The newly wed woman wondered just what he thought women did
with their paychecks if the men were making all the money, but, instead, said “Well,
if that is true, then Bob (another employee at the company) should be making
more than you. After all, he has five children.
You only have one. Thus, he has more family to support.
This was a logical conclusion, the twenty something woman
thought, to that argument.
It was still dismissed as silly.
The woman, now long retired, wrote back to me saying “thank
goodness times have changed a lot since.”
But have they?
Reading on that stubborn pay gap was both maddening – and fascinating. The most recent research still indicates that
women still make on average eighty cents for every dollar a man earns for doing
the same job. And that is just a national
average. Some states have an even wider gap.
And that is just for us white chicks. Women of color have a wider gap
still.
And that still remains one of the reasons researches give
for that statistic that has barely budged in many years: the prevalent belief
that men are still the primary bread winners for any given household, and that
women employed outside the home are mainly working for the luxuries. The frivolous. The extra bit of pocket change, perhaps, to
be used at the next vacation that the husbands pay check mainly financed.
Not only does this completely undervalue or work (I work
dang hard – just ask every supervisor I’ve ever had) but that belief is no
longer true. In the state I currently
reside in, Missouri, the percentage of households fronted by a single mother
was at 7.27% in 2018 per Statista website. This might seem like a small number,
I suppose, but that number is growing. Single mothers are more likely to need welfare
or other government assistance. Imagine
what a huge difference getting paid fairly – even just a little more – would make
to all of those single mothers! It might even mean the difference as to whether
she needs the SNAP program to feed her children or if she can do that on her
own!
It is not all negative and frustration, though. More and more awareness is out there. More and more of our lawmakers are at least
talking about this even if change is slow.
I’m pleased to report that the city I currently live in recently passed
an ordinance baring employers from asking about previous salaries in the
application and interviewing process.
This small step will help by removing that self-perpetuation. Meaning
that the single mother may find herself in a better bargaining position if she
does not have to report that she did not make all that much at her last
job.
This is an ongoing and complex problem that can hardly be
covered in a one or two page blog.
Seriously, though, do some research on your own on this. Like I said: maddening yet fascinating. In the meantime, I’m sure I’ll return to this
subject again. Maybe next time this conversation
is continued, I’ll take about the mommy penalty and its companion phenomena:
the daddy bonus.
But for now, be well.
Take time for some self-care - - and enjoy the holidays however you
celebrate.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, the women in the story I
opened this blog with? That was not some
fictional woman. Or even a composite of
several women. That experience did happen.
That woman was my mother.
