Every time we talk about working through the system to get equal pay for women, you have to wonder if we are preaching to the choir.
You would figure women should know already know about the inequity they experience—in pay, in job promotions, in caring for family members.
Shouldn’t we focus our attention on getting the message out to men, so that they will jump on our bandwagon and practice pay equity, open those glass ceilings, and assume more of the caretaking burden at home?
I wish there were an easy answer here. It never ceases to amaze me how much women actually don’t understand the almost daily discrimination so many of us face.
Momstowork.com asked me when was the last time I discussed what salary I made with another man or woman at work.
This ban on discussing pay is one of the last frontiers of silence. From what I understand, some companies even use such a conversation as cause for firing,.
When Lilly Ledbetter discovered (through an anonymous tip) that she was being discriminated against, she took action and started down the long road that culminated with the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, signed by President Obama in January 2009.
Now that the Ledbetter Act has been passed, many women think the fight for equal pay is over.
It’s not. The upcoming Paycheck Fairness Act actually goes much further toward ending discrimination by
- Creating stronger incentives for employers to follow the law
- Empowering women to negotiate for equal pay
- Deterring wage discrimination by strengthening penalties for equal pay violations
- Prohibiting retaliation against workers who ask about employers’ wage practices or disclose their own wages.
Maybe you think this doesn’t affect young women or those just out of college … Sorry, research released in 2007 by AAUW shows that within one year out of college, women working full time already earn less than their male colleagues, even when they work in the same field. Ten years after graduation, the pay gap widens.
By reaching out to educate and inform other women about pay equity, glass ceilings, and work-life balance issues that moms face every minute of every day, we become the key that opens men’s eyes to these issues. Last week, The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Changes Everything (have you read it yet?), brought a lot of media attention to the state of women in America today. A young colleague of mine wrote Shifting Gender Roles: Men Join Women with Open Minds and Hearts, pointing out that, while some men are joining women in caretaking roles, advocacy for equal rights and the like, our culture still isn’t fully accepting of a total shift to gender equity (if practice is any indication—a far more reliable trend indicator than words ever are).
This shift to gender equity is certainly easier said than done. I firmly believe that women are our own best asset in this fight. If women are still not aware of the discrimination they face, how on earth can we begin to broaden our reach to men? We need to inform others, women and men, and make sure to teach the next generation from the very beginning that inequity, in any form, is not acceptable. And realizing it takes a whole lot longer than anyone ever thought is just the beginning.
You can read more about women’s wages on the AAUW website.
This blog was originally posted on Moms to Work.
In order to have Paycheck Fairness Act passed by Congress we need to lobby our representatives and senators. Have your senators signed on to this bill? If so, they deserve our thanks. If not, it is time to call or write them to encourage them to sign on. If they resist, try to find out why and deal with their concerns. They all have females close to them who need the effects this act offers us.
I’ve always known the statistic that women earn less than men, but I never thought about it in personal terms. I will be graduating college in May and expect to earn the same at my male counterparts. Hopefully the Paycheck Fairness Act will pass and will be signed into law to better guarantee that this won’t happen to me.