Why Are Women Still Paid Less Than Men. What Has Happened To Equal Rights For Wo

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   molometerposted 12 years ago

   Why Are Women Still Paid Less Than Men. What Has Happened To Equal Rights For Women?
   
   We have had the equal pay act since the 1970's and yet women still earn a third less than their male counterparts. Why is this discrimination still happening?
   And more importantly why is nobody talking about it?
   
   

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   jacobspageposted 12 years ago

   Honestly I don't think its discrimination anymore, if you really think about it those averages that say men make more are including women whose careers have slowed due to a child. As long as the majority of stay at home parents are women, than the majority of people fighting to earn higher salaries are men. If you just take into consideration the single successful men without children and the single successful women without children, I guarantee the salaries will be similar.

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      molometerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      It is hard to believe such a naive idea. What evidence are you offering to back this opinion.

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   BeingOtherWomanposted 12 years ago

   I'm going to go back quite a few years and relay an incident that was brought up by my uncle when he was a postal worker. 
   
   My uncle was on the night shift.  One of the other workers was female and her salary was the same as the men who put in as many years as she had.  As a postal worker, they were required to haul bags of mail from the bins onto the trucks.  The bags weighed 50 lbs. each and the woman could not lift that weight, so the men did it were the ones hauling these bags all night.
   
   Is that fair?  Why would she be paid just as much as someone who could do the FULL job?  I'm a firm believer in equal pay for equal WORK, not just equal job title.  If a woman could do the same job as a man, she should be paid the same.

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      molometerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I totally agree with your views. We do not want tokenism. We need people who can do the job. If you cannot pull your weight, then you do not get the job. By the same token. If you work the same job as a man, you should get the same pay.

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   Sally's Troveposted 12 years ago

   This is not an answer but an addition to the statistics cited in your question. I see that you are in the UK, and I'm assuming that the stats you quote apply to the UK. However, in the US, as reported in 2010 by the National Committee on Pay Equity, women's wages were 77.4% of men's; in addition, in the US the Equal Pay Act dates from 1963. If your statistics are correct and mine are as well, then it appears as though women's wages in the UK are trailing behind those in the US, relative to men's. For either demographic base, these facts are not good news. Great question!

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      molometerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Sally's,
      Just found this great answer. Yes the data I quoted was for the UK. Seems you are finding similar patterns in the US. Not good news. Why has this happened. More importantly. Why aren't women demanding equal pay. Almost 60 years later?

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   pkaramposted 12 years ago

   Right, so you think that its discrimination? In order to answer this question let's tackle this firstly by looking at the very latest stats and secondly from another perspective other than the gender issue. 
   
   The wage gap in the US is not as big as most people assume or at least as it was many years ago.  According to data gathered by Payscale the top fields are: architecture, education, and criminal justice— here men earn 5% more than women. When it comes to the field of business, there is a 4% gap and in the field of finance there is a mere 3% gap. Not too bad is it?
   
   The stats reveal that that Men generally pursue high paying careers in finance at a percentage of 70 vs women at a mere 30? Makes you think doesn't it?
   
   According to the New York Times analysis of data gathered by Payscale (payscale.com) Women are more likely to pursue careers is HR and marketing with a whopping 66% versus their male counterparts at 34%. (business week.com)
   
   So what does this all tell us? Pay varies according to the field of expertise so naturally if most men are pursuing careers related to finance and consulting their average salaries will be a lot higher than those women working in HR or marketing positions.
   
   Sure there is always the factor of discrimination which we can't deny but maybe its not all about that as most tend to assume...

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      molometerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Peter,
      Sorry about the delayed reply but I forgot all about this area of hubpages.
      You are right, in those industries. But how many of these top positions are filled by women. They may get similar pay but there are far fewer of them.

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      Sherry Hewinsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I believe the statistics are comparing the pay of men and women who do similar work, not the average wage of a working woman vs the average wage of a working man.

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   suzettenaplesposted 12 years ago

   Because we are a society based on paternalism.

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      molometerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      You make a good point.

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   molometerposted 12 years ago

   U.S. women still earned only 77 cents on the male dollar in 2008, according to the latest census statistics. The same is true for the UK.
   
   We are talking here about the bulk of women. Not the very few that have made it to the profession's or corporate position's.
   
   Source.National Committee on Pay Equity

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   PMARTINposted 9 years ago

   I dont think its a discrimination. i thinks its a matter of of bonuses, overtime and extras like that. In my government job men volunteered to work over time or signed up for higher paid assignments (more responsibility/stress) when women would not. If you calculated at the end of year who made more--men would top the list. I assume its the same in corp jobs where bonuses are paid.  If men burn the midnight oil thinking of Corp ideas, then its only fair that that man gets a bonus or even a pay raise. I have not heard of two side by side assembly workers getting different pay base on gender.  Maybe this is why we never see a discrimination case go to trial.

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      molometerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      This answer is so dumb that I doubt you even read the hub. How can you make such outrageous assumptions with no evidence. You really need to read the facts as compiled by the office for national statistics (ONS) before making such wild claims.

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