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.
However, when truly looking at this issue and comparing the amount of money childless women make in contrast to women with children, the gap between the two is small. Studies have shown that those who tend to have better earnings than anyone are men who have children. Fathers earn more than mothers, women with no children, and men with no children. Men earning more money than peers because they are fathers is known as the fatherhood wage premium. This phenomenon tends to happen due to societal beliefs that a father should be able to maintain his family. Fathers are also perceived by employers as more capable of being promoted, since they are able to work more hours while having a work-life balance. This continues to widen the wage gap and alienates women from equal earning opportunities.
It is only when women reach the ages of 40–50 years that the wage gap begins to even out since they likely do not have to care for their families as much, but it never reaches the same wage as men who are fathers. Because of this much change in a woman’s career, women are more likely to experience horizontal mobility, which is the movement within the layer of the system of stratification, and stay in the same social class for most of their lifetime. Yet, a new study revealed that women earning less than men may not always be the case. As of 2022, data shows that women in larger cities earn the same salaries as male coworkers. Although this is mostly in metropolitan areas, it shows that at some point all women may be able to earn the same as men. Not only could this mean closing the gender wage gap, but is could also give women the chance to be a part of vertical mobility, which is the actual up-and-down movement in the system of stratification.
For this to become a reality companies need to be willing to offer flexible work schedules, such as offering remote positions or work apart from the regular 9–5 job schedule. Additionally, unionization can be a way for women to boost their wages. Though this does not entirely guarantee that women will be paid the same as men, women who are part of unions in their place of employment tend to earn more than women who are not unionized. Although these explanations shed some light on why women continue to earn less than men, it seems that there is not a definitive answer as to why the wage gap is still so big. Many women agree and feel that gender discrimination, or being discriminated for their gender, is the main reason they get paid less and are not offered higher positions. For this reason, it is important that employers guarantee equal opportunities to women not only to close the wage gap but for all employees to be treated equally and fairly.
Acosta-Sanchez is a guest blogger at UITAC Publishing. UITAC’s mission is to provide high-quality, affordable, and socially responsible online course materials.
Images on this blog:
- Photo Of Woman Resting On The Couch, 29 April 2020 by Cedric Fauntleroy. Free to use under the Pexel Content License. The image is unaltered.
- Woman and Kids in the Kitchen, 17 December 2020 by Jep Gambardella. Free to use under the Pexel Content License. The image is unaltered.
- Multiethnic cheerful colleagues talking about job and working with documents, 10 January 2021 by Alexander Suhorucov. Free to use under the Pexel Content License. The image is unaltered.
