All quotes from Why Is Her Paycheck Smaller?
By HANNAH FAIRFIELD
Published: February 28, 2009 - The New York Times
(Click graphic to go to large interactive chart). Full story here.
Nearly every occupation has the gap — the seemingly unbridgeable chasm between the size of the paycheck brought home by a woman and the larger one earned by a man doing the same job.
"There's no measurable way to explain the gaps within occupations," said Barry T. Hirsh, a labor economist at Georgia State University. "Other wage gaps, like racial gaps, can be almost fully explained by factoring in the differences in education, geography and age." (emphases added)
This is economic misogyny plain and simple; embedded in our economic habits deeply and seemingly insurmountably - although with enough political and legal action not actually insurmountable is a belittling of women's work compared to men's. This sort of systemic, measurable inequity is, to borrow a phrase from Mario Cuomo, a "sin against equality."
As long as every major religion in the world virtually gives lessons in misogyny we will have these chasms and not just on payday. It's more out in the open regarding gays, but it exists for both in the pulpits around the globe.
Posted by: democraticjack | March 01, 2009 at 03:09 PM
Why doesn't someone organize a class action law suit? Win a few of those, and man, would companies get on board. They'd have to actually have to formulate plans to address the issue. Look to tobacco law suits to see what worked for them. Surely there are plenty of ripe targets.
Posted by: Anna Belle | March 01, 2009 at 03:16 PM
Very good question, Anna Belle. I'd love to see attorneys' responses to that one.
As an illustration of just how acceptable sex discrimination has become, check out any of the pages listed on this State of Oregon job site page:
http://www.emp.state.or.us/jobs/
ALL of the jobs have gender as one of the QUALIFYING category checkboxes. The only other qualifying checkbox based on a physical attribute is minimum age.
Even worse, it's on the employer's template, an open invitation to employers to discriminate. Of course race or maximum age or any other illegal category is not listed is similar checkbox fashion or anywhere at all, just the nominally illegal category of gender.
I did try to bring it to the attention of various agencies and managers but got the usual indifference and hyper-attenuated justification.
How 'bout it, all you social justice attorneys?
Posted by: Bonney Anne | March 03, 2009 at 02:28 PM
According to the Institute for Women's Policy Research report, women in Washington, D.C., earned the most and came the closest to equity with men, earning 92.4 cents for every dollar earned by men for full-time, year-round work, the report said
Why is DC the place that is closest to wage equity? Any thoughts?
Posted by: robin Shuster | March 03, 2009 at 06:10 PM