March is Women’s History Month and on March 8th, we recognize International Women’s Day. It is also the month where we recognize pay equity. And even with the recent win by the US Women’s Soccer Team, we still have a ways to go when it comes to equal pay.
It’s illegal to pay people differently based on things like sex, race, or national origin, and it has been for some time. And yet, the wage gap persists—and has even widened for some.
— Jen Dewar, 8 Wage Gap Statistics to Know in 2022
March 15th is the date that all women must work on average to earn what men did one year (based on 2020 data). As equalpaytoday.org says – “That’s 15 months. Or if you look at a typical 9:00-5:00 work day, women start working for free at 2:40pm.”
Depending on the study you look at - women are paid about 80 cents for every dollar men earn. Now break it down by race and the difference is startling:
From Lean In article: Women are paid less than men—and that hits harder in an economic crisis
So, over the course of a lifetime, women can lose as much as $407,760 in income compared to white men. For:
White women it is $555,000
Black women it is $944,800
Native American women it is $1,009,160
Latinas $1,121,440
For entrepreneurs, a 2019 FreshBooks study found that self-employed women earned 28% less than self-employed men. Their study also found that women often started their businesses to escape some of the gender barriers in traditional workplaces. While some things have improved like better work-life balance, less stress, etc. (pre-pandemic), there are still gender discrimination issues to deal with.
While many are still working on getting the Paycheck Fairness Act passed, we can’t wait for that to happen to start to make change for ourselves and future generations of women. So what can we do? Here are a few ideas:
Professionals
Find out what a competitive salary is for your job AND figure out your net worth
Note that “more” doesn’t have to be about more money - it can be negotiating for a flexible schedule, more days off, WFH time, etc.
Owners
Figure out how much you should pay yourself and then pay yourself
OR give yourself a raise – because you are the boss
Additionally – learn not to apologize when asking for what you are worth when it comes to pricing - here are 33 ways to respond to a price challenge
All
Pay your interns - regular and micro internships
Do a Pay Equity Analysis for your company or ask leadership if one has been done (note: only 26% of U.S. companies track differences in salary between comparable roles)
The “Great Resignation” has impacted all of us - those hiring, those with teams, ourselves, etc. and it will most likely continue throughout the year. Consider what you can do to create a better workplace.
Consider flex schedules and hire more women. Bus Stop Mamas might be a place to start. Did you know that women with children typically get penalized (less opportunity for advancement, salary increases, etc.) while men typically get rewarded when they have children making about $189 more/week.
Be transparent about pay in your organization. Why 2022 is the Year of Pay Transparency - it has been found to help close the gender pay gap.
Give women access to external networks – it gives them a community to learn from, lean on and step out of their comfort zone with – which boosts engagement at work and the increases risk taking.
Mentor a young woman who is getting ready to go into the workforce on how to advocate for themselves. Often times women accept the first offer they are given and it contributes to the gap since men will negotiate and ask for more.
While change is marked by big events, it is most often the small actions that individuals take day to day that actually creates the change. No action means we’ll wait until 2111 to see equity.
