Reasons for gender pay gap to exist :
According to a research, there are four reasons for gender pay gap to exist. First is, companies hire more men in senior management roles compared to women. Secondly, part-time roles and caring responsibilities are shared unequally in the society. Thirdly, women prefer working in low-paid sectors and roles and lastly, women are paid less when compared to men in the same roles.
Claudia Goldin and Henry Lee, Harvard University states that “When you look at the gap, it widens at the upper end. In fact, we see the largest differences at the very upper end, not at the lower end”. It might not seem like a big difference when a person who is supposed to earn 14 dollars per hour earns 10 dollars but it will make quite a big difference when a person who is supposed to make 300,000 dollars makes only 150,000 dollars. Companies are more comfortable and satisfied with hiring more men in senior management roles compared to women. A research found that it was likely for employers to hire men more than women in senior roles not because of prejudice but because they stereotype and rely on their perception that men are better performers at certain tasks. It was also stated that this can be divided as two faces of discrimination which is statistical discrimination which is because of beliefs about gender differences in skills, experience and abilities and taste discrimination which is a result of stereotypes or bias against certain group. Women find it very difficult to make it to the senior roles of their company and advance in their field. When compared to men women earn about 78 cents on the dollar. It is estimated that only 4.2% of women make it up-to being CEOs and only 19.2% of board members. A study suggests that women not being able to reach the top is because of the “broken rung”. It was found that for every 100 men promoted as manager only 72 women which accounts to men holding 62% of manager level roles whereas women hold only 38%. Therefore, this broken rung is an obstacle for the women even at the entry level. Also, this entry level inequality allows men to outnumber women in such roles and the number of women at the senior level roles decreases.
Part time roles and caring responsibilities are shared unequally in the society. Women are more in the “nurturing” roles than the men, which makes them look more concerned and commited to their home and family and not their jobs.Gender inequalities in part time and in caring works also lead to a gap in pay. A cross-country analysis also found that in countries where women who spend more time on unpaid care, it was likely to have a larger gap in pay. And in part time jobs women earn only 65% of what men earn when they spend twice as much time in caring activities and only 40% when it was full time jobs. Women devote almost 60% of their time to household and caring activities, irrespective of whether they are employed, educated or earning.
Another reason for this gap to exist is also because women prefer working on low wage sector and roles and employment of women in such roles are increasing day by day. An estimate of 7.6 million jobs were taken up by women in this low wage and female dominated sectors between the years 1994 and 2014 which almost a third of all new jobs in that period. The US Bureau of Labor statistics stated that the businesses which cater to provide care for the old and disabled, because the business increased almost four times between the years 1994 and 2014 . This shows that women prefer to work in low paid sectors and roles. The “women’s work” which involves cooking, cleaning,caring is always looked down and considered as something that does not require acknowledgement and this assumption has followed also to the marketplace. Though these jobs require energy, stamina , physical and mental strength, these jobs are never valued and women who play the most part in these jobs are often undercompensated . Therefore , it is not that the women who prefer low paid jobs but it is that these low paid jobs are undervalued. Also women are paid less compared to the men doing the same roles. Pay is decided based on gender and not on competence.
Ways to overcome the gender pay gap :
Continuous pressure on gender pay gap situation has resulted in formulating certain strategies to overcome it. Some of these include designing senior work roles for all employees, irrespective of gender bias; developing quality flexible jobs that allow men and women to balance caring responsibility with their ambition; opening up all industries to flexible working arrangement and part-time jobs and lastly paying same remuneration to women and men for the same roles. With these strategies and others gender pay gap in the world can be reduced. There should be a balance and equality in maternity and paternity leave like in the case of Sweden where there is an availability for paternal leave on the basis of ‘use it or lose it’ which will develop a sense of sharing the caring responsibilities. A family friendly working condition must be created so that it will help the man and woman of the house to balance work and family. This will also help them choose working hours accordingly and accommodate their caring responsibilities. Unpaid work must be recognized as the national policy level so that a change in the organizational structure can be established .Minimum wage should be raised since this minimum wage is decreasing from the 1960s which is leading these wage ages to live in poverty. “The unwillingness to raise the minimum wage is really hurting women, because they are disproportionately represented at that level” says Isabel V Sawhill, a senior fellow of Economic studies. Raising this minimum wage will serve as a step to improve low wage jobs which are majorly female dominated jobs. This will not only reduce the level of poverty but also bridge the pay gap. “States with Equal Minimum Wages for Tipped Workers Have Smaller Wage Gaps for Women Overall and Lower Poverty Rates for Tipped Workers”. Equal pay laws need to be strengthened so that potential pay discrimination can be tackled and there can be transparency of pay between Co workers. There are a lot of steps organisations can do to ensure gender wage parity which includes checking wage parity right from the time a person is employed. Market analysis must also be conducted to have a check on wage parity. The company should also look for unconscious biases when there is assessment.The most important obstacle to wage equality, however, lies in our attitudes. When women value themselves enough to fight for their due, and when society values all human beings equally, the gender wage gap will cease to be an issue.Claudia Goldin and Henry Lee from the Harvard University say that it is important to divide labour at home. Change must begin at home and the couple should decide and balance their home and career as to who is on call at home and who is the office. Paying same remuneration to women and men for the same roles can also serve as an effective strategy as this will also help the women not to feel less about themselves and to feel a contentment in what they are doing.
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