 |  Contact: Jean-Marie Navetta
202/785-7738
navettaj@aauw.org |
| April 19, 2005 | |
When It Comes to the Pay Gap, Employers’ Assumptions Are Hurting Women
AAUW Debunks Myths, Releases New Report, Offers Resources
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Women are telling it like it is and they’re taking on the issue of the pay gap head-on.
--- Lisa Maatz, AAUW director of public policy and government relations
There’s a gap here that economists agree can’t be explained away by women’s choices.
What we want to do is continue to take an active role in changing the persistent inequity in women’s paychecks by learning about the real roots of the issue, relying on facts over rhetoric, and creating work environments that are conducive to all workers with family responsibilities, regardless of gender.
--- Catherine Hill, senior research associate, AAUW Educational Foundation
...
Washington, D.C. – A majority of American women and men agree that there is a gender pay gap, and most blame employer’s assumptions about women’s attitudes toward work and family for its existence, according to new poll data released today by the American Association of University Women to mark Equal Pay Day 2005.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, women, on average, earned 24 percent less than men did in 2004. And women of color saw an even greater difference – Asian women earned 20 percent less, black women earned 34 percent less, and Latinas earned 45 percent less than did men as a whole.
Even when men and women with the same levels of educational achievement are compared, a pay gap remains. Research released by the AAUW Educational Foundation earlier this year revealed that a typical college-educated woman working full time earns $44,200 a year compared to $61,800 for college-educated male workers — a difference of $17,600.
The new AAUW poll sheds light on some of the public’s perceptions about the pay gap. Respondents list these top three reasons for why they believe the pay gap exists:
- Employers don’t promote young women because employers assume that women will leave their jobs if they have children. This belief was consistent among women, regardless of whether they were Democrats or Republicans.
- Women put family before work and are less committed to their careers.
- In their hiring and promotion practices, employers discriminate against women because of their gender.
“Many women place a high priority on their families – that’s something that we can all agree on and something we should applaud,” said Catherine Hill, senior research associate for the AAUW Educational Foundation. “What we don’t agree on is the assumption that all women at all stages of their careers will abandon work obligations because of home commitments. It simply isn’t true.”
“Many years of family-friendly legislation in action such as the Family and Medical Leave Act, Pregnancy Discrimination Act, and policies such as flex time and telecommuting have increased options to create a win-win situation for women and their employers — but women’s paychecks still lag significantly behind those of men,” said Lisa Maatz, director of public policy and government relations for AAUW.
“These changes have helped women better balance work and family, so an assumption that they will care less about their career — and should therefore earn less than men — is unfair,” commented Maatz.
Hill added, “Women’s choices only explain some variation in pay, but there’s more to the gap than that – even the government economists concede that even after adjusting for differences in work patterns, there is still an unexplained gap between women’s and men’s earnings. We need to explore the role of discrimination in creating the gap and dispel damaging assumptions about women’s work that contribute to keeping them for earning what they deserve.”
“A significant point of this new poll is that people do not think the pay gap results from a lack of skill and ability but rather because of employer’s assumptions about women’s potential behaviors or responsibilities,” said Hill. “People believe that women’s wages are being suppressed because of their potential motherhood.”
“Women are telling it like it is and they’re taking on the issue of the pay gap head-on,” said Maatz. “They’ve put tremendous energy into changing their role in the workplace. More women are attending and graduating from college and professional schools than ever before. They’re entering less traditional fields that afford them better opportunities for earning. Women are working hard to balance the roles of work and family. They’ve developed and supported successful legislation that has opened the doors to keeping them in the work force longer, but the gap still exists and there are still issues that must be addressed. When women don’t earn equal pay, they’re not the only ones who suffer – so do their families.”
Maatz identified several policy challenges that threaten to turn back women’s progress in the work force.
- Efforts by the Department of Labor to stop collecting important information on working women, stop ensuring that federal contractors meet their equal pay requirements, limit the tools it uses to investigate and determine whether federal contractors violate equal pay laws, and remove important information about the pay gap from its website.
- Proposals to make deep cuts to federal funding for key educational programs, including vocational education as well as training for women re-entering the work force.
- Attempts to weaken key federal laws including Title IX and the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Maatz also noted AAUW’s support for the Paycheck Fairness Act, to be introduced by Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT). The bill seeks to strengthen the Equal Pay Act of 1963 by providing more effective remedies to victims of sex discrimination in the payment of wages. It also calls for a study of data collected by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, proposes voluntary guidelines to show employers how to evaluate jobs with the goal of eliminating unfair disparities, and aims to remedy recent and detrimental changes to workplace data made by the Department of Labor.
AAUW is also lending its support to the enactment of the Fair Pay Act that will be introduced by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC). The legislation would require employers to provide equal pay for jobs that are comparable but not identical, positions that require the same or comparable education, skills, and responsibilities. This legislation would also protect employees who discuss wages with co-workers from employer retaliation and prohibit employers from reducing any employee's wages in order to comply with pay equity requirements.
“There’s a gap here that economists agree can’t be explained away by women’s choices. What we want to do is continue to take an active role in changing the persistent inequity in women’s paychecks by learning about the real roots of the issue, relying on facts over rhetoric, and creating work environments that are conducive to all workers with family responsibilities, regardless of gender,” concluded Hill.
2005 Equal Pay Day Resources From AAUW
- Equal Pay Day Poll Release – AAUW’s findings from a new national poll on the pay gap conducted by Lake, Snell and Perry between March 23 and 29, 2005.
- Gains in Learning, Gaps in Earning – Interactive state-by-state statistics of the earnings gap between college-educated men and women in the United States.
- AAUW Public Policy Pay Equity Resources – Includes position papers, AAUW’s 2-Minute Activist on the Paycheck Fairness Act, links, and an e-card that you can use to educate people about pay equity.
Download the full press kit(PDF)
For interviews with Lisa Maatz or Catherine Hill, and to receive more information on pay equity, contact Jean-Marie Navetta (AAUW) at navettaj@aauw.org or 202/785-7738.
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The American Association of University Women, with its nationwide network of
more than 100,000 bipartisan members and 1,200 branches, has been a leading
advocate for equity for women and girls since 1881.
AAUW Educational Foundation is one of the world's largest sources of funding for graduate women in the United States and abroad and commissions groundbreaking research on gender equity issues.
AAUW: Because Equity is Still An Issue
