Question

How the gender pay gap happened and where it stands today. Include strategies on how the gap can be closed.

Answer 1

In almost all countries, if you compare the wages of men and women you find that women tend to earn less than men. These inequalities have been narrowing across the world. In particular, over the last couple of decades most high-income countries have seen sizeable reductions in the gender pay gap.An important part of the reduction in the gender pay gap in rich countries over the last decades is due to a historical narrowing, and often even reversal of the education gap between men and women.Today, education is relatively unimportant to explain the remaining gender pay gap in rich countries. In contrast, the characteristics of the jobs that women tend to do, remain important contributing factors.The gender pay gap is not a direct metric of discrimination. However, evidence from different contexts suggests discrimination is indeed important to understand the gender pay gap.Similarly, social norms affecting the gender distribution of labor are important determinants of wage inequality.The gender pay gap is not a direct metric of discrimination. However, evidence from different contexts suggests discrimination is indeed important to understand the gender pay gap. Similarly, social norms affecting the gender distribution of labor are important determinants of wage inequality.

On the other hand, the available evidence suggests differences in psychological attributes and non-cognitive skills are at best modest factors contributing to the gender pay gap.According to the most recent American Community Survey (ACS), nationwide median earnings for women over the age of 16 average out to about 80.1% of the median earnings for men in the same age group.1 In other words, women in the US workforce are making roughly $0.80 for every dollar earned by their male colleagues.

It’s not all doom and gloom, though. Compared to the 2010 ACS, the US has actually narrowed the pay gap by a whole 2.6 percentage points. In fact, most states in the country have shown improvement.That being said, the US isn’t doing quite as well as many experts believe we should be. In 2016, the pay gap for women over the age of 25 actually widened by about 2.2 percentage points.1 While pay disparity has been improving since then, we still haven’t made up that ground, and some experts are doubtful it’s possible given the recent rollback of federal rules originally designed to further shrink the gender pay gap.The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2020 says men and women will have pay equality in 257 years. Of the 153 countries studied for the report, India ranks 112th on the overall Global Gender Gap Index. The economic gender gap runs particularly deep and has gotten significantly wider.

Implement Pay Transparency:-Pay transparency lets everyone know what their colleagues are earning and would make women aware if they are making less than their male counterparts. When the Sony hack revealed a gender pay gap among actors, Charlize Theron took action to correct a $10 million pay discrepancy between her and her male co-star, Chris Hemsworth, in The Huntsman. It’s a natural response. We all want to be treated fairly. It makes the gender gap problem self-correcting.

Eliminate Negotiation:-

A second fix for the gender pay gap is to eliminate negotiation. Study after study show that women don’t perform as well as men in negotiations. Often women avoid negotiation altogether, accepting the first offer presented by a prospective employer. One study of graduating masters’ students examined who negotiated their first job offer. Despite urging from their university to negotiate, only 7% of the female graduates negotiated for a higher salary, but 57% of the men asked for more money. That’s more than 8 times as many men asking for more money. Sadly, many women report that they fear they will not be liked if they aggressively pursue a higher salary.