and women, with men receiving a consistently

higher pay than women. There is a wide range when it comes to how severe the wage gap

between genders is, but it is often made worse due to factors like like job field or race. According

to the Pew Research Center, a woman will only make 82% of what their male counterpart makes

(Aragāo, 2023). In order to fully understand how the wage gap has come to develop, it’s

important to understand the historical context of women in the work force and how their role in

the labor market has changed over time.

In the early 20th century, most women did not work outside of the home. Their role was

to run the home, essentially being limited to child care and housework. There were some women

that worked outside of the home, but most were unmarried and left the workforce once married.

Lack of higher education greatly impacted women’s ability to work, with factory work being the

most common option as a job. Eventually around the mid to late 20th century, women’s roles in

the workforce increased, as married women began to enter the workforce more than ever

(Kranzberg & Hannan, n.d.). In 1963 the Equal Pay Act was passed, which protects against

gender based discrimination for wages (U.S. Department of Labor, n.d.). Administrative jobs

became more common, and more than 50% of unmarried women worked, along with almost the

same amount of married women (Yellen). By the late 1900s, women were fully incorporated into

the workforce, with cultural stigmas surrounding female employment significantly lower.
Closing the Wage Gap

Texas Women’s Foundation is strongly opposed to the existence of a wage gap between

men and women. Any sort of pay discrepancy that exists solely due to an employee’s gender is

unacceptable, as it implies an inherent inferiority in women. Texas Women’s Foundation is

committed to promoting equality for women, and the wage gap is a huge step backward in

reaching this goal. Women in the workforce deserve to be compensated equally and fairly in

comparison to their male counterparts.

Why is the wage gap wrong?

There are many reasons as to why the wage gap between men and women is so bad.

Beside the fact that women are earning less money, there are other cultural and societal elements

that make the wage gap so harmful. One reason is the fact that lower wages for women means

that they will receive less in benefits including Social Security and pension (American

Association of University Women, 2022). The wage gap affects women in areas other than

immediate salary, and with fewer sources of retirement income, they face long term

repercussions that can follow them even after leaving the workforce.

One other reason as to why the wage gap is so harmful, is the so called “motherhood

penalty.” Women face more difficulties in securing equal pay and opportunities solely due to the

fact that they could eventually require maternity leave. According to the World Economic Forum

(2022), women in the workforce face a higher wage gap as they age, with women above the age

of 30 seeing a large jump in the pay gap.

There are many arguments that attempt to go against the idea that a pay gap is harmful.

Many people believe in stereotypes and societal judgment that imply women should be paid less

than men. These points of view are in some ways valid, but there are some opinions that have

been well refuted after time and research.

1. One counterargument for the wage gap is that women tend to gravitate toward careers

that pay lower salaries. According to the U.S. Department of Labor (2019), the 3 most

commonly held jobs by women are registered nurses, elementary and middle school

teachers, and secretaries/administrative assistants. These jobs are on the lower end

when it comes to salary, and they happen to be roles highly filled by women. Some

people perceive these jobs to be lower in value, and they also have lower wages for

the women employed in these careers. While this argument cannot be refuted, as

women do gravitate towards lower paying jobs, it does bring up another issue. Should

these jobs be paid less? Or should the job fields that women often occupy be paid as

much as male-dominated fields?

2. Another counterargument is that women do not work as many hours as men, or for as

long. This is a common misconception held by people in and out of the workforce. In

a study conducted by the World Economic Forum, it was found that “men and women

complete 66 percent of their assigned work.” Women are however, given an average

10% more work, meaning that women are more productive in their work (Berman,

2018).
 3. One final counterargument is that women take more time away from work than men

do for family/maternity leave. This plays a part in the concept of a “motherhood

penalty.” Employers are less likely to hire women that have children compared to

those who don’t, a penalty that men do not face (Meyer & Sestero, 2021) . The

argument that women work less isn’t supported by consistent evidence, but is actually

a stereotype and assumption that is perpetuated by unfounded decision making in

hiring. More women take leave than men do, with 24% of women needing leave

versus 17% of men, but while these women are away from work, only 32% receive

full pay while 55% of men do (Herr, Klerman, & Roy, 2020).

Recommendations

- One recommendation for helping to solve the wage gap is to increase pay transparency. Pay

transparency among employees and peers is completely legal, but something that many

employers and companies are against. The fear that employees actively discussing their salary

will lead to unease at pay discrepancies is a real concern for employers, and a lack of

transparency helps employers pay their workers unequally. According to Forbes, pay

transparency could lead to a change of almost 40% when it comes to the wage gap. Women are

less likely to negotiate their pay, and salary transparency could help to reduce the need for this

in the first place. (Finn, 2023).

- Another recommendation to help close the wage gap is to encourage women to enter higher

paying job fields. In schools, young girls are often encouraged to enter the STEM job field.
 Most women gravitate toward other job fields, and there is a large disparity in the number of

men versus women in this field. According to the Census Bureau (2021), only 27% of workers

in the STEM workforce are women. STEM tends to be higher paying than other career

options, and continuing support for young girls to gain education in these topics is a potential

solution to increasing women in the STEM workforce, resulting in women being in higher

paying fields and closing the wage gap.

- Lastly, lobbying for female-centric job fields to be paid more is another way to help close the

wage gap. One common career choice for women is teaching. Teaching is a wildly underpaid

profession. According to the Economic Policy Institute, teachers get paid less than their peers

in other professions (Allegretto, 2023). According to the Texas Education Agency (2022), the

high end of salary for a teacher with twenty plus years of experience is $54,540. For

comparison, most teachers make 23.5% less than other college educated employees in other

professions (Will, 2022). Focusing lobbying efforts on this cause would mean that a common

career choice for women would no longer be operating on a wage deficit, helping to close the

wage gap.
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