Gender pay gap turns up as 2016 campaign issue
Print Edition
The persistent pay gap between women and men in the United States — right up to Hollywood stars — is emerging as a 2016 campaign issue, but experts say its root causes are complex.
Working American women took home 21 percent less than men in 2014, according to a recent Census Bureau report.
Sexual equality at work is a subject of constant debate in the United States, where President Barack Obama speaks often of the future of his teenage daughters and the unfairness of gender stereotypes.
Of all the issues facing working women in the US, four out of 10 Americans say equal pay is the most pressing, according to a 2014 Gallup poll.
A string of recent studies and high-profile lawsuits including in Silicon Valley have highlighted a persistent gender pay gap.
One of Hollywood’s top movie stars Jennifer Lawrence just penned an essay hitting out at sexism in the industry, after discovering she was paid less than her male co-stars.
But the pay gap cannot be blamed on sexism alone, according to Cornell University economics professor Francine Blau.
Discrimination probably plays a role, she said, but it is hard to quantify.
What is certain, is that male domination of certain industries and the lack of affordable child care are factors in explaining why many women are unable to reach high-paying jobs.
The disparity has become a hot-button issue as election season heats up, especially among Democrats, who are hammering home the point that women earn less than their male counterparts.
According to Blau, however, the census figure suggesting a 21 percent pay gap is “misleading.”
When controlling for variables such as work experience, education, occupation and industry, the real gap shrinks to as low as nine percent, she said.
Education no longer tips the scales in men’s favor, Blau said, because women on average now have more education than men.
The male advantage in pay terms stems mainly from dominance in lucrative professions such as law, engineering, and highly skilled factory positions, Blau said. Lower paid jobs such as teaching and nursing have traditionally been considered female jobs.
Still, activists say that even a small pay gap harms women.
“Women are losing hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of their lifetime,” said Vicki Shabo of the National Partnership for Women & Families.
Lisa Maatz, the top policy adviser at the American Association of University Women, said she does “get frustrated” with people who say “it’s only seven percent, it’s only 10 percent.”
“Anybody who is working and trying to make ends meet, 10 percent more is a huge deal,” said Maatz, AAUW vice president of government relations.
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