Is the Wage Gap Shrinking After All?

by Brittany Shoot · 2010-07-11 09:00:00 UTC
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The wage gap is a sore spot for me, and I write about it frequently as a result. If it bothers you even half as much as it bothers me (or 74% ... get it?), you'll likely be as encouraged as I am by a new report (pdf) from the Labor Department about how the gap is actually closing among younger generations. But it's not all good news: the astoundingly unfair pay disparities among older men and women remain as they ever did.

In what is a pretty remarkable shift, women under 35 working full time made up to 90% of their male counterparts' salary (though of course, actual equal pay would be truly remarkable). Some of this may be attributed to the fact that women now earn the majority of college diplomas, and as a result, may be entering higher-paying fields and jobs. So, while the study didn't control for types of jobs entered, this looks promising.

Less exciting, women over 35 held steady, earning around 75% of the men's salaries. This is particularly troubling because, as Catherine Rampell points out over on the New York Times Economix blog, 35 is roughly the age when people start moving into higher level and managerial positions. That opens up a whole other question: Why aren't women being promoted at the same rates as men? Is this once again about having children? Talk about unfair to mothers. I can only hope that with fewer women opting to have children in this generation, maybe the percentages of women keeping pace with their male counterparts will finally even out a bit more, and stay more consistent over our lifetimes.

But, that shouldn't be the only way we can achieve pay equity, and mothers don't deserve to suffer because the system doesn't support them. How can we, as women, all work towards financial equality?

Photo Credit: Photos8.com

Brittany Shoot is a freelance writer, editor and critic. She's one of the editors of the Feminist Review blog and a frequent contributor to a variety of progressive publications.
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