March 24th, 2021 was Women’s Equal Pay Day. It marks the day into the year on which women, on average, have earned what men did in 2020. That’s nearly 15 months of work to reach a man's yearly pay.
The What: Women working full-time earn an average of 82 cents for every $1 men earn. For Black and Hispanic women, the gap is even wider.
The Why: A few major reasons why women get paid less than men...
- The “Motherhood Penalty”: Mothers are offered lower salaries and fewer promotions than women without children, as well as men. The result: mothers earn only 73% of what fathers earn. Because caregiving responsibilities still fall disproportionately to mothers, women are also more likely to take time out of the workforce, postponing advancement.
- Occupational segregation, when one sex is overrepresented in a job sector, accounts for as much as 51% of the wage gap. Jobs with more men (like construction and IT) tend to pay better, regardless of skill or education level. Jobs that are predominantly done by women (like childcare and education), are less valued in the labor market. And even within the same fields and roles (like: HR manager), men tend to be paid more than women.