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Introduction
Wage disparity between men and women has been a controversial
topic on the minds of various interest groups, politicians,
and individuals for several decades. There are several theories
about why such disparities exist. According to a study conducted
by the United States General Accounting Office, without
adjusting for factors that affect wages, women earned 44%
less than men during the period of the 1983-2000 (GAO, 44).
However, once those factors were incorporated into the equation,
the gap dropped to 21%. In recent years the gap is decreasing
and, in Maryland, it is substantially less than in most
other states. Among the significant factors were work patterns,
choice of industry, choice of occupation, race, marital
status, and job tenure. In consulting other similar studies
and sources, the two major factors seemingly affecting wages
are the differences in industries and occupations females
and males choose, as well as the work patterns they have
at those jobs (GAO, 10).
Differences in Types of Jobs and Industries
While the United States has come a long way since the time
when most women were housewives, gender roles are still
clearly visible within the job market as women and men are
often concentrated into occupations and job titles that
they do not share with the opposite sex. So called "women's
jobs" and "men's jobs" still exist within the market, and
typically those traditionally held by men tend to pay more
than those traditionally held by women. In "Still a Man's
Labor Market," Rose and Hartman look at the job market on
a three-tier schema of elite, good, and less-skilled jobs.
They find that in the elite tier, women are concentrated
in teaching and nursing, while men are business executives,
scientists, doctors, and lawyers. In the middle tier jobs,
women are secretaries while men are blue collar workers,
and in the lower tier, women are sales clerks while men
work in factory jobs. Within each of the six gender-tier
categories, at least 75% of the workers are of one gender,
and in each tier women's jobs pay significantly less than
those of their male counterparts (Rose, iv).
These facts beg the question why men and women choose such
different professions and why those chosen by women pay
less. First, differences in career choices can be seen between
men and women as far back as to the college experience.
Men more often choose majors that are hard sciences, while
women choose those involving humanities and education. In
2000, women earned only 36% of all physical science degrees,
27% of all degrees in computer and information sciences,
and a mere 17% in engineering (BPWF, 6). Whether the differences
in the choices made by men and women are a result of conforming
to societal norms or are free choices can't be definitively
concluded, but they exist.
Still, the question of why professions typically chosen
by women pay less, remains. Rose and Hartman's "Still a
Man's Labor Market" suggests that jobs chosen by men within
each tier of the labor force are typically more skilled
or onerous than those chosen by women. The professions of
doctor (typically chosen by men) and nurse (typically chosen
by women), while both in the top tiers of the job market
for their gender, require different levels of education,
different number of work hours, and provide different opportunities
for leave. For all three factors, nurses have an easier
path - their training requires many less years of schooling,
the job allows for a much less demanding, more flexible
and more consistent work schedule, as well as more opportunity
for leave time (Rose, iv). This scenario leaves one wondering,
"do certain jobs pay less because predominantly women work
there, or do women choose jobs that are less demanding,
and as a result, pay less?"
Work Patterns
The other major factor affecting earning is work patterns
including the number of hours worked per year, years of
experience in the job force, and the amount of leave taken.
The GAO study found that women on average have fewer years
of work experience than men (men have 16 years of experience,
while women have 12), work fewer hours per year (men work
2147, while women work 1675 - a difference of 472 hours
per year), are less likely to work a full-time schedule,
and leave the labor force for longer periods of time than
men (GAO, 11-12). Taking these differences into consideration,
may partially explain why women earn less than men, since
they work fewer hours than men.
Family Matters - Marriage and Children
But why do these differences in work patterns exist between
men and women? According to Furchtgott-Roth and Stolba in
"Women's Figures," the difference seen in the work patterns
of men and women can be explained by the personal choices
made outside of work by the two genders. According to them,
marriage and children have a major effect on women's earnings
(Furchtgott-Roth, 12). The fifteen- year longitudinal study
conducted by the IWPR and summarized in "Still a Man's Labor
Market" found that women who spent most of the period of
the study married earned less because they had more years
out of the labor force; whereas, women who were only married
for a few years spent more time in the work force. Along
the same lines, women who had children present for ten to
fifteen years during the study period had the lowest earnings,
while women who had children for two years or less earned
nearly $9000 more per working year on average. The study
showed that the opposite was true for men; those with children
present in the house for a longer period of time earned
more money (Rose, 25-27). Professor Jane Waldfogel, conducted
a similar study in 1991, comparing adjusted wage gap between
men and women with the same experience and education for
mothers and women without children. Like the findings of
IWPR, her research showed that women without children made
95% of men's wages, all other factors accounted for, while
mothers made 75% of men's wages (Furchtgott-Roth, 15).
Why would marriage or children have an effect on wages?
Eighty percent of women in the U.S. bear children at some
point in their lives (Furchtgott-Roth, 12). The commitment
level involved in having and raising a child has a great
effect on the number of hours women work and the amount
of leave time they take. Most pregnant women take time off
towards the end of their pregnancy to have a baby. In the
best scenario possible, a woman takes off a week, in a typical
situation a few months, but in a situation involving health
complications for her or the baby, a woman may need to take
off as long as a year or more. The research conducted by
the IWPR showed that 52% of women have at least one complete
calendar year without any earnings in comparison to only
16% of men. A career interruption of one year or more can
have a serious impact on one's career and earnings regardless
of whether it's a man or a woman (Rose, iii).
After bearing a child, the demands of motherhood lead women
to make other choices that affect their careers. According
to "Women's Figures," in order to accommodate familial needs,
women tend to choose occupations where job flexibility is
high, salaries are lower, and job skills deteriorate at
a slower rate than others ((Furchtgott-Roth, 13). In research
conducted by the Maryland Federation of Business and Professional
Women, results showed that 77.85% of working women reported
that flexible work schedules are of moderate or major importance
to them, while half of those women reported that having
opportunities to work part-time is of moderate or major
importance to them (BPWF, 5). To sum up, women in many professions
are making decisions to balance work and family priorities
and those decisions result in fewer women reaching the top
of their fields.
The fact that women work fewer hours per year, are less
likely to work a full-time schedule, and leave the labor
force for longer periods of time than men, doesn't only
affect the amount of money they make but affects the perception
of their value in the work force. For example, research
indicates that arrangements such as part-time work, leave,
and telecommuting reduce workers "face time"- the amount
of time spent in the work place. Some employers use face
time as an indicator of workers productivity and those who
lack face time may experience negative career effects. Moreover,
the fact that statistically women use such arrangements
more frequently than men makes them seem less available,
less committed and, thus, less valuable (GAO, 61).
Causes of Existing Discrimination
Traditionally playing the role of homemakers, women in
the labor force carry a stereotype of being less career-driven
than men because they traditionally tend to make family
their top priority. Many employers are interested in hiring
those people who are willing to make their job their number
one priority. This leads to discrimination when employers
decide who to hire, what to pay an employee, and who to
promote (GAO 61-62). Moreover, fearing that they may leave
their jobs for family responsibilities, employers who hire
women tend to be less willing to train them. This further
promotes the wage gap, because women aren't extended the
training opportunities that are often crucial in working
one's way to the top of the field (Blau, 6-7). Moreover,
families perpetuate the wage disparity when they decide
to let mothers stay home with the children in place of hiring
caretakers because a worker's potential earnings drop in
proportion to time taken out of the labor force.
Conclusion - Unaccounted Disparity
In the GAO report, once measurable factors such as choice
of industry, choice of occupation, and work patterns were
added into the equation, the 44% difference between the
earnings of men and women dropped to 21% (GAO, 29). Other
studies have found approximately the same results. So, how
can the other 21% be explained? Simply, not all factors
that could possibly affect wage disparity are measurable.
Moreover, it is virtually impossible to come up with every
factor that could possibly affect wages (GAO, 19-20). One
factor rarely mentioned but that has been found by the Council
of Economic Advisers to contribute to wage disparities is
labor unions. Union membership boosts wages of union members
relative to non-union members by 10 to 20 percent and, traditionally,
many more men have been members of unions than women (CEA,
7). Certainly, other factors like this may exist that have
yet to be studied and tested. Then, of course, there is
one other possibility, flat out discrimination ("just because
you are a woman I will pay you less"). However, measuring
that possibility by examining statistical aggregates either
nationally or in a particular state is complicated because
of the number of variables involved.
Bibliography
Blau, Francine D., and Lawrence M. Kahn. "Gender Differences
in Pay." National Bureau of Economic Research. June 2000.
Business and Professional Women Foundation. "101 Facts
on the Status of Workingwomen." October 2004.
Furchtgott-Roth, Diana, and Christine Stolba. "Women's Figures: An Illustrated Guide to the Economic Progress of
Women in America." Washington: American Enterprise Institute Press, 1999.
Rose, Stephen J., and Heidi I. Hartmann. "Still a Man's
Labor Market: The Long-Term Earnings Gap." Institute for Women's Policy Research. 2004.
The Council of Economic Advisors. "Explaining Trends
in the Gender Wage Gap." Washington, D.C.: The Council
of Economic Advisors, 1998.
U.S. General Accounting Office. "Women's Earnings: Work
Patterns Partially Explain Difference between Men's and Women's Earnings." Washington, DC. October 2003.
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