Public Comment

The persistence of gender inequality in the workplace ranks high among the disgraceful and shameful traditions in American society. According to the US Bureau of Census, the average income for women is about 80 percent of male earnings. For full time year round workers, women would have to work 44 additional days a year to close the gap. 

The good news is that since 1979, the wages of women have climbed 30 percent. The bad news is that male wages since 1979 have stagnated. Although men's income continues to have a considerable edge over women's, the median income of male wages have dropped by 7.6 percent As a result of these developments, the gap between the earnings of men and women has climbed from 62.4 to 80 percent. 

The important question is to what extent, if any, is the decline in the gender gap due to women's role in reducing the pay gap or to significant developments in the economy that have been especially unfavorable to men? According to the liberal think tank, the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), not wage gains by women in the workplace but rather the falling wages of men that account for the progress toward reducing the wage gap between women and men. The EPI blames the weakening of organized labor, the decline in male dominant industries, and the off-shoring of jobs that were held mostly by men.  

The EPI is right that several important institutional factors have conspired to suppress wage growth for men. But women too have not escaped the economic assault. The weakening and decline of the labor movement has also been detrimental to women, who make up more than 45 percent of union members. As union members, women are not discriminated against in labor contracts. 

With regard to the export of jobs, the impact on women also has been considerable. As President Trump has complained, the pharmaceutical industry has been a major exporter of jobs. About 42 percent of the industry's work force are women. In the textile, apparel, and leather industries, which are major exporters of jobs, over 56 percent of its work force are women. Another major exporter are companies that manufacture computers and electronic products. Over thirty percent of their work force are women. 

Particularly ominous is that California in March shed 7,200 jobs. Women as well as men lost their jobs. A substantial number of these jobs were in the leisure and hospitality industry. Women make up slightly more than half of the industry's employees. In short, the EPI's explanation for the declining wage gap does not fully account for why men particularly have taken such a beating. 

The EPI's major oversight has been its failure to take into account the tremendous competition that males have been confronting as a result of the huge increase in the number of women, particularly married women, entering the labor market. A growing number of families have been experiencing hardship because the wages earned by their spouse have been inadequate. According to a survey by the Pew Research Center, which does opinion polling, 56 percent interviewed said that their family's income is falling behind the cost of living. To supplement family income, women have been forced into the labor force. The percentage of married women who have joined the work force has climbed from 26 percent in 1950 to 67 percent currently. 

To improve their job prospects, many women have been graduating college and also obtaining advanced degrees. By 2014, women made up a majority of college graduates and almost a third obtained advanced degrees in law, business, accounting and computer and information sciences. 

Yet despite the stagnation of male wages, from the perspective of many employers there is still a significant wage advantage to recruiting women. As a result, many women have been taking jobs that have been traditionally occupied by men. Moreover, the decline in physical and manual work and the growth of white collar jobs has made it easier for women to compete. Women's share of professional jobs has increased to 49 percent, and jobs of women in management has doubled since the early seventies to 36 percent. The percent of women lawyers has gone up from the single digits to about 33 percent. And jobs in banking and financial management held by women has climbed from 9 to 39 percent. 

Many employers, in order to cut their wage costs, have even been willing to hire women for blue collar jobs. 60 percent of bartenders are now women. Even jobs for female butchers in packing houses have climbed by more than a third. Also federal contractors and private firms, including Sears, Roebuck and Company have been attempting to hire women for traditionally blue collar jobs. 

When women enter these and many other occupations in large numbers, the average wage for all workers drop. Drawing on US census data, researchers found that when the share of women workers increased in any occupation, the wages for men tend to decline. In recreation related jobs, for example, wages dropped 57 percent, designer wages declined 34 percent, housekeepers fell 21 percent, ticket agents fell 43 percent, and the wages of biologists declined 18 percent.  

What can be done to increase wages for both genders as well as to abolish wage inequality? As a labor spokesperson commented, it is important for working people to realize that "gender equality is not just a woman's fight. It is everyone's fight". The ideal organizational context for working people to stand together are labor unions. In union contracts women and men benefit equally. Among the results is that the gap in wages for female union members is about half the size of the gap among non-union female workers. Improving the rights and ability of working people to unionize is key to achieving equal pay for all workers.