Tuesday was National Equal Pay Day, a date chosen to represent how much further into the year the average woman would have to work to make as much as the averge man did in 2013. In other words, women generally need to work an extra quarter of a year to catch up in compensation.
This statistic is especially powerful when coupled with the fact than women are the primary breadwinners or match their spouses in six out of 10 American families.
When 60 percent of households’ livelihood is dependent on a woman’s pay, it’s imperative that the wage gap is bridged as soon as possible. Perhaps that’s why President Barack Obama issued two executive orders this week to combat the disparity.
Both orders aim to make salary data more transparent. Despite our propensity for wild consumerism, it’s a particularly American custom to be vague about disclosing your salary, and while this may be a comfortable social convention for most, it’s also served as a veil for employers.
By federally enforcing salary data accessibility, bank teller Jane Doe can better find out what bank teller John Doe is making and might finally have a strong leg to stand on when negotiating for a raise.
One of the strongest arguments has been the oft-cited statistic that women make 77 cents for every dollar men make.
While this statistic is certainly eye-opening, it’s important to clarify that it does not represent the disparity between what a man and a woman would earn working the same job. Proponents of this statistic might want to lend their hand in the fight for better maternity leave benefits, because it’s the unpaid time women take off work (often due to inadequate maternity leave allowance) that elevates the pay disparity to the level that the statistic implies.
Nonetheless, the wage gap is very real, and while Obama’s recent orders will be instrumental in leveling the field, more still needs to be done.
To no one’s surprise, Republicans in the U.S. Senate have already grounded the Paycheck Fairness Act, a facet of the Equal Pay Act, before it could take off. This isn’t uncharacteristic of the party, but neither is losing presidential elections, a correlation that the Grand Old Party would be wise to consider.
Income injustice hinders all Americans whether they realize it or not, but major victories won’t be had until our country’s leaders’ intentions are aligned with the people.
To this end, stronger political ramifications should do trick; it certainly hasn’t failed to motivate our leaders in the past.