The gender wage gap seems like a headline the media mentions regularly but does not fully cover. It is common knowledge that women generally earn less than men. In fact, on average, women earn 84 percent of what men earn. This blog analyzes some of the reasons women’s income, or money earned through the basis of work, is significantly lower than men’s, and explains the sociological reasoning for women’s position in the social stratification system: the system where categories of people are ranked by hierarchy.
The gender wage gap has not changed significantly within the last 20 years. This means that women’s overall wealth, the total of an individual’s assets and income, has remained lower than men’s throughout the years. One of the reasons for this difference is that many women have pink-collar positions. Pink-collar jobs are female-dominated and lower-paying job positions that can include nursing, caretaking, and teaching. However, women who hold positions in white-collar jobs, jobs that employ an individual in a salaried administrative position, are also affected by the gender wage gap.
Whether a woman holds a pink-collar job or a white-collar job, she earns less than a man in the same job position, regardless of education level and perceived job prestige. In fact, the higher the job position the less a woman makes when compared to a male counterpart. There are varying explanations to why this could be, with one being that women tend to pick lower-paying jobs with more benefits when compared to men. This can include accepting jobs with flexible schedules and specific benefits. But what benefits would be worth getting paid less when the work being performed is equal? Unfortunately, since they are more inclined to having different priorities, women’s work tends to be undervalued. Additionally, because of women working in hostile and discriminatory job environments, women tend to leave jobs where they feel they are the minority, thus, widening the wage gap even further from men and limiting job opportunities for women.
Another reason commonly attributed to women earning less than men is the motherhood wage penalty, meaning that women are penalized through less pay in the workplace simply for being mothers. When women become mothers the wage gap widens, due to the societal norms in place that expect mothers, regardless of employment status, to be the primary caregivers at home. This causes a greater wage gap in women between the ages of 20–30 due to having to take maternity leave and working fewer hours when they return to their positions. This usually causes women to earn less over time and affects their social mobility, the ability for individuals to move up and down the hierarchical stratification system.
