Although it has improved tremendously in the past few years, women are still treated unfairly in the workforce. In fact, about 42% of women have stated that they have experienced some sort of discrimination in their job due to their gender. Some examples of this gender discrimination include receiving a lower-pay and lower-quality job opportunity even if a woman has the same experiences and skill-set as a man. Additionally, a man and a woman in the same position can receive different wages. This is called the pay gap.
On average, in 2021, women are paid 83 cents for every 1 dollar that men make. This decrease in pay has long-term effects, such as a decrease in social security and pensions. Also, during retirement, women have 70% less than men due to the pay gap. In 2021, the Equal Pay Day was in March. This means that a woman needed to work all of 2020 and until March 2021 in order to earn the same amount that a man would earn in just 2020. There has been an improvement over the past few years; however, it is still not okay that women have to put in extra work just to be treated equally.
The global pandemic greatly impacted women’s role in the labor force. Women of color were affected the most. There are two main reasons for this pushback: the glass ceiling and sticky floors. Glass ceiling is an obstacle that prevents women from furthering their careers. The biggest example of a glass ceiling is childcare. Especially with Covid-19, there was a huge lack of childcare available. Many women couldn’t take job promotions or had to quit their jobs entirely to take care of their children. Sticky floors are disadvantages that women face due to conscious and unconscious biases. These can range from women not getting promotions or just being treated differently from the men who work in their company.
The best way to diminish the pay gap is for everyone to educate themselves about the discrimination that women face in the workforce. Through working together, we can help women be treated equally.
Sources:
https://www.equalrights.org/issue/economic-workplace-equality/discrimination-at-work/
https://blog.dol.gov/2021/03/19/5-facts-about-the-state-of-the-gender-pay-gap